Bill to honor local fallen heroes approved by state House committee
A measure to honor a former Greene County sheriff who died while serving his community was approved by the state House Transportation Committee.
State Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Greene/Fayette/Washington, said House Bill 2088 would honor former Greene County Sheriff Brian Tennant – among two others from Western Pennsylvania who served their country in the armed forces.
A bridge on state Route 2003, also known as S. Porter Street over the South Fork Tenmile Creek in Waynesburg will be designated as the Sheriff Brian A. Tennant Memorial Bridge. In January 2010, Tennant saved several lives from a house fire and was later elected sheriff in Greene County for two terms. Tennant passed away Feb. 27 at the age of 35.
The interchange of state Route 43, also known as the Mon-Fayette Expressway, with U.S. Route 40, known as Exit 22, in Redstone Township, Fayette County, will be designated as the PFC Joseph Frank Duda Memorial Interchange. The Brownsville native served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II. Duda was a member of the First Battalion, Seventh Marines, Third Marine Brigade, and the Fleet Marine Force aboard the USS Fuller. He died in the line of duty Jan. 9, 1944.
The interchange of U.S. Route 40 with state Route 4035, also known as Market Street and Spring Street in Brownsville, Fayette County, will be designated as the CPL Denny Ray Easter Memorial Interchange. Easter joined the U.S. Army in 1970 and served in the Vietnam War as an infantryman with the 198th Light Infantry Brigade, 5th Battalion, 46th Infantry, B Company. On Jan. 31, 1971, he was killed in the line of duty in the Quang Tin providence of South Vietnam at the age of 20.
“I am pleased that my colleagues approved my bill to honor our local heroes,” Snyder said. “These honorable men deserve recognition for their service and sacrifices to our country and our community, putting their very lives on the line to protect the freedoms we hold dear.”