New Jersey Legion Family pays tribute to fallen, honor 'Hometown Heroes'

From the memorial outside their post to the cemetery in nearby New Brunswick that post members help tend, and several places in between, The American Legion Family at Joyce Kilmer Post 25 in Milltown, N.J., spent part of Memorial Day morning paying tribute to those who paid the ultimate price.

And that afternoon, they honored others, Hometown Heroes who will be honored with banners on town streets and pavers at that same memorial where the day began.

It’s become an annual tradition at Post 25, where for eight years the Hometown Heroes program has taken place each Memorial Day.

But first on Monday was a series of brief ceremonies across Milltown and New Brunswick, where the post’s namesake, the writer and poet who was killed by a sniper in World War I, was born.

“This day is sacred, with the almost visible presence of those who have gone before us,” Post 25 Commander Ron Dixon said at the day’s first ceremony at the post. “We honor the memory of those who gave their lives in service to our country, and to those others who have dropped their burden along the wayside of life and are gone to their eternal rest. May the ceremonies of today deepen our reverence for our departed friends and comrades.”

From there, post members and others headed to North Brunswick Township Early Childhood Center, where a memorial to POW/MIAs stands beside the school entrance. There’s also a memorial to Steven Koch, a native of the area who attended school there when it was Our Lady of Lourdes School.

Koch was killed in action in the Sabari district of Afghanistan on March 3, 2008. He was one of the Hometown Heroes recognized on Monday.

During Monday afternoon’s Hometown Heroes ceremony, Nancy O’Rorke, chairman of the local program and a member of American Legion Auxiliary Unit 25, said, “Our intentions continue to not only be a tribute, but an initiative to reinvigorate our community and to remember that we all do share a common bond, and that those soldiers who have served our country around the world to defend our freedom are our family members, neighbors and friends.”

After the ceremony at the POW/MIA memorial, ceremonies took place at a memorial to Medal of Honor recipient Frank Molnar; the Joyce Kilmer House; a veterans memorial in New Brunswick; and the St. Peter’s Cemetery in New Brunswick, where post members, with the help of Boy Scout Troop 33, had placed some 1,000 flags on veterans’ graves in advance of Memorial Day.

In the afternoon, some 200 family and friends filled the post hall for the Hometown Heroes ceremony. A banner for each of the 18 honorees will be hung on street poles along Washington Avenue and American Legion Way/Boulevard of Heroes in Milltown.

“These banners serve as a reminder that you don’t have to look far to find everyday people doing extraordinary things under extraordinary circumstances,” Mayor Eric Steeber said.

This year’s Hometown Heroes include:

• Navy veteran Brian Cannon;

• Army veteran Jerome Decker;

• Post 25 Commander and Air Force veteran Ron Dixon;

• Navy veteran Phil Forti;

• Navy veteran Edward Goff Sr.;

• Veteran Michael Iadevaia;

• Army veteran Steven Koch;

• Army veteran John Krajceck;

• Air Force veteran John Morrow;

• Navy veteran John Murphy;

• Navy veteran Roderick Murray;

• Army veteran Eric Petrocelli;

• Army veteran Bob Richards;

• Army veteran Kenneth Rupprecht;

• Navy veteran Floyd Smith;

• Army veteran Vincent Stahl Jr.;

• Army veteran Richard Tuma Sr.; and

• Navy veteran Frank Wahler.