Drew Dixon
Two Gulf Coast legislators and local government leaders will gather with residents on Tuesday for a special honor to a fallen military veteran, who will have a local roadway named after him.
U.S. Army Specialist Nicholas Panipinto was killed in November 2019 during a training incident at Camp Humphreys in South Korea. In honor of his name and service, the Florida Legislature agreed in 2024 to name a portion of highway U.S. 19 in Palmetto “Army Specialist Nicholas Panipinto Memorial Highway.”
A ceremony marking the official naming of the highway section in Manatee County will take place between Palm View Road and Terra Ceia Road on Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Sen. Jim Boyd, a Bradenton Republican whose District 20 seat encompasses the area, was at the forefront of the project to name the portion of the roadway after Panipinto. The bill, co-sponsored by Boyd (SB 868), was part of a larger measure that renamed portions of roads across the state.
Boyd will be joined at the road-naming event by several local municipal leaders and Rep. Will Robinson, a Bradenton Republican.
Family members related to Panipinto will also be on hand for the ceremony.
A sign will be posted on the roadway section marking the naming of that portion after Panipinto.
Panipinto was 20 years old at the time of his death, which had substantial repercussions for Army leadership at that camp. According to multiple media accounts, Panipinto lost his life during a training accident at the military base when a Bradley Fighting Vehicle flipped over while a road test was being conducted.
An Army investigation concluded Panipinto had only a few hours of training and no instruction in the classroom on how to handle the vehicle. One of the tracks on the vehicle became separated from the 15-ton vehicle, causing it to overturn.
The Army ordered all programs and training procedures to be reviewed and changed after the wreck, and a Staff Sergeant and two company-level officers were dismissed from the military as a direct result of the investigation.
