that puts town at heart
of American society
Veterans take center
stage in Freehold tale
Kevin Coyne authors book
that puts town at heart
of American society
By clare MARie celano
Staff Writer
FARRAH MAFFAI Author Kevin Coyne of Freehold Borough discusses his new book, Marching Home, during an appearance at Barnes & Noble, Freehold Township.
Stu Bunton, Walter Denise, Warren Errickson, Jim Higgins, Bigerton Lewis and Bill Lopatin may not be household names, unless you happen to live in Freehold Borough, but to local author Kevin Coyne they are the "stuff" America is made of.
These six men all bear starring roles in Coyne’s most recent book, Marching Home — To War and Back Again With the Men of One American Town.
Coyne, of Freehold Borough, appeared at Barnes & Noble, Freehold Township, on Feb. 20 to discuss his book and brought along the story’s leading men with him.
All but one.
FARRAH MAFFAI A uniform worn by Walter Denise, one of the veterans featured in author Kevin Coyne’s new book, paid silent tribute to the longtime Freehold Borough resident.
Five of Coyne’s cast of characters sat side by side on wooden chairs, lining the front of the large, packed-to-capacity room. Beside the World War II veterans stood the uniform of Walter Denise. Denise made it home to Freehold, along with his war buddies, but died just six weeks after the manuscript for Coyne’s book was completed, two years ago.
Coyne afforded Denise’s green uniform a well-earned place of honor, alongside the other Freehold hometown heroes. The uniform, on loan from the Monmouth County Historical Association, was decorated with numerous colored ribbons, medals and stripes — marks of passage, marks of honor.
After introducing the five war veterans, Coyne spoke of the man who didn’t live to witness the culmination of the five-year-project.
"Walter did get to see the manuscript," Coyne began, "and although he was the most reluctant participant initially, he saw the most action. Sometimes, the more you see, the less you want to talk about it. Walter Denise was initially hesitant about participating in the book, but he finally came to open up and ultimately became the book’s most ardent champion."
During a television taping of author Kevin Coyne’s presentation at Barnes & Noble, Freehold Township, Stu Bunton (l) listens to Bill Lopatin answer a question from the audience. Coyne’s latest book, Marching Home, discusses the World War II experiences of a group of men from Freehold Borough and the lives they led when they returned from battle.
Pausing to reflect for a moment, Coyne looked around the room filled with not only literature lovers, but family, friends and neighbors, and said, smiling, "He would have truly, truly loved all this."
Coyne told the audience members how he came to choose the six men as the subjects of his book.
"Any number of people could have been chosen for the book," Coyne began, as he looked out at the audience, some of whom were World War II veterans from Freehold. "I wanted a cross section of the town. I wanted a cross section of what America was."
He told the audience that 900 Freehold men were sent to fight.
"I got a list of the 900 men and then," he said with a smile, "I went to Jimmy Higgins (one of the town’s funeral directors) and asked him who was still around."
With a mixture of reality tempered with amusement, he added, "After all, he has buried a lot of us."
Coyne told the audience that he wanted to write a book about Freehold, but needed a way to figure out how to make the rest of America want to read it.
"How could I make people who didn’t have a 07728 ZIP code become interested in the book?" he asked, explaining that inspiration came to him at one of the town’s most revered events.
"Every year I’d attend the Memorial Day parade in town, and I began to notice that each year there were fewer and fewer men at the parade. Who were these men, and where had they been, and what had they done, I asked myself.
"I wanted to take a few of them and look at their lives in detail. What did they do in the war? I wanted to see what they did after the war and see how big a story they could tell," the author explained. "The story is set in Freehold, but it’s really a national story. It’s about six guys, but it’s really about 16 million.
"I wanted to tell the epic story of the war. Bill Lopatin, who served as a waist gunner in the 322nd and 394th Bombardment groups in England, and Jimmy Higgins, an intelligence sergeant in the 391st Bombardment Group in England, France and Belgium, were both in the air corps in Europe. Walter Denise, who served as a rifleman in the 324th Infantry Regiment in France and Germany, and Buddy Lewis, a private in the 1317th Engineer General Service Regiment (Colored) in England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, were on the ground in Europe. Stu Bunton, radioman on the USS Santa Fe in the Mediterranean and the Pacific, and Warren Errickson, a radio intercept operator with the 121st Signal Radio Intelligence Company in Australia and New Guinea, saw action in the Pacific," he said.
Coyne told the audience his research included reviewing Freehold Transcript newspapers since 1940.
"I spent countless hours with these men. I’m sure they were really tired of me," he added, laughing good-naturedly, looking back at the men who gave his story life and breath.
His research also involved studying numerous archival documents.
The author told stories of the men’s journeys and of the action they’d seen.
"Stu saw one of the earliest Kamikaze planes when the Japanese were just beginning to use that strategy. It was unheard of before then," Coyne explained.
He said war bonds people together, not merely because of who they are, but because of what they have been through together and what they have been to each other. Two people who may never have had one thing in common before their participation in a war can sometimes become joined for life with one action.
"Walter was on patrol behind enemy lines in France in 1944," Coyne began. "There was an ambush and the Americans were outnumbered. As Walter tried to retreat, a mine was tripped and he was knocked down to the ground. He thought he was alone until he heard the sound of a wounded soldier somewhere in the woods. There, Walter met Stanley Benezet, and together they dragged the wounded soldier for six hours through shell holes and mortar fire back to the base."
For the last 20 years, Denise and Benezet met once a year, every year, and reunited for one night.
"It was the only time they’d ever met," Coyne said in awe, and yet, that night during the war bonded them forever. "In fact, they died within two months of each other."
Coyne said many books have been written about the war. His was to be different.
"I wanted to focus on what happened 50 years later. How and what did they come home to after the war?
"Stu came home and joined the police force, retiring as captain of the force after 32 years of service. During his years there he saw changes in race relations. It really was just like Bruce [Springsteen] described in his song. He was captain at a time when there was a near riot in Freehold in the 1960s," Coyne said.
"Bill Lopatin came home to build houses, joining his father in his family business," the author continued. "If you’ve lived in Freehold for a long time, you’re probably living in one of the homes Bill Lopatin built."
Although Lo-patin always wanted to become an architect, war and finances made that difficult at the time. He retired in 1975 and received a bachelor of arts degree in history and a master’s degree in history at the age of 81.
Lopatin was also a charter member of the hospital board of Freehold Area Hospital (now CentraState Medical Center), Freehold Township.
"This hospital was built without one cent of government money. It was all privately funded because it was founded by people who were part of a community," Coyne said, reinforcing the recurring theme of his book.
"Buddy Lewis’ family lived in Free-hold for generations, said Coyne. "His family were founding members of the Bethel A.M.E. Church. "Buddy, who went on to become the supervisor of the buildings and grounds department for Mon-mouth County, came of age in the era of segregation. He attended the Freehold Colored School. He also attended high school at a time when most blacks did not. They either went on to manual training or they went to work.
"Buddy lived through a time in race relations when the tension was very high. It was all happening then. As a writer, that makes his story very interesting. Freehold Borough has been a very integrated town since colonial days, which means it has a rich tapestry of stories to tell," he said.
"What happened after all those race relation issues surfaced in America?" Coyne asked. "People split all around America, but not in Freehold. They’re all still here. The nature of a real community can absorb that. This community has stayed alive through the hardest times."
According to the author, a fire in 1961 nearly destroyed half the town. The rug mill where most of the town’s residents made their livelihood was gone, and everything was "going to hell. But the people who stayed here made it a town again. People like these men," Coyne said, pointing to each of them and then asking each man what their telephone exchange was.
"462, right, Stu?" Coyne asked. "462, right, Buddy?" and on and on he went, until each man had revealed that he’d had the same telephone exchange for years and years.
"In a country where people change their address once every three weeks," Coyne said, "this is how communities are made, by people who don’t change their address and phone numbers."
Coyne said Errickson began work at the rug mill right after high school and worked there until it closed in 1961. His life revolved around his family and the community in which they lived.
"Jimmy Higgins, who has spent many sad nights with us, came home and used the GI Bill to go to funeral director school. He started the funeral home in 1952 and has been a prominent figure in this town ever since," Coyne said, citing Higgins’ time on the Board of Education and Planning Board as marks of his dedication to his community. "With their way of life, these men made sure that the town did not die."
Although it reads like a novel, the book is a true story of loyalty, of commitment and of home. And the story of what war meant to six men and what it meant to America then and America now.
Marching Home is the story of the "larger picture," according to its author. Coyne said the book is not just about the men who sat with him at the bookstore, but about all the men who left their homes to fight for freedom. It’s not only a story about what happened in Freehold, but a story about what happened all over America.
Marching Home follows the journey of six men from pre-war to post-war and the time in between, and depicts with color and texture a tapestry of their lives, the battles they fought, and the war they helped to win. It speaks of the lives they left behind and, more important, the lives they came back to live.
Coyne, a sixth-generation native of Freehold, spoke not only to an audience of book lovers but to a gathering of friends. Many knew him. Many knew the town. Some came to congratulate Coyne and still others came to hear about the town they loved and remembered as it was once, long ago. Some came to listen to stories of ghosts that lived within the hearts of the men who fought a war and came home to a world that had no real idea of what the war had been to them or what that war had done to them.
Coyne told the members of the standing-room-only crowd that "this is the best audience" he would have on his book tour. "I mean, who else is going to remember the smell of coffee in town after it rains?" he said laughing.
Coyne, who has authored two other books, A Day in the Night of America and Domers: A Year at Notre Dame, is a member of the Borough Council in Freehold Borough and the town’s historian. He teaches at the Graduate School of Jour-nalism at Columbia University in New York and is a contributing editor for New Jersey Monthly magazine.