HOWELL — Posthumous honors will be paid to the Howell residents who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001, and in the ongoing war on terrorism when the Memorial Middle School, Route 524, is officially dedicated at 10 a.m. Oct. 9.
The families of the township’s five 9/11 victims have been invited, as has the family of Army Cpl. Michael Curtin, who was killed in action in Iraq.
Curtin, 23, a 1998 graduate of Howell High School, was with the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Division when he and four other American soldiers were killed in March 2003 by a person who detonated explosives that killed himself and the soldiers. Curtin was the first soldier from New Jersey killed in the Iraq war, which had begun earlier that month.
Principal Chuck Welsh said Curtin’s name, along with the names of Howell residents John Lennon, Colin McArthur, John Rhodes, Joseph Sacerdote and Alan Wisniewski will be placed on plaques that will “honor their sacrifice.”
Also expected at the dedication ceremony is Mayor Timothy J. Konopka, state Sen. Robert W. Singer, Board of Education President Patricia Blood and Superinten-dent of Schools Enid Golden.
Welsh said that in addition to remarks from the attending dignitaries, there will be a performance by the school’s choral group and a multimedia presentation of the first few weeks of the school year.
The middle school opened to students in September.
— Kathy Baratta