Canadian Medal of  

          Honor.com

  • Sunday evening's blogs
  • graves, memorials and medals
  • About the Author
  • contact the Author
  • Home
latest blog

US bridge named in honour of all Medal of Honor recipients, another soon hopefully named for Canadian MOH recipient!

8/14/2013

0 Comments

 
Over the years in the United States many authorities at the federal level, state  and county or municipal levels have seen fit to continue to honor Medal of Honor recipients, usually those past, but not always so. There are airports and army and coast guard and naval bases named in honor of these men. There are warships and a coastguard ship, parks, buildings, plaques and statutes and highways too.  And there are the bridges also.
Picture
This is Hershel Woodrow (Woody) Williams not long ago with an image of him during his WW11 days. Woody 1st tried to join up but was rejected... he was too short... Must have known that other fellow... Audie Murphy. And like Audie he tried again, this time with more success, he was welcomed into the US Marine Corps and soon found himself in the thick of many battles. It would be for his heroism and repeated moves forward to take out the enemy with a flamethrower at Iwo Jimo that by the Fall of 1945 would see him standing in front of President Truman at the White House and having the president drape the Medal of Honor around his neck. Apparently he was not too tall for that reach either.

Woody would be honoured in many ways over the years. A state National Guard armoury would be renamed in his honor. There would also be a bridge so named at  Barboursville West Virginia in his honour back in 2001. A current move wants a warship named for him. And so it should be.

Years later a good friend of Woody's... Dave Shively started talking to Woody about an idea he had. He thought there should be  one bridge that could be renamed to bring honour to all of the Medal of Honor recipients. These would go back to Civil War days, would also include all those of the current time and even those in the future so awarded. Once this was done, his bigger picture would have this being an example of what could be done all across the US by the individual states, counties and even local governments everywhere.

Soon support for the idea grew and in May of 2011 a bridge along Country Road  500 East in Lafayette, Tippecanoe County  Indiana, crossing over the Hoosier Heartland Corridor was selected for the honor. It would quite simply be called ... the Medal of Honor Bridge. 

Picture








The bridge is located about 75 miles south of Chicago and some 280 miles west of Detroit.  Most interesting that the north east corner of the state is just a few hundred miles from the Canadian border at Windsor and Detroit. The bridge now representing all MOH recipients, also includes those from Canada. The bridge could perhaps  be seen as the symbolic bridge between our two nations. 

Picture
On 6 May 2011 five army Medal of Honor recipients one from the US Air Force and one from the US Marine Corps ...Woody himself... arrived in Indiana to officially cut the ribbon that opened the newly named bridge. The heroes first held a ceremony in the town and took questions from the audience and then actually autographed the signs that would later be mounted on the bridge with its new name. They were flown into town in a Huey helicopter and later in the day flown right onto the bridge to finish the ceremony there and do the ribbon cutting. Woody Williams is pictured at lower left and the first on the left.

It is hoped this ceremony will spur others on to take steps to name bridges and other structures across the US for these heroes. Canadians take note that we need to be doing much more of this for ALL our MOH and VC recipients.

Travelling eastward, there is a similar move in the state of New York where it is said that one out of 4 Medal of Honor recipients had a connection to the state . Many of these came from Canada as well. Senator Pat Ritchie has organized a display recognizing some of the 45 Medal of Honor recipients that came from her political jurisdiction. The display called the Hometown Heroes will be making its way throughout her state in museums and libraries and other public places during the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

Planning to take recognition even higher the senator has introduced legislation that would see some of the more than 20,000 bridges in the state renamed in honour of these men...and the lone woman from her state...Mary Walker who also was awarded the Medal of Honor. 

Information can be found on the net about her efforts.  But I would like to share this poster, symbolic of the others in her display.....

Picture




Regular visitor to this site known that James Allen came to the US from Canada and earned his Medal of Honor during Civil War days.

Later after his term of service ended he reenlisted in a railway unit. He actually worked on the building of the touring railway car for President Abe Lincoln.

But Abe saw the final product and did not like it.. he thought it was too elaborate and never road in it.

At least not while alive.

After he was assassinated the inside of the railway car was dismantled and rebuilt to accommodate the Lincoln coffin that travelled along so many miles and stops before finally getting to its place of rest.

Bart

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author;
    Bart Armstrong, C.D.,
    Recipient, Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers 

    Archives

    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly