Doylestown, Chalfont, Warminster Vietnam veterans to get bridges named in their honor

Two deceased Vietnam War servicemen from Warminster, anotehr from Doylestown, and a third from Chalfont are four of six veterans to be commemorated this year by the Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund with bridges dedicated in their names.

The PAVVMF works to recognize the Vietnam War sacrifices of servicemen from throughout Bucks County and its environs with bridge dedications, six of which will be conducted with Bucks County between April and October.

Servicemen from Andalusia, Chalfont, Doylestown, Levittown, and Warminster will be remembered during ceremonies scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on each of the following Tuesdays: April 21; May 26; June 9; July 21; September 29; and October 13.

Specific bridges to be named in honor of the fallen will be announced at a later date.

All six honorees died during the Vietnam War:

• U.S. Army Cpl. John Michael Lyons of Andalusia, who died Sept. 16, 1968, a casualty of an enemy ambush.
• U.S. Army SP4 Ronald Anthony Longfellow of Chalfont, who succumbed Jan. 19, 1972 to injuries inflicted the previous month by an enemy booby trap.
• U.S. Navy Lt. William Charles Vasey of Doylestown, who was killed by enemy fire on Jan. 7, 1971.
• U.S. Army Sgt. Robert Post Hampton of Levittown, who was killed by hostile fire on June 29, 1968.
• U.S. Navy Hospitalman William James Barr of Warminster, who died of malaria on July 16, 1968.
• U.S. Army Sgt. Charles Paul Montross of Warminster, who was killed in a friendly fire incident on Feb. 11, 1971.

“Every time we commemorate a bridge, we are reminded of the voids that the deaths of the fallen in Vietnam left in the lives of their loved ones,” said Ed Preston, chairman of the PAVVMF, said in a news release. “We’re hopeful that these ceremonies will help to heal the hearts of their brothers, sisters, cousins, friends and descendants and will keep the memories of their sacrfices and service alive.”

To date the the PAVVMF has dedicated 25 bridges in conjunction with Bucks County, PennDOT and/or local municipalities.

The PAVVMF previously created and in 2021 dedicated the Lower Bucks County Vietnam Veterans Memorial to Lower Bucks victims of the Vietnam War; its members also spearheaded a visit by the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall to Bucks County in 2017.