State Rep. Sean Brennan hoping to name State Road in Parma after Vietnam War hero

PARMA, Ohio -- Most friends of Frank A. Herda, who died in 2023, had no idea he was a Vietnam War hero.

Someone hoping to change that is State Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma), who, alongside Rep. Mike Dovilla (R-Berea), recently introduced House Bill 607 to designate a portion of Ohio 94 (State Road) in Parma as the “Specialist Fourth Class Frank A. Herda, Medal of Honor Recipient, Memorial Highway.”

“Frank Herda was a Parma guy who put his own life in danger to save some of the fellow soldiers back in the Vietnam War,” said Brennan, who serves residents in Parma and Parma Heights, as well as parts of Old Brooklyn, Brooklyn Centre and Clark Fulton.

“He was subsequently given the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Nixon.

“When he was alive, he didn’t want any type of notoriety. He was a very humble man and, quite frankly, I think he just wanted to kind of forget what he went through in Vietnam.”

On June 29, 1968, Specialist Herda, a 1966 Parma High School graduate, risked his life to save fellow soldiers by shielding them from an enemy grenade blast.

While serving as a grenadier with Company A, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 506th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, Herda was part of a night defensive perimeter when a large enemy force initiated an attack.

He fired at the aggressors until they were within 10 feet of his position and one of their grenades landed in the foxhole.

After firing one last round from his grenade launcher, hitting one of the enemy soldiers in the head, he immediately covered the blast of the grenade with his body.

“I contacted him because I wanted to do something in his honor while he was alive, and he just didn’t want anything to do with it,” said Brennan, who at the time was on Parma City Council.

“But now that he’s gone, we can’t let this hero who walked amongst us disappear into the ether.”

Herda didn’t marry and as far as Brennan knows, doesn’t have any remaining family.

“Doing something in honor of Mr. Herda has been in the back of my mind going back 20 years,” he said.

“I thought he was very deserving while he was still alive, but I respected his wishes.”

If passed, the legislation allows the Ohio Department of Transportation to install suitable markers along the highway to commemorate Herda’s legacy.

Brennan is currently working with VFW Post 1974 and American Legion Post 572, with the marker expected to be located near the latter, as well as in Veterans Memorial Park.

“As a former history teacher, we can’t forget our heroes,” Brennan said.