WARMINSTER TOWNSHIP, PA — A Lower Bucks County bridge has been renamed in honor of a William Tennent High School graduate who died in the Vietnam War.
The Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and Bucks County honored U.S. Navy Hospitalman William James Barr during a ceremony on Tuesday.
Bucks County Bridge #140 on Valley Road, next to Kemper Park in Warminster and Warrington townships, was dedicated to Barr's memory.
At just 19, Barr was killed in action on July 17, 1968, during the Vietnam War. Bucks County Bridge #140 on Valley Road, next to Kemper Park in Warminster/Warrington Township, was dedicated in his name.
Barr grew up in the shadow of the Naval Air Development Center (NADC) in Warminster.
Born on Sept. 22, 1948 ,to George and Marjorie Miller Barr, William Barr lived on Orchid Lane and was a member of the soccer team at William Tennent High School, from which he graduated in 1966.
He enlisted in the Navy in September of that year, just two days before his 18th birthday.
Barr completed the Basic Hospital Corps School at the United States Naval Hospital in San Diego. He was stationed at Naval Station, Treasure Island, San Francisco before being sent to Vietnam in April 1967.
Early in 1968, Barr was sent to Khe Sanh, where he served as a Marine Corpsman. While on patrol, Barr was injured by shrapnel from a land mine and was subsequently awarded the Purple Heart.
By July 1968, the United States was withdrawing all forces from Khe Sahn. Barr was on one of the last flights out.
One week later, he was transferred to a hospital in Saigon, where he died from malaria on July 16, 1968.
Barr was awarded a Purple Heart, the National Defense Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal. He is interred at Sunset Memorial Park in Huntingdon Valley.
(Centennial School District)
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