The roadway leading through Dutch Road Estates, soon to be the township’s newest development, will preserve the memory of former East Brunswick resident and fallen U.S. Army Cpl. Steven R. Koch.
The 18-home development has been under construction since last summer, and a commemorative street sign bearing Koch’s name and branch of service will be unveiled at 2 p.m. March 9 at the intersection of Dutch Road and Koch Lane.
“The township, the American Legion in Milltown, and the VFW 133 here in East Brunswick are all going to be doing a service,” VFW Post 133 Commander Tommy Coohill said of the ceremony.
Koch graduated from East Brunswick High School in 2001 and enlisted in the Army in March 2006. He was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division and deployed to Afghanistan in January 2007.
In March of the following year, about one month before he was to return home, the 23-year-old was killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated inside a vehicle outside the building where his platoon was located in the Sabari district. The building collapsed on the entire group — killing Koch and another soldier, and wounding many others.
Mayor David Stahl, who is a member of the Planning Board, suggested to the complex’s developer that the street that intersects the development be named in honor of a veteran.
“The developer was gracious enough to do that for Steven, who lost his life in service to our country,” he said. For Stahl, the unveiling is the first of what he hopes will be many street-sign dedications to hometown veterans for years to come.
“This is something that we’ll look in the future to do — look at our existing street names, see which were named after veterans and add the additional street signs,” he said.
Traffic Maintenance Coordinator Chuck Gahrmann, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, said he took great pride in designing and putting together the memorial sign for a fellow veteran.
“It came out beautifully,” he said. “We did a black background with gold-and-white lettering for his name. It states the branch of service and says ‘Fallen Hero’ on it. It also has the Army insignia and an American flag.”
In the future, Gahrmann will make each memorial sign by hand. He said he would follow a similar design pattern, only changing the coloring and insignia based on each veteran’s branch of service.
“If you were in the Navy, we’re going to make them blue. And if you were in the Marines, it’ll be red and gold,” he said.
The new street signpost at the corner of Dutch Road and Koch Lane will display the typical green-andwhite East Brunswick street signs, with Koch’s commemorative sign on top.
Each sign costs between $85 and $100 to construct; however, in this case, Dutch Road Estates’ developer will be absorbing the cost.