Jeremy Horton bridge dedication : powell ave. bridge Gretchen Miller can see the rise of the Powell Avenue bridge from the backyard of her dusky blue home. She walked the short distance from her house to the bridge Saturday morning with her surviving son and other members of her family. Politicians, friends and a microphone waited for her there. So did newly erected signs dedicating the bridge that she can see from her backyard in her sons name. If Jeremy were here, hed say what is everyone doing here? she said as she looked over the crowd that gathered under a blue sky on a soft field next to the bridge. Hed say, what is this hoopla about? I was just doing what I was trained to do. Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy R. Horton died May 21, 2004, in the Jisr Diyala sector of Iraq. Horton had stopped his convoy after a roadside bomb exploded nearby. As he was getting out of his vehicle, another bomb exploded. He was 24. Horton was buried at Erie County Memorial Gardens, remembered as a husband, a son, a brother and a hero. Nearly four years have passed since then. Grandchildren have been born. Christmases and birthdays have passed. The war has stretched on. As of Friday, 4,012 American troops have died in Iraq, according to the Department of Defense. Jeremy Hortons name is part of that long list. So while the fact that people still honor her son doesnt make the sense of loss go away, it does make Miller proud. Its very heartwarming, she said. She smiled throughout the ceremony dedicating the bridge in her sons name. The green Department of Transportation signs on each end of the bridge now read Jeremy R. Horton Memorial Bridge. State Rep. John Hornaman, who never met Jeremy Horton, fought back tears as he talked about why he pushed a bill in the State House of Representatives to rename the bridge in Hortons honor. I offer to his family and his entire community a permanent memorial to his resolute bravery and commitment to his country, Hornaman said. Horton is the second soldier killed in Iraq to be honored in Erie with the naming of a bridge. In 2006, the Wintergreen Gorge bridge was renamed the Sgt. Donald S. Oaks Jr. Memorial Bridge in honor of the 20-year-old Harborcreek Township soldier who died in Iraq in 2003. On Saturday, it was Jeremy Hortons turn. Motorcyclists from the American Legion Riders and the Patriot Guard Riders took the first drive over the newly christened bridge. American flags lined their way. Cristie Horton rode behind the rider in the lead position. She laughed, an infectious giggle that made clear why Jeremy Horton might have first fallen for her while they were both students at Strong Vincent High School. She wears his wedding band on a gold chain around her neck. This is a wonderful, unbelievable honor, she said of the bridge dedication. We remember him every day. Staff Sgt. Jeremy Richard Horton, 24, assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry, part of the U.S. Armys 1st Armored Division died Friday, May 21st, 2004, near al-Iskandariyah, Iraq, when a roadside bomb exploded...
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 04:11:58 +0000
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