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
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.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. WO1 John Stephen Chrin Memorial Bridge.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds that:
(1) John Stephen Chrin was born June 24, 1949, in
Lebanon, Lebanon County.
(2) Warrant Officer Chrin graduated from Lebanon
Catholic High School in 1967 and eventually attended
Mansfield State College.
(3) In 1970, during his junior year, Warrant Officer
Chrin left Mansfield State College and enlisted in the United
States Army on April 28, 1970.
(4) In the Army, Warrant Officer Chrin attended Warrant
Officer Flight School and became a combat medical evacuation
(DUSTOFF) pilot with the rank of Warrant Officer 1.
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1971, and was assigned to the 57 Medical Detachment
(Helicopter Ambulance) 68 Medical Group (the original
DUSTOFF), at Bing Thuy in the Mekong Delta.
(6) On October 13, 1971, Warrant Officer Chrin was
killed in action while his DUSTOFF 71 was on a MEDVAC mission
and crashed during a night DUSTOFF flight in monsoon rains in
the Seven Sisters Mountains on the Cambodian border. Five
bodies were recovered.
(7) At the time of his death, Warrant Officer Chrin had
flown more than 125 combat medical evacuation missions
through the Delta area of Vietnam.
(8) Warrant Officer Chrin and his crew and another 3,200
other DUSTOFF crew members flew more than 490,000 combat
medical evacuation missions, rescuing more than 900,000
wounded, at a cost of 216 killed in action and 1,300 wounded.
(9) Warrant Officer Chrin was awarded the Purple Heart,
six Air medals, a National Defense medal, the Vietnam Service
Medal and the Aviator Badge for his meritorious service.
(10) Warrant Officer Chrin is memorialized on the
Vietnam Veterans War Memorial on panel 2W, line 38.
(11) To honor his memory, in 2015, the Mayor of Lebanon
proclaimed every October 13 as "John Stephen Chrin Day" in
the city.
(b) Designation.--The bridge, identified as Bridge Key
22726, carrying Pennsylvania Route 934 over Swatara Creek in
East Hanover Township, Lebanon County, is designated the WO1
John Stephen Chrin Memorial Bridge.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the bridge to
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30 traffic in both directions on the bridge.
Section 2. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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