Franklin County Roads Memorialize Fallen Soldiers

During the Mont Alto Christmas tree-lighting ceremony on Dec. 3, our community unveiled the signs dedicating the portion of Route 997 within the borough as the Sgt. Edward W. Shaffer Memorial Highway.

The first soldier from Franklin County to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Sgt. Shaffer was on combat operations in Ramadi in November 2006 when his vehicle was attacked by an improvised explosive device. He suffered serious burns over most of his body and died from those injuries in December 2006.

It was an honor for me to author legislation naming this roadway for Sgt. Shaffer and his family, and to shepherd it through the legislative process to Gov. Tom Corbett’s desk.

I have also begun the process to name additional roads in the 90th Legislative District – Route 16 in Greencastle, and Grant Street in Waynesboro – for Franklin County patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice during combat against terrorists and insurgents in Afghanistan:

• Sgt. Richard Tieman of Waynesboro, a newlywed who was only two months from returning home from Afghanistan, was killed in Kabul when a suicide bomber attacked Tieman’s convoy on May 27, 2010.

• After 19 years in the Army, Sgt. Benjamin Bitner of Greencastle, a highly decorated Special Forces soldier and father of two who served in Africa, Kosovo, Kuwait, and Iraq, was killed in an explosion during a firefight in Khandahar on April 23, 2011.

These signs are meaningful. Not only do they memorialize citizens from Franklin County who volunteered to become soldiers fighting for the freedoms we enjoy every day, they also cause us to take a moment and think about all those who went before them, and the ones who will go after.