Bucks County last week dedicated bridge #34 in Bensalem in honor of U.S. Army Cpl. Hugh William Elmore, a county resident who was killed in action during the Vietnam War.
Known to his friends as “Hughie,” Elmore grew up in orphanages before coming to St. Francis Industrial School in Bensalem at age 11. He spent seven years at the school before enlisting in the Army at 17.
“He didn’t leave a family behind… but the fact that we are here, the fact that this bridge now bears his name, means that people will always see it, they will always remember,” said Commissioner Vice Chair Bob Harvie. “And so for him, like so many other Vietnam veterans, it’s an honor to say one last time, ‘welcome home.”
During his deployment to Vietnam, Elmore was mortally wounded by an exploding mortar shell and died March 25, 1966, in a military field hospital after. He was just days from marking his 19th birthday. He is buried on the grounds of St. Francis Industrial School.
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The bridge dedicated in Elmore’s honor crosses Poquessing Creek along Century Lane connecting Philadelphia and Bensalem Township. It is the twenty third County-owned bridge since 2022 to be named for a local soldier lost in the Vietnam War.
Credit: Submitted
The dedications are part of the County’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge Program, which honors the 136 Bucks County residents lost in the Vietnam War. The County administers the program in partnership with Bucks County-based veterans’ advocate Ed Preston, who chairs the Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (PAVVMF).
Credit: Bucks County
Credit: Bucks County
To learn more about the program and the men it is meant to honor, please visit this link.
To see more photos from Tuesday’s ceremony, visit the County’s Flickr page.
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