The bridge where Middleboro and Carver meet will now bear the name of three local heroes.

The Rochester Road/Pine Street bridge was officially dedicated as The Medal of Honor Bridge during a ceremony Wednesday, Nov. 9.

The bridge pays tribute to three Medal of Honor recipients, two from Middleboro, Wayne Caron and Patrick Regan, and one, Lowell M. Maxham, from Carver.

All three served in different wars in different eras but they share a common bond: They were officially honored by their country for their bravery in battle.

The Medal of Honor is the highest and most-prestigious personal military decoration that can be awarded to recognize U.S. military service members who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor.

Wayne M. Caron was a Hospital Corpsman Third Class in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. 

 While traveling through an open rice field, his unit started receiving enemy small-arms fire. Caron ran to provide medical aid to his comrades, but was hit in the arm by enemy fire. Despite his injuries, he made it to the first marine only to be hit again in the leg as he made his way to a second wounded marine. 

Determined to keep going, Caron crawled toward another injured comrade until he was killed by an enemy rocket round.

He was just 21. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. 

Middleboro native Patrick Regan was a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War I.

He led his platoon against enemy forces, dividing them into two teams and attacking with an automatic rifle team from the front. He was gravely injured but managed to capture 30 Austrian gunners and four machine guns. 

“This gallant deed permitted the companies to advance, avoiding a terrific enemy fire,’’ his Medal of Honor citation reads.

Lowell M. Maxham was born in Carver in 1841 and awarded the Medal of Honor in 1863. He served as a Corporal with Company F, 7th Massachusetts Infantry, during the Civil War.

“Though severely wounded and in the face of a deadly fire from the enemy at short-range, he rushed bravely forward and was among the first to enter the enemy’s works on the crest of Marye’s Heights and helped plant his regimental colors there,” Maxham’s Medal of Honor citation reads.

Robert Lessard, a Middleboro resident and co-commander of the Simeon L. Nickerson American Legion Post 64,  was credited by officials at the ceremony with spearheading the effort to honor the three men. 

The men honored were “true heroes,’’ he said.