Highway Memorializes Steuben County Soldier Killed In Afghanistan

ALBANY, NY (08/07/2012)(readMedia)-- New York State Department of Transportation Regional Director Brian Kelly, together with state and local officials today officially unveiled a section of Interstate 390 in Steuben County, naming it in honor of Army Sgt. Devin A. Snyder, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2011.

Sgt. Snyder, whose birthday would have been today, was the first female soldier from Western New York to die in the war. Sgt. Snyder, who hailed from Cohocton, Steuben County, was killed June 4, 2011, by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan that also killed three of her fellow soldiers.

"On behalf of Governor Andrew Cuomo, the New York State Department of Transportation is honored and humbled to be able to pay this tribute to Sgt. Snyder," said NYSDOT Commissioner Joan McDonald. "This designation and the signs on this section of I-390 will always remind travelers of the dedicated service of Sgt. Snyder, a local hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice in devotion to her community, her state and her country."

Today's ceremony to publicly reveal the roadside signs reading "Sgt. Devin A. Snyder Memorial Highway" was held in Cohocton Park in Cohocton, where a monument stands in Sgt. Snyder's memory.

Governor Cuomo signed the legislation designating a portion of I-390 in Sgt. Snyder's honor on July 3, the day before Independence Day. Senator Tom O'Mara and Assemblyman Phil Palmesano sponsored the legislation, which was unanimously approved by the New York State Legislature. The section of I-390 named for Sgt. Snyder stretches between Exit 2 in her hometown of Cohocton to Exit 3 in neighboring Wayland.

Senator O'Mara and Assemblyman Palmesano said in a joint statement, "The 'Sergeant Devin A. Snyder Memorial Highway' will forever honor Devin's memory and express our enduring gratitude and respect for her service to America. Devin made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us in the name of courage, duty and honor, and we have been extremely grateful for this opportunity to pay our deepest respect and tribute to Devin's life and service. We hope it will forever stand as an enduring remembrance of a local hero."

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