Signs of dedication and sacrifice ...

The bridge over Yellow River on State Highway 51 (pictured above and at right), located four miles north of Postville in Allamakee County, was dedicated in honor and memory of fallen Iowa State Trooper and Waukon native Ted Benda Monday, October 16 in a ceremony at the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) maintenance garage location in Waukon. This past week, staff from the Iowa DOT location in Waukon worked to put signs in place at the north and south approaches to the bridge officially declaring its new name, as pictured in the photos taken from each direction. Trooper Benda gave the ultimate sacrifice in his service as an Iowa State Patrol Officer when injuries he sustained in a single-vehicle accident on this same Highway 51, just a couple miles further north of this bridge now dedicated in his honor, claimed his life a few days following that October 14, 2021 incident that took place while he was responding to a call for assistance from Clayton County law enforcement officials. During the recent ceremony in Waukon that forever designated this bridge as the Trooper Ted Benda Memorial Bridge, Lieutenant Brian Senne, Commander of Iowa State Patrol District 10 headquartered out of Oelwein - where Trooper Benda had been serving since 2017, summarized the meaning behind the dedication of the bridge when he shared: “This bridge will stand firm forever as a reminder to all who pass over it of the ultimate sacrifice of Trooper Ted Benda and his commitment to service for the citizens of Iowa.”