NEWVILLE, Pa. (WHTM) -
If you head into Newville, you will likely travel on Route 233, soon to be named the Lance Corporal Nicholas B. Morrison Memorial Highway.
It's a stretch of road the young Marine never got to travel home. He was killed at the age of 23 in August of 2004 by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
The renaming of the highway will honor Nicholas Morrison's ultimate sacrifice. His mother, Peggy, said she hopes the road will help others remember her son and others.
"Maybe when they see his name they will remember the guys that are still over in Iraq or in a war zone and can't be forgotten," she said.
Getting the highway renamed has been a long road.
"It probably started six years ago. A good friend of ours, Esther Armstrong, brought the subject up to name a road after Nick as a tribute to him," Morrison said.
Eventually, the idea became House Bill 2460, sponsored by state Representative Stephen Bloom. It's something he said took a lot of teamwork, but that is a good way to honor a fallen hero.
"My hope is that when people see that sign, they will think about how blessed they are to have the freedom they have to be driving wherever they are going that day," Bloom said, "to know that the freedom comes from the sacrifice of men like Nicholas."
The bill passed the House and is awaiting the signature of Governor Tom Corbett, who is expected to sign the bill into law. A ceremony including an honor guard will be planned to officially rename the highway.
