The Bourne Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal received a new name Thursday from lawmakers honoring Staff Sergeant Matthew Pucino, a decorated war hero killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009 when his mounted patrol unit was attacked with an IED.

In an unusual moment for a memorial bridge naming, House Speaker Robert DeLeo introduced the bill and then welcomed the staff sergeant’s mother and father, Albert and Catherine.

State Representative Randy Hunt, Republican of Sandwich, said there was nothing lawmakers could do to repay Pucino’s “ultimate sacrifice, but we can commemorate this hero by naming a bridge on the Cape Cod Canal in his memory.” The bill has been passed in the state Senate.