Headstones mark the graves at Arlington National Cemetery on Jan. 24, 2019.
Tim Lambert / WITF
Headstones mark the graves at Arlington National Cemetery on Jan. 24, 2019.
Tim Lambert / WITF
A Marine from Perry County who was killed in Iraq is being remembered in his community.A bridge has been named in his honor.
Lance Corporal Jason Frye of Landisburg was just 19-years-old when he was killed outside Fallujah in a roadside bombing on October 6, 2005.
Several months later, his mother Connie spoke with WITF and reflected on her son’s impact on everyone he met.
“The number of people he’s impacted. He’s changed their lives forever,” she said. “I’m not talking about the lives of classmates that he went to school with. I’m talking about changing adults’ lives.”
During the same interview, his father Gary, said he believed his son’s memory will live on.
“We’re kind of hoping he’ll never be forgotten and with the kind of community support we’re getting I’m sure that will never happen,” he said.
Nearly 19 years later, the Lance Corporal Jason Frye Memorial Bridge on Route 233 over Sherman Creek in Tyrone Township will serve as a reminder of his sacrifice to all who cross it.
“I’m deeply grateful for Jason’s selflessness and I trust that the Lance Corporal Jason Frye Memorial Bridge will stand as visual reminder of Jason’s life, heroism, and sacrifice,” said Republican state Senator Greg Rothman, whose district includes Perry County. “We vow to always remember Lance Corporal Frye and to keep his family and friends in our prayers.
Frye is buried at the Mount Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery.
He would have turned 38-years-old this year.
*On Memorial Day, 2006, WITF aired a 30 minute documentary produced by Tim Lambert that profiled three servicemen from central Pennsylvania who lost their lives in Iraq and how their families are dealing with their deaths:
Marine Lance Corporal Nicholas Morrison
Marine Lance Corporal Jason Frye
PA National Guard Staff Sergeant Keith Bennett
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