November 11, 1986
A high-profile event taking place on Veterans Day in Maine was the dedication of a bridge named in honor of state residents who served in the U.S. military. The Veterans’ Remembrance Bridge was built as part of Interstate 395 (I-395), a five-mile (eight-kilometer) auxiliary Interstate highway in Penobscot County in east-central Maine. This bridge, measuring 1,550 feet (470 meters) in length, carries I-395 over the Penobscot River and serves as a link between the cities of Bangor and Brewer.
In reporting on the inaugural festivities for the Veterans’ Remembrance Bridge, the Bangor Daily News noted that “the predicted snowy weather held off for most of a very long and cold parade.” This newspaper also stated, “More than 80 marching units, veterans, active duty servicemen and national guard units, sharing the day with high school marching bands and color guards, strutted over the new pavement, braving the coldest day this fall.”
The parade marshal was Bangor native Walter F. Ulmer Jr. (born in 1929), a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general who was also the featured speaker for that day’s dedication of the Veterans’ Remembrance Bridge. In his remarks to those in attendance, Ulmer underscored the historical legacy of his fellow Mainers who have served in uniform and – as far back as the American Revolutionary War — answered the call to defend their country and protect its freedoms. Ulmer proclaimed, “The bridge is a link of the ideals of yesterday with what we hope will happen tomorrow.” The Veterans’ Remembrance Bridge was officially opened to traffic a week later.
Photo Credit: SarekOfVulcan (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)
For more information on the inauguration of the Veterans’ Remembrance Bridge in the Pine Tree State, please check out Maine’s Veterans Dedicate Their Bridge – Bangor Daily News
Additional information on Interstate 395 in Maine is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_395_(Maine)
Transportation History 
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