A bridge in Richland Township has been renamed in honor of a Bucks County airman who was declared missing in action more than 55 years ago, during the Vietnam War.
Twenty-six year-old U.S. Air Force Maj. Donald Richard Kemmerer was on a mission in Vietnam’s Quang Binh Province on Aug. 6, 1967 when his plane was struck by ground fire and crashed into the sea.
His remains were never recovered.
“On behalf of my fellow Commissioners, we are honored to dedicate our first bridge of 2024 to Quakertown native Maj. Kemmerer, who went MIA in 1967,” Bucks County Commissioner Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia said Wednesday during a ceremony held at the bridge, which crosses Tohickon Creek on Erie Road just outside Quakertown borough.
“It is our hope, through these solemn dedications to the Bucks County men we lost in the Vietnam War, that their sacrifices will never be forgotten, and their legacies will live on forever in the places they called home,” she added.
A Quakertown native, Kemmerer graduated from Quakertown High School in 1959 and attended Pennsylvania State University, where he participated in the ROTC program. He graduated from college in 1963 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force. After he was declared missing, Kemmerer–who left behind a wife and son–was promoted to the rank of major.
The renamed bridge is part of Bucks County’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge Program, which was developed to honor the 136 county residents who died or were declared MIA during the war.
The Maj. Donald R. Kemmerer, USAF Memorial Bridge is the seventh county-owned bridge to have been named for a Vietnam War hero since 2022, the county said.
Bucks County administers the program in partnership with local veterans’ advocate Ed Preston and the Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
More information about the program is available online at BucksCounty.gov/MemorialBridges.
This local news story was reported with generative AI assistance.
Bucks County Bridge #356 in Richland Township has been renamed for a Quakertown airman who was declared missing in action while serving in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. The Maj. Donald R. Kemmerer, USAF Memorial Bridge is located on Erie Road just outside Quakertown borough. (Credit: County of Bucks)
Bucks County Board of Commissioners Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia addresses attendees at a ceremony held Wednesday, March 27 at the bridge that was renamed for Maj. Donald R. Kemmerer. (Credit: County of Bucks)
Veterans who attended the bridge naming ceremony take photos of the sign that was installed next to it. The Maj. Donald R. Kemmerer, USAF Memorial Bridge spans the Tohickon Creek in Richland Township. (Credit: County of Bucks)
