Conshohocken’s John DiRusso, who passed away in 2010, was instrumental in getting Governor Tom Ridge to name the Blue Route bridge near Conshohocken as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge in 2001. The Philadelphia Inquirer did a nice article about DiRusso’s efforts after Ridge signed the bill designating the bridge’s name. It reads:

It took John DiRusso 10 years to win recognition for the 2,403 people killed at Pearl Harbor.

Yesterday, he celebrated his first victory.

After learning that Gov. Ridge signed a bill June 8 naming the Blue Route bridge over the Schuylkill the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, DiRusso, 76, stood at the edge of the bridge with an American flag in one hand and a black flag saluting prisoners of war and servicemen missing in action in the other.

“Now you’re talking,” he shouted to a truck that honked as it drove on the bridge, crossing the river.

DiRusso, of Conshohocken, had pulled the flags from the trunk of his royal-blue 1988 Chevrolet Caprice Classic. The license plate: PEARL-HR.

You can read the full story here.