Indiana Co. Vet Honored With Interchange Dedication
BURRELL TOWNSHIP (KDKA) – An Indiana County veteran who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving in Afghanistan in 2009 was remembered in a special way this Memorial Day weekend.
Every day, thousands of people will see the name of Staff Sgt. Glen Stivison, Jr. when they pass through the interchange at Routes 22 and 119 in Indiana County.
Sgt. Stivison, a native of Homer City, was killed in Afghanistan in October of 2009, and this Memorial Day weekend, a service was held to rename the interchange in his honor.
"He will be remembered," said Brigadier Gen. Walter Lord, of the U.S. Army. "A tribute that pales in comparison to his noble and valorous action, but one that he has rightly earned."
Several hundred people, including family, friends, veterans and active-duty service members attended the ceremony.
Sgt. Stivison was a 1994 graduate of Blairsville High School and a highly-decorated veteran who had spent 13 years in the military.
In 2009, he made the ultimate sacrifice in the Kandahar province in Afghanistan.
"They were responding to a distress call from another platoon," said Spec. Bill Stivison, Sgt. Stivison's brother. "So they went to help them, and his vehicle was the lead vehicle was hit by an IED, and him and all of them on board were killed."
"By his actions in Kandahar in 2009, Staff Sgt. Stivison has earned his rightful place among those bravest of warriors," said Gen. Lord during the dedication ceremony.
Sgt. Stivison left behind a wife and two sons.
His parents wanted to honor him during the Memorial Day weekend.
"Everybody thinks about picnics and sales and everything else, and we wanted to put more emphasis on the real reason for Memorial Day," said Jan Stivison, Sgt. Stivison's mother.
"I think that it's great that they named this after him; he'll be remembered for a long time now," his father, Glen Stivison, Sr., added.
RELATED LINKS
Evans City Marine Gets Warm Welcome Home From Afghanistan
Memorial Day Guide
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