A few blocks from Independence Drive, where Nate DeTample grew up, more than 100 family, friends, military service members, dignitaries and Falls Township community members gathered to honor the young man gone too soon.
Nate, a 2004 Pennsbury High School graduate who died on Aug. 6, 2005, while serving with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in Iraq, will be forever remembered with the renaming of the Alden Avenue bridge to PFC Nathaniel E. DeTample Memorial Bridge.
Veterans, family and dignitaries alike attended a dedication ceremony to recognize the hometown hero who died at 19 years old. A Boy Scout with troop 46 who rose to the rank of Eagle Scout, Nate wrestled for Pennsbury. During high school he joined the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and went on to join the ROTC. While studying criminal justice at Shippensburg University, Nate was deployed to Iraq.
His convoy was attacked and Nate, along with five other service members, died that week. Nate was posthumously awarded a purple heart, as well as an infantry badge.
While reflecting on Nate’s significance to his Falls Township community, as well as his military service, one of the speakers noted, “this bridge will do more than carry traffic. It will carry a legacy.”
Ed Preston, who worked to have the bridge renamed in Nate’s honor, urged those in attendance to support Nate’s family, as well as the families of other fallen veterans.
“A gold star family lives every day in a club they didn’t want to be a member of,” he said. “We as a community have to remember and support that family. Nate and his brothers and sisters served for us … We need to repay him in kind to make sure that his sacrifice, their sacrifice, wasn’t in vain.”
Nate’s mother, Kim DeTample Cunningham, said the bridge is not just for her son, but also for “all who gave the ultimate sacrifice.”
“I know, without a doubt, that Nate is smiling down from heaven,” she said, adding that the placement on Alden Avenue was fitting. “Nate grew up near here on Independence Drive.”
During the ceremony a representative from Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick’s office presented her with a flag that had flown in Washington D.C. A representative from State Sen. Steve Santarsiero’s office presented her with a citation recognizing Nate.
The military color guard opened the ceremony by presenting the national flag and unit colors. The Men of Harmony sang toward the end of the event, which was capped with Cunningham unveiling one of two green and white bridge signs.
