OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – A bill sponsored by State Representative R. Lee James, R-Venango County, Butler County, to designate the portion of U.S. Route 62 over the Allegheny River in Oil City as the Specialist Jonathan R. Kephart Memorial Bridge was approved by Governor Wolf on July 20.

(Pictured above: Specialist Jonathan R. Kephart)

Kephart, originally from Oil City, was a member of the Kaiserslautern, Germany -based 2nd Squad, 4th Platoon, 230th Military Police Company until his death on April 8, 2004, at age 21.

In James’s House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda, he wrote, “On (Kephart’s) tenth day of duty in Iraq, his unit was tasked with a rescue mission to assist another Military Police unit surrounded by enemy combatants. It was a four-kilometer drive through hostile territory.”

“As part of a three-vehicle convoy, Jonathan fired his .50 caliber machine gun and other weapons against what became a 300-500 man enemy force, all armed with small arms, mortars, RPGs, and IEDs. He was witnessed inflicting numerous enemy casualties and is attributed with preventing his small force from being overrun.”

“Sadly he received mortal wounds during the fight, the only trooper in his unit to perish that day. He was truly Proven in Battle.”

The bill requested that the Petroleum Street Bridge over the Allegheny River in Oil City be renamed as the Specialist Jonathan R. Kephart Memorial Bridge.

(Photo and additional information provided by silentmissionary.org and iraqwarheroes.org.)