FRANKFORT – Army Sgt. Jamie Jarboe always wanted to be remembered.

And with a bridge right in the heart of his hometown of Frankfort to be named in the fallen soldier's honor on Saturday, it seems that his wish will come true.

It took years to get done, but the proposal to name the bridge in Jarboe’s honor was finally passed through the Indiana House and Senate, and signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb, in spring 2020.

His father, Andy Jarboe, chose which bridge would honor Jarboe, a 2003 Frankfort High School graduate who did tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Indiana Army National Guard.

Andy Jarboe said he felt it was the perfect place for people to remember his son, due to its position right in the middle of Frankfort. 

“I remember him every day,” Andy Jarboe said. “No matter how you lose a child, you never forget, and you don’t want anyone else to forget, either.”

The bridge is located off of Indiana 28, right near Old Stoney, the downtown Frankfort building housing the Clinton County Historical Society, and will be dedicated during a ceremony beginning 11 a.m. Saturday. 

Jarboe was part of the 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, Kansas. He was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 and shot while on foot patrol in the Zhari district by a sniper's rifle. According to Journal & Courier reports at the time, the bullet hit him on the left side of his neck, causing massive injuries that left him paralyzed from the chest down.

In the following 10 months, he underwent more than 100 operations at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. He died in 2012 at age 27.

After his death, his name was inscribed on a permanent memorial outside of the Clinton County Courthouse that honors all of Clinton County’s war dead.

Jarboe's family, including Joe Root, his great uncle and Clinton County veteran service officer, wanted another way to remember him and began work on getting a bridge named in his honor. 

“I wish we could do the same thing for every service man,” Root said.

Jarboe’s wife, Melissa, said in the last months of his life he was worried that people would forget him.

“I know exactly how my husband would feel,” Melissa Jarboe said. “As a young boy, he was worried about being successful, about being a pillar of the community and someone that people remembered. As a spouse, you know people don’t forget, but as the years go by, they get busy. But now, when people go over the bridge, they’ll see his name, maybe look him up and he won’t be forgotten.”

The dedication will feature Jarboe’s family and elected officials, including Frankfort Mayor Judy Sheets, U.S. Rep. Jim Baird, state Sens. Jim Buck and Brian Buchanan and state Rep. Heath VanNatter.

The public is invited to attend.

IF YOU GO: The dedication for the bridge named in Army Sgt. Jamie Jarboe’s honor will be begin 11 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot outside of Old Stoney, 301 E. Clinton St. in Frankfort. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, masks and social distancing are encouraged. If inclement weather occurs, the event will move inside the Clinton County Historical Society.

(This story appeared on the Journal & Courier. The article can be viewed here.)