Retired Unionville fire chief Mark Lauer hugs Talan Murdick, son of Tony Murdick, while members of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company look on. Murdick was a Unionville volunteer firefighter who died alongside fellow dive team member Scott Wilson in Slippery Rock Creek on April 8, 2001, when the two were trying to recover the body of a drowned kayaker. Members of the Lawrence County Commissioners unveiled a permanent monument Sunday at the recently rebuilt Harris Bridge in Portersville honoring the men.

SLIPPERY ROCK TWP., Lawrence Co. — Grown men, hardened by years and decades of experience in emergency services, failed at choking back their tears on Sunday as the bridge where two of their brothers died in 2001 was rededicated in the heroes' honor.

The Harris Bridge on Mountville Road, located a few miles west of Portersville, was the sight of the tragedy 18 years before, when Unionville Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Tony Murdick and paramedic Scott Wilson, both 25, perished in the swift waters of the Slippery Rock Creek.

The two men were trying to recover the body of kayaker Neil Balcer, 23, of Marion Township, who had flipped the kayak and become stuck underwater.

Both men had infant sons at the time, and those sons, now young men, attended the dedication of the monument that will record the ultimate sacrifice paid by Wilson and Murdick in the scenic creek.

“Honestly, it's incredible,” said Cole Wilson, who was 6 months old when his father died. “Even though the old bridge was taken down and rebuilt, they are still putting something back for a permanent reminder of what happened.”

Read the full story in Monday's Butler Eagle.