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Bill would name section of Route 35 for fallen soldier
FREEBURG — A state route may be named for a 21-year-old Freeburg soldier who died in the line of duty three years ago.
Once passed by the state Senate, House Bill 1783, authored by Rep. Russell H. Fairchild, R-85 of Lewisburg, will name a stretch of Route 35 from Selinsgrove to the Snyder County line near Richfield the Justin W. Dreese Memorial Highway.
Dreese died from injuries suffered during a mortar attack in Iraq on Sept. 2, 2006.
The bill was unanimously endorsed by the state House on Monday.
“Our family is comforted that Justin’s memory will live on,” Wesley Dreese, Justin’s father, said Monday. “The sign will be a permanent tribute to the sacrifice he made to his country.”
Dreese said Harold Aucker, of the Selinsgrove Veterans of Foreign Wars post, requested the legislation.
“Justin was truly an American patriot — believing in America and its missions to protect those who cannot yet protect themselves,” Fairchild said in a press release Monday. “Those are the types of individuals who make great soldiers, and I am pleased this section of Route 35 will be named for Justin, and all who travel this roadway will be reminded of the ultimate sacrifice he made for his country.”
State Rep. Merle H. Phillips, R-108 of RR2 Sunbury, was a co-sponsor of the legislation.
Dreese, a private first class, was a 2004 graduate of Selinsgrove Area High School. He was an accomplished paratrooper, serving on three tours of duty in just three years.
He was deployed in 2005 to Afghanistan, in early 2006 to El Salvador and in July 2006 to Iraq.
“It’s been over three years now since it happened, and we grieve every day still,” his father said. “Only in our faith in God, we know that we’ll see him again some day.”
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