THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HOUSE BILL

INTRODUCED BY BROOKS, S. H. SMITH, TURZAI, STEVENSON, SAYLOR, MAJOR, GEIST, LONGIETTI, REED, VEREB, ADOLPH, AUMENT, BAKER, BARRAR, BEAR, BENNINGHOFF, BLOOM, BOBACK, BOYD, BRENNAN, CAUSER, CHRISTIANA, CLYMER, COX, CREIGHTON, CURRY, CUTLER, DALEY, DAY, DELOZIER, DENLINGER, DiGIROLAMO, DUNBAR, ELLIS, EMRICK, EVANKOVICH, J. EVANS, EVERETT, FLECK, GABLER, GEORGE, GILLEN, GILLESPIE, GINGRICH, GODSHALL, GRELL, GROVE, HACKETT, HAHN, HARHART, HARPER, HARRIS, HEFFLEY, HELM, HENNESSEY, HESS, HICKERNELL, HORNAMAN, HUTCHINSON, KAUFFMAN, M.K. KELLER, KNOWLES, KORTZ, KRIEGER, MAHER, MALONEY, MARSHALL, MARSICO, METCALFE, METZGAR, MICCARELLI, MICOZZIE, MILLARD, MILLER, MILNE, MOUL, MURT, MUSTIO, OBERLANDER, D. O'BRIEN, O'NEILL, PAYNE, PEIFER, PERRY, PETRI, PYLE, QUIGLEY, QUINN, RAPP, REESE, REICHLEY, ROAE, ROCK, SACCONE, SCAVELLO, SCHRODER, SONNEY, STEPHENS, STERN, SWANGER, TALLMAN, J. TAYLOR, TOEPEL, VULAKOVICH, WATSON AND YOUNGBLOOD, FEBRUARY 2, 2011

REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, FEBRUARY 2, 2011  

AN ACT

Designating the Shenango River Bridge, which carries State Route

322 over the Shenango River in Jamestown Borough, Mercer

County, as the Staff Sergeant David M. Veverka Veterans

Memorial Bridge.

The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

hereby enacts as follows:

Section 1.  Staff Sergeant David M. Veverka Memorial Bridge. 

(a)  Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as

follows:

(1)  Staff Sergeant David M. Veverka, age 25, a native of

Jamestown, Pennsylvania, was killed in action on May 6, 2006,

in Iraq while serving on active duty with the Maine National

Guard's B Company, 3rd Battalion of the 172nd Infantry.

Sergeant Veverka was traveling with his convoy south of

Baghdad when an improvised explosive device exploded and hit

the vehicle he was riding in, and he died a few hours later

at a military hospital in Baghdad. Sergeant Veverka was

credited with helping to save the life of a fellow soldier in

the truck by pulling that soldier down inside the vehicle as

the roadside bomb exploded.

(2)  Sergeant Veverka was posthumously awarded both the

Bronze Star and the Purple Heart by the United States Army.

He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, where he had

once participated in ceremonies as a member of the United

States Army's Old Guard.

(3)  Born September 15, 1980, Sergeant Veverka graduated

from Jamestown Area High School in 1998 and enlisted in the

United States Army in 1999, serving in the Airborne Division.

He was stationed at Fort Myer, Virginia, until 2002 when he

was discharged. While serving at Fort Myer, he was selected

to serve in the elite Old Guard (3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment),

which is the oldest active infantry regiment in the army and  

responsible for guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier,

protecting Washington, D.C., and presiding over military and

state funerals at Arlington National Cemetery.

(4)  After his discharge, Veverka enrolled at the

University of Maine and joined the Maine National Guard in

order to pay for college. He received a posthumous magna cum

laude bachelor of science degree in wildlife ecology from the

University of Maine.

(5)  As a member of the Maine National Guard, he was

deployed to Fort Dix, New Jersey, in January of 2006 before

being deployed to Kuwait in March of 2006. In April of 2006,

he was deployed to Iraq.

(b)  Designation.--The Shenango River Bridge, which carries

State Route 322 over the Shenango River in Jamestown Borough,

Mercer County, is hereby designated as the Staff Sergeant David

M. Veverka Veterans Memorial Bridge.

(c)  Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and

maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the bridge to

traffic in both directions.

Section 2.  Effective date.

This act shall take effect in 60 days.