HB 953 — An Act designating a bridge, identified as Bridge Key 22726, carrying Pennsylvania Route 934 over Swatara Creek in East Hanover Township, Lebanon County, as the WO1 John Stephen Chrin Memorial Bridge.

PRINTER'S NO.    1020

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                         HOUSE BILL
                         No. 953
                                                Session of
                                                  2025

     INTRODUCED BY DIAMOND, GREINER, KAUFFMAN, STAATS, JAMES,
        HADDOCK, ROWE, BANTA AND BOROWSKI, MARCH 18, 2025

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, MARCH 18, 2025


                                     AN ACT
 1   Designating a bridge, identified as Bridge Key 22726, carrying
 2      Pennsylvania Route 934 over Swatara Creek in East Hanover
 3      Township, Lebanon County, as the WO1 John Stephen Chrin
 4      Memorial Bridge.
 5      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 6   hereby enacts as follows:
 7   Section 1.     WO1 John Stephen Chrin Memorial Bridge.
 8      (a)   Findings.--The General Assembly finds that:
 9            (1)   John Stephen Chrin was born June 24, 1949, in
10      Lebanon, Lebanon County.
11            (2)   Warrant Officer Chrin graduated from Lebanon
12      Catholic High School in 1967 and eventually attended
13      Mansfield State College.
14            (3)   In 1970, during his junior year, Warrant Officer
15      Chrin left Mansfield State College and enlisted in the United
16      States Army on April 28, 1970.
17            (4)   In the Army, Warrant Officer Chrin attended Warrant
18      Officer Flight School and became a combat medical evacuation
19      (DUSTOFF) pilot with the rank of Warrant Officer 1.
 1            (5)    Warrant Officer Chrin arrived in Vietnam on July 5,
 2      1971, and was assigned to the 57 Medical Detachment
 3      (Helicopter Ambulance) 68 Medical Group (the original
 4      DUSTOFF), at Bing Thuy in the Mekong Delta.
 5            (6)    On October 13, 1971, Warrant Officer Chrin was
 6      killed in action while his DUSTOFF 71 was on a MEDVAC mission
 7      and crashed during a night DUSTOFF flight in monsoon rains in
 8      the Seven Sisters Mountains on the Cambodian border. Five
 9      bodies were recovered.
10            (7)    At the time of his death, Warrant Officer Chrin had
11      flown more than 125 combat medical evacuation missions
12      through the Delta area of Vietnam.
13            (8)    Warrant Officer Chrin and his crew and another 3,200
14      other DUSTOFF crew members flew more than 490,000 combat
15      medical evacuation missions, rescuing more than 900,000
16      wounded, at a cost of 216 killed in action and 1,300 wounded.
17            (9)    Warrant Officer Chrin was awarded the Purple Heart,
18      six Air medals, a National Defense medal, the Vietnam Service
19      Medal and the Aviator Badge for his meritorious service.
20            (10)    Warrant Officer Chrin is memorialized on the
21      Vietnam Veterans War Memorial on panel 2W, line 38.
22            (11)    To honor his memory, in 2015, the Mayor of Lebanon
23      proclaimed every October 13 as "John Stephen Chrin Day" in
24      the city.
25      (b)   Designation.--The bridge, identified as Bridge Key
26   22726, carrying Pennsylvania Route 934 over Swatara Creek in
27   East Hanover Township, Lebanon County, is designated the WO1
28   John Stephen Chrin Memorial Bridge.
29      (c)   Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
30   maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the bridge to

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1   traffic in both directions on the bridge.
2   Section 2.   Effective date.
3      This act shall take effect in 60 days.




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