County To Dedicate Noah Bledsoe Road To Fallen Vietnam Soldier This Saturday

Mrs. Linda Hodges presents a memorial sign at fiscal court on behalf of her later brother, Elzie Sanders, Jr.

Darren Doyle, story: Moriah Peterson, photo:
A ceremony for the first county road to be dedicated to a local fallen soldier has been scheduled for Saturday, June 16, 2018 at the Otter Gap Church parking lot at 10am.

Noah Bledsoe Road will be the first county road to be dedicated to a fallen soldier, which will be U.S. Army Specialist Fourth Class Elzie Sanders, Jr., who was killed in action on November 12, 1967 in the Vietnam war. The county passed an ordinance in the spring of this year that will allow the public to memorialize a local county road where a soldier killed in action once lived.

SP4 Sanders' sister, Linda Hodges attended today's fiscal court meeting to present the signs that will be installed by the county road department. Under the ordinance, any county road is eligible to be memorialized if certain guidelines are followed, such as:  the fallen soldier must have been a resident of the county and lived on the particular county road for request, must have died in battle with documented proof of service provided, the sign dimension guidelines must be followed, and the county road department must be in charge of the sign installation.

Mrs. Hodges has invited the public to attend the ceremony this Saturday. 

"This thrills my heart to know this is happening," she said. "I was always afraid my brother would be forgotten, so I'm very grateful to the county for allowing us to do this."