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    Bridge bill signed
July 1, 2009

Rendell signs bill for naming Wallace bridge in Sharpsville

SHARPSVILLE — Sharpsville’s Sgt. David W. Wallace III, who was killed in January in Afghanistan, will soon have a bridge named in his honor after Gov. Ed Rendell signed the piece of legislation Monday.

The bridge will also include Wallace’s high school nickname, “Walleye,” which his mother Carol Wallace said followed him into the military.

“I have a picture of when my son came home from Iraq, from his first deployment, and on his helmet was ‘Walleye,’ ” she said. “So I knew home went with him.”

The nickname stayed with Wallace through three deployments, Mrs. Wallace said, and it meant something to him.

She said with a laugh that he’d picked up other nicknames while serving with the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division. “I just learned they called him Garfield when he was in Afghanistan,” she said.

But he took ‘Walleye’ with him. “So I know that Sharpsville was always in his heart.”

Now Wallace will always be a part of Sharpsville. There will be a dedication ceremony later this year and signs will be created for the Sgt. David W. Wallace III “Walleye” Memorial Bridge, which is on Walnut Street and crosses the Shenango River.

No memorial is what a parent wants for their child, Mrs. Wallace said.

But having it as part of Sharpsville will bring honor to both her son and the area’s other fallen heroes.

“It’s not just about David. It’s about all the fallen heroes,” she said.

A member of the Blue Devil football and wrestling teams, 25-year-old Wallace was the first Mercer County native to be killed in action in Afghanistan since the U.S. invaded to oust the Taliban.

Wallace was killed by an improvised explosive device at 10 a.m. Jan. 26 while on duty in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.

The bill was introduced by state Rep. Mark Longietti, Hermitage, D-7th District, and supported by Sharpsville Mayor Kenneth P. Robertson and state Sen. Robert D. Robbins, Salem Township, R-50th District.

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