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This photo shows the Neville family in 1922, shortly after the opening of the old Ironton-Russell bridge the previous year. In back is Birdie Neville, mother of young Fred Neville, who is being held by his grandmother, Margaret Lucinda Blankenship. Standing with them, at left, are Birdie’s sister, Myrt, and Fred’s cousin, Chester. The bridge’s original wooden planking is visible in the photo. (Photo provided by Bill Neville)

Bill Neville, 97, of South Point, stands on the Russell viaduct on Monday, following his ride across the Oakley C. Collins Memorial Bridge in the Lawrence County veterans vehicle. (The Ironton Tribune | Heath Harrison)

Lawrence County Veterans Services officer Tim carpenter presents Bill Neville with a flag display box honoring him and his brother Fred. (The Ironton Tribune | Heath Harrison)

Bill Neville, a World war II-era veteran of South Point, rides in the Lawrence County Veterans Services vehicle on Monday. (The Ironton Tribune | Heath Harrison)

Bill Neville, a World War II-era veteran of South Point, rode in the Lawrence County veterans Services vehicle on Monday. (The Ironton Tribune | Heath Harrison)

Bill Neville, 97, a World war II-era veteran of South Point, rides in the Lawrence County Veterans Services vehicle on Monday. (The Ironton Tribune | Heath Harrison)

7: Bill Neville, after completing his first memorial walk across the Oakley C. Collins Memorial Bridge in Ironton in 2016 at age 89, the day it opened to traffic. Neville also walked the old Ironton-Russell Bridge, which closed to traffic that day, in honor of his brother. (submitted photo)

Bill Neville, 97, of South Point, stands on the Russell viaduct on Monday, following his ride across the Oakley C. Collins Memorial Bridge in the Lawrence County veterans vehicle. (The Ironton Tribune | Heath Harrison)

WWII-era veteran gets assist and honor from county for annual bridge visit

Since 2016, crossing the Ohio River in Ironton has had a special meaning for Bill Neville, of South Point.

That year marked the opening of the new Oakley C. Collins Bridge and the closing of the old Ironton-Russell Bridge on Nov. 23.

On that day, in which the old span was blocked off for the last time, Neville decided to take a walk in honor of his brother Fred.

Fred Neville, an Army veteran of World War II, has a particular tie with the old span, with his mother, Birdie Neville, and grandmother, Lucinda Blankenship, having carried him across it shortly after its dedication in 1922.

 When it was time for the changing of the spans, Fred was in a nursing home and not in good enough health to attend the opening ceremonies, which took place on a cold day.

So his brother made a point to walk both bridges that day, “one for me and one for my brother,” Bill said at the time.

Fred died a few months later, at age 94, in April 2017.

And that year, Bill repeated his walk, beginning a tradition he has kept up each year after. Each November, around the anniversary of the bridge’s opening, he returned to the span, carrying an American flag and walked across.

“It’s for the honor of the family on the bridge in 1922,” he said, noting he also does it to honor veterans, as well as the workers who completed both bridges. 

Bill, like his brother, is also a veteran, having trained during the final days of World War II for an invasion of Japan. But, when the war came to an end with the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that mission did not take place and he took part in the post-war occupation instead.

A South Point resident, he was born in Ironton and grew up in the Deering area, where he is the oldest member of the congregation of Community Missionary Baptist Church, which he has attended since childhood and has worked to maintain the grounds of. The large cross of shrubbery on the hillside overlooking the church is something he was responsible for creating over the last decade.

Neville’s bridge walks and consistency over the years in doing them have always generated a warm reception from Tribune readers.

In 2021, Ironton Mayor Sam Cramblit II met Neville at the foot of the bridge, where he presented him with a letter of appreciation.

“I think it’s honorable people here make sure that those people from our community are remembered,” Cramblit said at the time.

Last year, Neville, who just turned 97 on New Year’s Eve, was unable to make his usual November date, but wanted to keep the tradition going, so, for the new year, he returned to Ironton.

Neville, who still drives, arrived at The Tribune office on Monday, where he was met by Lawrence County Veterans Services Officer Tim Carpenter.

Carpenter, who was contacted by Tribune staff prior to Neville’s arrival, brought along a gift for Neville, a flag, which was flown over Woodland Cemetery, in a display box with an inscription honoring both Bill and Fred.

And Neville did not have to walk in the cold January weather. Carpenter brought the county’s special veterans vehicle and gave him a ride to the other side where Neville, holding an American flag, posed for a photo on the new Russell viaduct with the bridge as the background.

Carpenter said he was happy to help Neville on Monday.

“Anything veteran related, we like to get involved in,” he said.

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