I will be emceeing the Dec. 12 65th anniversary commemoration honoring four veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944: three local men, Robert Godfrey, Charles Nelson and Edward Turrell, and one woman, army nurse Ethel Hawryschuk. The program will be held at Brookdale Community College’s Warner Student Life Center from 2-4 p.m. with pre-event displays of model planes, ships and uniforms open at 1 p.m. There will be music by Down Melody Lane, and the Monmouth Civic Chorus performingWorldWar II-era music.
During the ceremony, the keynote speaker will be Maj. Gen. Randolph P. Strong from Fort Monmouth, and Neptune resident Drina Balestracci who lived in Malmedy, the location of intense fighting during the war. Those attending will have the opportunity to talk to vets. The event is free.
One of the highlights of the event will be the presentation to the Center for World War II Studies and Conflict Resolution of an American flag that flew in Iraq by an army veteran who was stationed there.
I look forward to the community joining me at this event honoring veterans and their families.
We still seek World War II veterans in the Atlantic and Pacific theaters to tell their stories on DVD for the Library of Congress project and for history students. If you have a relative who is willing to do this, contact me at dccoulson@ comcast.net. The taping is done in our CWWII Library on campus in Lincroft by appointment. We also do research on your WWII relatives. The website is in my footer below.
Donna C. Coulson, M.S.,
PCC
Red Bank
Center for WWII
Executive Council
Lincroft section of Middletown
www.brookdalecc.edu