Local News

Bridge to be dedicated to memory of Marine

ELKINS -- The Isner Creek Bridge in Elkins will be renamed Saturday in memory of a 20-year-old U.S. Marine killed in the line of duty in South Vietnam.

The U.S. Marine Corps LCpl Fred Michael Kerns Memorial Bridge will be dedicated in a ceremony at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Isner Creek Bridge located on Beverly Five-lane near the old Rite Aid site near Elkins Fordland.

Kerns served as a member of a helicopter flight crew in Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167 (HML-167), Marine Air Group 16 (MAG-16), 1st Marine Air Wing, Third Marine Amphibious Force.

He lost his life on July 29, 1969, when a helicopter in which he was serving as a member of the aircrew experienced an engine failure and crashed in Da Nang Bay in Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam.

During the past legislative session, the West Virginia Legislature approved Senate Concurrent Resolution No.19 to allow the bridge to be renamed in Kerns' honor.