This Fourth of July Weekend a ceremony was held to honor a Vietnam veteran 55 years after making the ultimate sacrifice.
 
The Hubbard Veterans of Foreign Wars,  Hubbard's Mayor, and city council are honoring this U.S. Army hero by naming the street he grew up on after him.
 
Corporal Richard Choppa grew up on Jackson Street in Hubbard, Relatives tell us at age 22 the young man with big plans gave up his own dreams,  to help others after he was drafted into the Army during the Vietnam War in 1967.
 
"He was in college to be a doctor at the time but insisted on going because he said they needed us," his sister-in-law Sandy Choppa said.
 
Under intense hostile gunfire in Vietnam, the courageous Medic rendered aid not stopping until his last breath.
 
"He put his life on the line even after being shot once he went back out, at the age of 22," Tina Croyle Choppa, a niece, said. 
 
"He helped the wounded soldier to a safer location then he went back for more, when he went back he knew his chances were slim or none of them makings it out alive. It was too overwhelming the forces they were fighting," Bobby Orr, Senior Vice Commander Hubbard VFW Post 3767 said.
 
"It's unbelievable what he did. The unit he was with was very active, a hazardous unit, and to do what he did in combat under fire," a Medic in the Vietnam War Michael Fiorentine said.
 
Among his other medals,  Corporal Richard Choppa was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star the Army's third-highest military decoration for valor in combat for his acts of bravery. 
 
In December 1967  he was brought home and laid to rest.
 
55 years later he is remembered and honored for his heroism. The number of people attending the ceremony shows how much people respected and loved him.
 
"We are truly appreciative and honored to meet all the people that served with him, and the neighbors who still live on the street that remember him," said a niece Vicki Warburton Choppa.
 
When people drive down "Corporal Richard Choppa Memorial Way" it will help ensure Hubbard's hometown hero, our American hero's bravery and sacrifice is never forgotten.