In a solemn nod to a local hero's ultimate sacrifice, the County of Bucks has named Bridge #304 after U.S. Army First Lieutenant Lee Fulton Clickner, who lost his life while serving in Vietnam. Clickner, a Langhorne native and Penn State University alumnus, was felled by small arms fire during a patrol mission in Quang Nga Province on October 25, 1969, as detailed on Bucks County's official website.
At age 24, after having worked as an accountant, Clickner joined the Army in 1968, only to meet his untimely end a year later. Admired in his high school days for his wrestling prowess, the dedication of this bridge is a physical manifestation remembering a man who was once a champion in his community. "We don’t know the circumstances specific of [1LT Clickner’s] death and of the patrol he was on, but we can probably rest assured that as someone who was recognized as officer candidate material, and as someone who achieved that rank, that he certainly would have done everything he could do to protect the rest of his men, even if it cost him his own life," Commissioner Chair Bob Harvie told Bucks County Government officials during the dedication ceremony.
The bridge, carrying memories and traffic over Core Creek along Silver Lake Road, is the nineteenth to be dedicated to a local Vietnam War soldier. It forms a part of the larger narrative the County's Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge Program has been weaving, honoring the 136 Bucks County residents who were claimed by that distant war. In partnership with veterans’ advocate Ed Preston, who chairs the Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (PAVVMF), these dedications piece together a mosaic of remembrance and acknowledgment.
"This honor is obviously the least we can do to recognize him and make sure that his name will be remembered, on behalf of a grateful county and a grateful nation," reflected Harvie, according to a statement obtained from the Bucks County Government website.
