BRIDGE WILL HONOR VET'S LEGACY

    Family, friends, veterans, and community members gathered last Friday at the Britton Event Center to honor Sergeant Dirk Robert Abbas, a Britton native who was killed in action during the Korean War at the age of 19. The ceremony marked the official dedication of a state bridge on Highway 27 over the Crow Creek—two miles south of Britton—in Abbas’s memory through South Dakota’s Fallen Heroes Bridge Dedication Program.
    South Dakota Veterans Affairs Secretary Jeremiah Schneider served as Master of Ceremonies for the event, while the Britton American Legion Post #80 presented and retired the colors. Abbas’s great-niece Brittany Johnson gave the invocation, the Nelson Singers performed two songs, and Katie Kraft led the Pledge of Allegiance. Abbas’s niece Vicki Johnson gave remarks from the family. She noted that the letters from her uncle to her mother revealed that he was a happy-go-lucky person who loved ice cream and serving his country. 
    The Fallen Heroes Bridge Dedication Program, launched in 2019 by the South Dakota Departments of Veterans Affairs, Military, and Transportation, honors South Dakotans killed or missing in action by naming state bridges in their memory. To date, more than 70 bridges have been dedicated to local heroes across the state.
    The effort to recognize Sgt. Abbas was led by his niece, Johnson of Colorado, who applied for the honor in 2022 in tribute to her late mother, Dirk’s sister. After years of research and persistence, she was notified this spring that her uncle had been selected. “We were able to request the bridge location, and it meant a lot to have it here in Marshall County,” she said.
    The dedication ensured that Sgt. Abbas’s bravery and sacrifice will be remembered for generations, as the bridge now stands as a lasting local tribute to one of Britton’s fallen sons.