Teen Killed In Vietnam Remembered With Bridge Dedication In Bucks

BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP, PA — Bucks County this week dedicated county-owned bridge No. 48 in Bedminster Township in memory of U.S. Army Specialist 4th Class (SP4) Patrick J. Breslin, a Bucks County resident who died while serving in the Vietnam War.

Breslin, 19, was serving as crew chief and door gunner aboard a Bell UH-1H Huey helicopter that crashed on Oct. 17, 1971, in the South China Sea killing Breslin and two others.

The four-man chopper crew stationed at Chu Lai had been assigned the night perimeter detail amid deteriorating weather conditions. The lone surviving crew member later reported that the men on board heard a loud thump against the aircraft just before the crash.

After attending Pennridge High School, Breslin entered the Army in June 1970, received helicopter training at Fort Rucker, Alabama, and was sent to Vietnam in May 1971.

“As you’ve heard, Patrick was 19 years old when he lost his life,” said Commissioner Vice Chair Bob Harvie. “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.”

Breslin had been in Vietnam five months before his death. He is buried in Sellersville at St. Agnes Catholic Cemetery.

Jessica Bonner, sister of SP4 Patrick J. Breslin,was given the honor of unveiling the sign bearing her brother's name. (Bucks County)

A photograph of U.S. Army Specialist 4th Class (SP4) Patrick J. Breslin. (Bucks County)

The bridge named for Breslin crosses Deep Run along Rolling Hills Road in Bedminster Township. It is the 11th county-owned bridge since 2022 to be named for a local soldier lost in the Vietnam War.

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).

To learn more about the program and the men it is meant to honor, visit BucksCounty.gov/MemorialBridges.

The bridge named for Breslin crosses Deep Run along Rolling Hills Road in Bedminster Township. It is the 11th county-owned bridge since 2022 to be named for a local soldier lost in the Vietnam War. (Bucks County)