CHESTER – Sgt. Aaron Xavier Wittman graduated from LC Bird High School before attending the Citadel. He joined the National Guard, which took him to Afghanistan, and there he gave his life in defense of his country.
The Board of Supervisors last week approved a resolution to name the West Hundred Road Bridge in Chester in Wittman’s honor.
A dedication ceremony is set for Nov. 6, on what would have been his 32nd birthday.
His first deployment, to Afghanistan with his National Guard Unit in 2007, where he began conducting combat operations in the Paktika province, earned him his Combat Infantryman’s Badge.
The naming of this bridge is to honor the service of the late Sergeant who gave his life in defense of his country on January 10, 2010, in Operation Enduring Freedom. The LC Bird graduate was awarded a Purple Heart and the Bronze Star posthumously for his sacrifice.
The West Hundred Rd. Bridge over the CSX rail tracks will now be named “The Sergeant Aaron Xavier Wittman Memorial Bridge” in his honor.
Wittman was an athlete during high school, lettering in both wrestling and track. His family was proud to watch him go from high school graduation to a military tradition marked by attending the Citadel, enlisting in the National Guard, and interrupting his studies to deploy to Afghanistan. He returned home and completed his degree at the Citadel.
Graduating in 2009, he enlisted in the Army in 2012 and made his second combat deployment to Afghanistan, with the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division in 2012.
On Jan. 10, 2013, while on mounted patrol near Khogyani, Sergeant Wittman died from wounds sustained while engaging the enemy.
The request has been reviewed and approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board and the General Assembly.
