Jun 6, 2017 4 min read

After graduating from Jefferson-Morgan High School in 1963, Brent A. McClellan might have gone on to college or found a job working with cars, something he loved to do while growing up in Clarksville.

Instead, McClellan answered the call to duty, joining the U.S. Army in May 1965.

Less than a year later, on Feb. 28, 1966, Pfc. McClellan, 21, was killed in an ambush in Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam, while assigned to the 1st Platoon, B Company, 5th Cavalry in the Army’s 1st Cavalry Division.

A bill recently introduced in the state House by Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, will ensure McClellan’s sacrifice will not be forgotten.

On Monday, the House unanimously approved House Bill 952 to name a Greene County bridge as the Pfc. Brent A. McClellan Memorial Bridge.

“Army Private Brent McClellan gave his life on behalf of his country more than 51 years ago, and this tribute is long overdue,” Snyder said in a prepared statement.

“With the Senate’s concurrence, the bridge along Castile Run Road spanning the South Fork of Tenmile Creek between Jefferson Township and Clarksville Borough will forever honor this young patriot.”

McClellan was born March 18, 1944, the son of the late George McClellan Jr. and Rowena Wise McClellan, according to his obituary.

“He was very outgoing in high school and played first-string football and first-string baseball,” said his older sister, Pam Swan of East Liverpool, Ohio. McClellan also was on the track team.

“He was very easy to get along with and had a lot of friends,” she said. In fact, he was voted the “most popular boy” by classmates upon graduation, Swan said.

Swan, 80, was six years older than her brother. He was the youngest of the three siblings.

Swan said she remembers her parents talking about McClellan possibly going to college following graduation, though that never came about.

She wasn’t sure what plans he might have had for his life. “But he really liked working on cars in high school. He was always messing with cars,” she said.

McClellan took basic training at Fort Gordon, Ga., and advanced training at Fort Dix, N.J., according to his obituary.

He was a member of the honor guard at Fort Myers, Va., and just before going overseas in December 1965, served on the honor guard at the grave of President John F. Kennedy.

McClellan died of wounds suffered in an ambush in an area about 20 miles north of Saigon. Swan, who was living in Midland at the time, said she remembers “plain as day” getting the telephone call.

The call came about 1 p.m. She picked it up and someone asked for her. “I knew it was about my brother; I sensed it,” she said. She quickly handed the phone to her husband, who received the news.

McClellan received the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

Snyder recalled how news of his death reverberated through the community.

“We cannot repay the sacrifice of those who gave their lives defending us, but at the very least, we can and we must remember them,” she said.

Swan said her niece had apparently contacted Snyder’s office about doing something to honor her brother.

“I think it’s wonderful; I just love it that it was even considered,” she said. People who may drive across the bridge in the future may ask “Who was Brent McClellan?” she said.

“Somebody there might be able to tell him that he was one of the young men who died fighting for this country in Vietnam.”

Once the Senate approves the bill and it is signed into law, a ceremony will be scheduled to dedicate the bridge in McClellan’s honor, Snyder’s office said.