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Pocono News Section
PFC Justin W. Dreese Memorial Highway Dedication
PFC Justin W. Dreese Memorial Highway Dedication - Friday, April 16, 2010 at 04:09AM EST
Reported by: Jeremy Deebel
Friday April 16 2010
A touching tribute will honor a fallen soldier from central Pennsylvania for years to come. Eyewitness News was there as a highway in Snyder County was dedicated to the memory of Justin Dreese.
With the unveiling of a sign- and a heartfelt round of applause- a portion of Route 35 will forever be known as the PFC Justin W. Dreese Memorial Highway. Justin's father, Wesley Dreese, recalled, "He was very loving, caring, liked to make people laugh, just a brave young man."
Dreese was on his third tour of duty in September of 2006, when he died from injuries suffered during a mortar attack in Iraq. He previously served in Afghanistan and El Salvador. State Representative Merle Phillips said, "It's a small thing that we can do to dedicate this highway to this young man."
Now, just under a year after the highway dedication was first proposed, dozens of people gathered here along Route 35 for this touching tribute to a fallen hero.
We're told Dreese was an accomplished paratrooper. The road named in his honor Friday runs right through his hometown of Freeburg. VFW Post 6631 Quartermaster Harold Aucker noted, "The marker is a nice thing, but it'll never really tell what he did for our country."
Aucker has known the Dreese family for years. He was one of the driving forces behind the highway dediction. Aucker explained, "I saw the pain and agony they were going through and I just felt something more had to be done."
Wesley Dreese added, "We think about Justin every day. People driving by will see this sign now. They'll remember him too, for decades to come."
Justin Dreese was a 2004 graduate of Selinsgrove High School. He was 21 years old at the time of his death. | | |
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