G L O U C E S T ER C O U NT Y
GLOUCESTER COUNTY VETERANS NEWSLETTER
B O A R D OF
Spring 2012 Volume 2
2-- Issue 2
CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS
A message from Freeholder Director Damminger &
Deputy Director /Liaison Freeholder Chila
Gloucester County has several events scheduled to honor our departed veterans
and we would like to take this opportunity to invite you to attend.
OFFICE OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS
FREEHOLDER DIRECTOR
Robert M. Damminger
Phone: (856) 853-3395
FREEHOLDER DEPUTY
DIRECTOR/LIAISON
Giuseppe (Joe) Chila
On Tuesday, May 22 at 6 pm there will be a ceremony to add more than 90 portraits
to the Wall of Heroes in the County Justice Complex. At that ceremony a plaque
naming 200 Civil War casualties from Gloucester County will also be added to the
Wall of Heroes.
On Sunday, May 27, 2012 at 1 pm the Gloucester County Memorial Day Service will
be held at the Gloucester County Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 240 S. Tuckahoe
Road, Monroe Township. There is limited seating under the Committal Shelter, so
we suggest you bring a lawn chair and arrive early. The ceremony is open to everyone and parking will be available onsite.
We are pleased to announce that on April 4, 2012 the Board of Chosen Freeholders
unanimously adopted the county’s 2012 budget and cut county spending by $3.2
million and reduced the amount to be raised by taxation by over $4.1 million.
In this economy where every dollar counts to every family we adopted a bare bones
budget that cut government spending and taxes for the third year in a row. We
accomplished our goal to maintain the services we provide for our residents and to
continue to place an emphasis on sharing services with other local governments to
achieve maximum efficiency.
Phone: (856) 853-3382
Finally, did you know that more than 50 businesses and retailers in Gloucester
County offer a special discount to veterans? For a full list of locations that offer a
Veterans Discount, please contact the Gloucester County Office of Veterans Affairs.
DIRECTOR
From the desk of the Director of Veterans Affairs Duane Sarmiento
Duane T. Sarmiento
211 County House Rd
Sewell, NJ 08080
Phone: (856) 401-7660
Fax: (856) 232-1836
www.gloucestercountynj.gov
I hope everyone had a great winter and holiday season. On April 3, 2012 the
Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders hosted the annual Federal Military
Medals Presentation Ceremony at the Bankbridge School in Deptford. There they
presented Military Medals to 27 veterans or surviving family members earned by
the veterans during their time in service.
With a quarter of 2012 already past The Office of Veterans Affairs has been busy.
With the help of additional veterans service officers this office has provided assistance to over 500 veterans since January 1 with service connection claims. Our volunteer service officers Tony, Chuck , Herb and Rocco do outstanding work. And, in
2011 the VA clinic in Washington Twp had seen approximately 5000 individual patients who made over 17,150 appointments.
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2012 G LOUCESTER C OUNTY V ETERANS A DVISORY C OUNCIL O FFICERS
Commander
John Petroski
1st Vice-Commander
Greg Cipolla
2nd Vice-Commander
Joe McConomy
Adjutant/Paymaster
Ann Volk
Chaplain
Deacon Thomas Carroll
GLOUCESTER COUNTY VETERANS ADVISORY COUNCIL
The Gloucester County Veterans Advisory Council is made up of 17 different veterans organizations located
in Gloucester County. The organizations assign three delegates and three alternates to the council. The
Council elects its officers every year and has its own Constitution, By-Laws and forms committees. The following organizations belong to the Gloucester County Veterans Advisory Council:
82nd Airborne Division Assoc.
American Merchant Marine Veterans
Army Navy Union USA
Fleet Reserve Association #57
Harrison Twp Veterans Commission
Marine Corp League
Nam Knights
South Jersey Vietnam Veterans
Veterans of Foreign Wars
American Legion
Amvets Post 77
Disabled American Veterans
Gold Star Wives
Korean War Veterans Assoc.
Military Order of the Purple Heart
POW-MIA Awareness Committee
St. Matthews Veterans Center
Gloucester County Veterans Advisory Council meets on the first Tuesday of every month. There are no
meetings in June, July and August. The meetings are held at the VA Clinic lobby at 6:30pm. All veterans are
encouraged to attend whether you belong to a council organization or not. One of the major functions of
the Gloucester County Veterans Advisory Council is to coordinate and advise on veteran issues with the
Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Freeholder Director Damminger and Deputy Director/
Veterans Liaison Freeholder Joe Chila meet with the leadership of this advisory council often to discuss veterans
matters including the rules for the Gloucester County Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Wall of Heroes project
and other issues that pertain to the veterans in Gloucester County.
May 30, 1868 - By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major
Memorial Day observance is held to honor those who died "in defense of their country during the late rebellion."
This was inspired by local observances that had taken place in various locations in the three years since the end of
the Civil War. In fact, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi;
Macon, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; and Carbondale, Illinois. By the late 19th century, many communities across the
country celebrated Memorial Day. After World War I, observers began to honor the dead of all of America's wars.
In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. In 1971,
Congress declared Memorial Day a National Holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May.
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The Gloucester County Office of Veterans Affairs
AT YOUR
& VA Medical Clinic are located at 211 County
SERVICE
House Road - Sewell, New Jersey
The Gloucester County VA clinic is affiliated with VA Medical center in
Philadelphia. You must be enrolled in the VA healthcare system to use the
services. Come by the Gloucester County Office of Veterans Affairs and see
if you qualify. The Gloucester County VA clinic offers the following services:
Primary Care
Optometry and Ophthalmology
Gloucester
County Office of
Veterans Affairs
Veterans Memorial Cemetery,
call: Bob Jonas (856) 401-7688
Certified Service Officers available
call: (856) 401-7660
Mental Health
Gloucester County Military Medal
and Federal Medals, call:
(856) 401-7660
Psychiatry and Social Work
Audiologist Services
Women's Health
Student Veterans Organization
Gloucester County College, call:
Kathleen Leader (856) 464-5239 or
email her at: [email protected]
Prosthetics and Occupational Therapy
Laboratory: Blood drawing services
Prescriptions processed through the mail
Gloucester County Veterans Memorial Cemetery
At the regularly scheduled February meeting of the Gloucester County Veterans Advisory Council it was
approved to move forward to solicit donations for monuments of various veterans groups to be placed at the
cemetery “Monument” walkway. The monuments would be for smaller veteran groups in the county that do not
have the resources or finances to fund an approximate $4,500 monument. The County has approved of this and
Commander Petroski has formed a committee and appointed Bob Henderson as chairman. The Council voted
unanimously that the first veteran group to receive a monument from these raised funds would be the “Korean
War Veterans Association”. If any person or group would like to donate to this worthy cause. If you choose to donate please send a check payable to the “Gloucester County Veterans Advisory Council” and write “Memorial
Walk” in the memo section.
On Friday May 25, 2012 at 1pm we will be placing flags on every veterans gravesite at the Gloucester County
Veterans Cemetery. If anyone would like to assist with this worthy cause arrive at the cemetery by 1pm.
Gloucester County’s Memorial Day Ceremony will be held at the Gloucester County Veterans Cemetery on
Sunday, May 27 at 1pm. Everyone is welcome to attend this ceremony.
The County of Gloucester complies with all state and federal rules and regulations and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color,
national or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability in admission to, access to, or operations of its programs, services, or
activities. In addition, Gloucester County encourages the participation of people with disabilities in its programs and activities and offers special
services to all County residents 60 years of age and older. Inquiries regarding compliance may be directed to the Division of Disability Services at
(856) 681-6128/New Jersey Relay Service 711 or the EEO office at (856)384-6903.
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The Wall of Heroes Project is seeking help from veterans and veterans organizations. There are approximately 120 of our
heroes from Gloucester County that served in World War II that paid the ultimate sacrifice. The Veterans Affairs office is
attempting to locate pictures and information on these heroes. The following is a partial list of the names we have.
Name
Branch Where they resided
Name
Branch
Where they resided
Alonzo Corbin
USA
Unknown
Edgar Crouthamel USA
Unknown
Matthew Cuprys
USA
Unknown
Earl Dennis
USA
Unknown
Ralph DiGiovanni
USA
Unknown
James Edwards
USA
Unknown
John Ehrman
USA
Unknown
Martin Enos Jr.
USA
Unknown
Edward Fanz
USA
Unknown
Jesse Fullerton
USA
Unknown
Leonard Green
USA
Unknown
Kenneth Halpine
USA
Unknown
Joseph Hampson
USA
Unknown
Samuel Harrell
USA
Unknown
Lee Hartshorn
USA
Unknown
Erwin Hecht
USA
Unknown
Robert Held
USA
Unknown
Joseph Herring
USA
Unknown
Joseph Hildebrand
USA
Unknown
Ross Hunt
USA
Unknown
We will continue to place names in the newsletter with the hope that someone knows these individuals or their family. If
you have any information on these individual please contact the Veterans Affairs Office at 856-401-7660.
Upcoming Events
May 5, 2012
Loyalty Day Celebration Armistice VFW
Post 1616, 1940 Black Horse Pike
Williamstown NJ. 1pm
May 7, 2012
Gloucester County Veterans Advisory
Council Meeting. 6:30pm Lobby of VA
Clinic.
May 22, 2012
Wall of Heroes Ceremony
Hosted by the Gloucester County Board
of Chosen Freeholders,
6pm Gloucester County Justice
Complex. Hunter St, Woodbury N.J.
May 27, 2012
Gloucester County Memorial Day
Ceremony. Hosted by the Gloucester
County Board of Chosen Freeholders,
1pm at the Gloucester County Veterans
Memorial Cemetery.
Morris Munyan receiving his Uncle’s military medals
for service during WW II during the Gloucester County
Federal Military Medal Ceremony, April 3, 2012
Sandie Porter, a Desert Storm Veteran receiving her
military medals during the 4/11ceremony is congratulated by Freeholder Director Damminger & Deputy
Director Chila.
Please contact us at: [email protected] to post your
event in our E-Newsletter
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