BRISTOL (AP) — On Dec. 28, 1965, less than a month after his 21st birthday, Spc4. Jasper Duel Clardy was shot in the head while on patrol in a Vietnamese valley, becoming the first man from the Twin City to die in the Vietnam War.

Almost 54 years later, more than 50 of his classmates and friends joined Tennessee Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, for a ceremony dedicating the Jasper Duel Clardy Memorial Bridge, formerly known as the Ash Street Bridge in Bristol, Tenn.

Clardy had been in the Army for nearly three years as a member of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) when he was killed. But he was only stationed in Vietnam for four months and was expected to be discharged in April 1966.

He was among the first from Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia who died in the war, which claimed the lives of more than 58,000 Americans.

He was his parent’s only child, wasn’t married and had no children, but Lundberg said all those who gathered for the ceremony were Clardy’s brothers and sisters, which showed what a long reach he had, though his life was short.

Four of Clardy’s close friends, Pat Buckles, Al Cross, Charlie Arnold and Sid Oakley, unveiled the sign. Bobby Cross, who, with Arnold, spearheaded the effort to get the bridge named after Clardy, could not attend due to health issues.

A native Bristolian, Clardy played halfback for the Tennessee High football team but dropped out in September 1963 during his sophomore year to join the Army. He was also a guitarist who started a band named the “Crystals,” which was “one of the first successful teenage bands in the Bristol area,” according to a story published in the Bristol Herald Courier on Dec. 29, 1965.

Clardy’s friends said he had a magnetic personality and was kind, generous and easy to get along with.

“That’s the one thing I’ve always respected about him and liked about him, I never did hear him badmouth anybody,” Bobby Cross said.

Clardy’s friends also described him as a lady’s man who had long list of former girlfriends.

“He was never at a loss with the women either, because he was awfully attractive,” Buckles said.

Prior to his death, Clardy frequently wrote letters to his parents, friends and the Tennessee High student newspaper about where he was, what he was doing and what he planned to do when he returned. But Bobby Cross said the only time he recalled his friend really discussing how the war was going was in the aftermath of the Battle of Ia Drang in November 1965. It was the first major battle between the U.S. Army and the People’s Army of Vietnam and the 1st Cavalry Division was involved.

Bobby Cross and Arnold said they kicked around the idea of trying to get a bridge named after their friend for more than a decade, and they contacted Lundberg for his help about two years ago.

With all the bridges, highways and state parks named after veterans, they thought their friend deserved the same treatment, and they want Clardy to be remembered even after everyone who knew him is gone.