WASCO, Calif. -- Efforts are under way to rename Highway 46 through Wasco.

City officials said Monday that they want to rename it as the SSgt. Larry Pierce Memorial Highway.

Pierce was with the 173rd Airborne Brigade of the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.

Records show on Sep. 20 1965, Pierce threw himself on a landmine to save the 29 men on his unit.

Pierce died moments after the explosion and was laid to rest in Wasco.

Pierce left behind his wife and three young children who were living within the Wasco district at the time.

Now, Wasco wants rename Hwy. 46 as a memorial highway after Pierce.

Pierce was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

The city passed a resolution to change the Highway’s name, but now it has to go through the state.

City officials urge residents to call the state Assembly and Senate representatives to push for support and have the resolution adopted at the state level.

Pierce’s son, Kelly, said he was only 4 years old when his dad died, but keeps his memory alive through pictures, letters and community support like that from renaming the highway.