Hill Air Force Base held a ceremony on Tuesday morning to dedicate the newly-named Solesbee Street on the installation’s south side. The street, which was originally 12th Street, was renamed in honor of Tech Sgt. Kristoffer M. Solesbee, who died in 2011 in Afghanistan.
Andrea Mason of the public affairs office at the base says Tech Sgt. Solesbee had one of the most dangerous jobs in the Air Force, detonating explosives such as roadside bombs.
"It's just a way to commemorate his bravery, his courage, and I think to give some closure to his family as well."
Mason says the scenic roadway was a fitting street to carry on Solesbee’s legacy.
"Sgt. Solesbee really enjoyed the outdoors, and he and his wife hiked a lot and really took a lot of pride in the Utah community and the outdoorsy-ness of the area. They said he cleared the path so others could finish the mission, and that he was, a lot of times, the first one to go in and detonate the bombs and whatnot. I think that he did a lot to help pave the way for what they needed to do to protect other people."
Solesbee was on his third tour of duty when he was killed by an improvised explosive. He served for eleven years in the Air Force.