A series of bridge dedications are taking place in Magoffin County are honoring local heroes who gave their lives to our country.
One Royalton bridge is now called “GM3C William Byron Whitt and PFC Forest Whitt Memorial Road.”

In dedication  to two brothers who never made it home.

“In honor of my uncles who died in WWII,” said Phillip Whitt.
While staying at his grandmother’s house, Whitt recalls looking up at two photos of the young men.
“You know, wondering what kind of people they were and wishing that I could have known them,” recalled Whitt.
The stories behind those photos are heroic tales from World War II.
“Byron Whitt was on t he U.S.S. Arizona and one of the first to die when Japan attacked the United States,” explained Whitt.
The other man, Private First Class Forest Whitt was killed while defending his platoon from enemy gun-fire.
“My dad as a result, be cause of their policy, they sent him home,” Whitt recalled.
Family friend Alma Holliday said she has fond memories of the Whitt family.
“We had good times. We had square dances back then. We had no television and no telephone so we had to make our own entertainment,” Holliday recalled.
However, she also remembered the hard days after the loss of two friends and heroes.
“It was a sad time for a while but we had to make do. We had to keep going,” said Holliday.

The bridge dedication brought around 20 family members together from across the United States to Royalton.
Judge-Executive Matthew Wireman said the plan is to honor all those killed in combat, POW, and highly decorated by the end of 2022. The next bridge dedication is set for sometime in the next
month.