BY MAURA DOWGIN
Staff Writer
EDISON — Miko Road will now be known as George "Red" Ellis Road in honor of Ellis’ military service.
Ellis served in World War II as a member of Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army in Germany and Luxembourg, he said.
Ellis shipped out to the war from Boston on Thanksgiving Day, 1943. He served his country for just over a year.
"I grew up fast. I was 18 when I went in. I celebrated my 19th birthday headed toward the front lines," Ellis said.
He fought in the Battle of the Bulge in 1943.
He was taken as a prisoner of war on Feb. 9, 1944, by German troops while he was in action transporting troops to the Siegfreid Line, he said. He later escaped and was brought home to Camp Kilmer with 8,435 other liberated prisoners of war.
Ellis has returned to Europe three times.
"Only the first time it was weird because generations had changed and no one knew," he said. "It was like (the war) never happened."
"He accomplished a lot," said his wife, Doris Ellis. "I’m very proud of him."
Ellis has two children, five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren with two more great-grandchildren on the way.
Miko Road was chosen to be named after Ellis because he has lived on the road for the past 52 years, he said. Before residing on Miko Road, he lived on Central Avenue with his family.
"At least he’s here to see [the street being named after him] and enjoy it," Doris said.
Ellis is known to most Edison residents as the man who videotapes the Township Council meetings and other events around the township. He has been working as the township’s cameraman for the past seven years.
The township has given Ellis proclamations before but this is the first time the township has named a street after a veteran, officials said.
The street was officially dedicated as George "Red" Ellis Road with a ceremony on Veterans Day.
"This is very different for me," Ellis said during the ceremony. "Normally I’m behind the camera. It’s very different to be in front of the camera."
The township is hoping to name more streets after veterans who served the country, said council President Peter J. Barnes III. The township will dedicate a street to a different veteran on Veterans Day and Memorial Day each year.
Anyone wishing to nominate a veteran, living or deceased, can submit a name and information on him or her to the Township Clerk’s Office or to Councilman Charles Tomaro.