News

Actions

Portion of highway named after Medal of Honor recipient

Posted at 1:25 AM, May 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-14 01:25:37-04

JONESVILLE, Mich. (AP) — A portion of a southern Michigan highway is being named after a Medal of Honor recipient.

Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation that names two and a half miles of U.S. 12 in Hillsdale County’s Jonesville after James Bondsteel.

Bondsteel was a platoon sergeant in 1969 in Vietnam when his company was directed to assist another unit that was under fire. Bondsteel led attacks that destroyed 10 enemy bunkers, rallied a faltering battalion, tended to their wounded, saved an officer’s life and carried much-needed ammunition through heavy fire.

He died in a 1987 accident in Alaska.

Snyder says naming part of U.S. 12 after Bondsteel honors his service and ensures his story will be memorialized for future generations. Bondsteel grew up in Jonesville and graduated from Jonesville High School.