A Bucks County-owned bridge in Bedminster Township has been named in honor of Patrick Breslin, a 19-year-old Army specialist and county resident who was killed in a helicopter crash in the South China Sea during the Vietnam War.
Spanning Deep Run on Rolling Hills Road, the bridge was dedicated to Breslin in a ceremony Tuesday. It is the eleventh county-owned bridge to be named after a local soldier as part of the county’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge Program, which was developed in 2022 in partnership with Bucks County-based veterans’ advocate and Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Ed Preston. In total, 136 Bucks County residents made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam, a county news release about the ceremony said.
Breslin was a crew chief and door gunner aboard a Bell UH-1H Huey helicopter stationed at Chu Lai when it crashed during a night perimeter detail on Oct. 17, 1971. Two other crew members were killed in the crash. The fourth member of the crew and sole survivor later reported that the men on board the chopper heard a loud thump against the aircraft just before the crash.
“As you’ve heard, Patrick was 19 years old when he lost his life,” said Bucks County Commission Vice Chair Bob Harvie during Tuesday’s ceremony. “It is young men and women who we task with the protection and defense of this country, and of liberty around the world. And it’s all the more heartbreaking when that sacrifice is the ultimate one.”
After attending Pennridge High School, Bresline enlisted in the Army in June 1970 and later received helicopter training at Fort Rucker, Ala. He was deployed to Vietnam in May 1971.
Breslin is buried at St. Agnes Catholic Cemetery in Sellersville.
To learn more about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge Program and who it is meant to honor, visit BucksCounty.gov/MemorialBridges.
This local news story was reported with generative AI assistance.
Above, from left, Veterans Advocate Peter Chong, from the office of Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick; Commissioner Vice Chair Bob Harvie; Jessica Bonner, sister of SP4 Patrick J. Breslin; Bucks County Veterans Affairs Director Matt Allen; Mike Bonner, holding a framed photo of Breslin; Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo; and PAVVMF Chair Ed Preston. (Credit: County of Bucks)