The following article appeared in the Star Ledger on 5/13/03 written by Cathy Bugman.
Some stepped forward hesitantly, trying to keep their balance as they walked with leg braces, canes or just slowly and carefully without assistance. "All Purple Hearters, let's go!" beckoned Kenneth Meaney of Watchung, commander of the Somerville-based Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 27. "You've waited a long time for this."
And then, just a few minutes after noon under windy and overcast skies, the aging veterans gathered under a sign welcoming motorists to Somerset County on behalf of the combat wounded.
The 30-inch-by-36-inch aluminum sign, standing 7 feet high on the westbound lane of Easton Avenue in Franklin Township at the boundary of Somerset and Middlesex counties, was unveiled yesterday as the first in New Jersey and one of few in the nation recognizing the life-threatening sacrifices of the combat wounded and welcoming travelers to a new county.
"The Purple Heart is a hard-won decoration resulting from pain, suffering, fear and uncertainty," Meaney told the crowd of more than 20 veterans and local and county politicians just moments before a plastic covering shielding it was removed. "The men and women who received this award deserve undying gratitude from the people of this country."
Meaney approached the freeholders in January about the concept of posting a sign similar to one belonging to a Purple Heart chapter in Arizona. Based on the input of local veterans, the staff of Somerset County traffic and safety services division designed and had hand painted a sign with black letters in a white field and a purple heart in the center stating: "Combat Wounded, Welcome to Somerset County, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 27, Somerville."
"The sign we originally saw was small and not meant for travelers speeding by at 50 miles per hour," said Herb Peterson, supervisor of traffic services. "We made it bigger and reflective."
For many veterans, who've said they've felt forgotten or even scorned after returning home from the battlefields in Korea and Vietnam, the sign is viewed as a daily reminder of their sacrifices.
"What we're doing today is what's needed so they can be remembered," said Franklin Township Councilwoman Catherine Barrier.
"They gave their time for us, now it's our time to give to them," said Shirley Eberle, another councilwoman.
Eight more signs will be posted. Many veterans yesterday said they see the sign as an important reminder of what the Purple Heart means.
"I fought for this country, shed blood for it twice and I hope the young generation will know what a Purple Heart means when they see this," said 85-year-old Edward Kopec of Somerset, a former Army corporal in the Infantry, who was wounded in World War II's invasion of Normandy and on the Ziegfried Line.
Freeholder Richard Fontana called it "very fitting" that the sign be unveiled two weeks before Memorial Day.
Cathy Bugman works in the Somerset County bureau. She can be reached at cbug man@starledger.com or (908) 429- 9929.
Some stepped forward hesitantly, trying to keep their balance as they walked with leg braces, canes or just slowly and carefully without assistance. "All Purple Hearters, let's go!" beckoned Kenneth Meaney of Watchung, commander of the Somerville-based Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 27. "You've waited a long time for this."
And then, just a few minutes after noon under windy and overcast skies, the aging veterans gathered under a sign welcoming motorists to Somerset County on behalf of the combat wounded.
The 30-inch-by-36-inch aluminum sign, standing 7 feet high on the westbound lane of Easton Avenue in Franklin Township at the boundary of Somerset and Middlesex counties, was unveiled yesterday as the first in New Jersey and one of few in the nation recognizing the life-threatening sacrifices of the combat wounded and welcoming travelers to a new county.
"The Purple Heart is a hard-won decoration resulting from pain, suffering, fear and uncertainty," Meaney told the crowd of more than 20 veterans and local and county politicians just moments before a plastic covering shielding it was removed. "The men and women who received this award deserve undying gratitude from the people of this country."
Meaney approached the freeholders in January about the concept of posting a sign similar to one belonging to a Purple Heart chapter in Arizona. Based on the input of local veterans, the staff of Somerset County traffic and safety services division designed and had hand painted a sign with black letters in a white field and a purple heart in the center stating: "Combat Wounded, Welcome to Somerset County, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Chapter 27, Somerville."
"The sign we originally saw was small and not meant for travelers speeding by at 50 miles per hour," said Herb Peterson, supervisor of traffic services. "We made it bigger and reflective."
For many veterans, who've said they've felt forgotten or even scorned after returning home from the battlefields in Korea and Vietnam, the sign is viewed as a daily reminder of their sacrifices.
"What we're doing today is what's needed so they can be remembered," said Franklin Township Councilwoman Catherine Barrier.
"They gave their time for us, now it's our time to give to them," said Shirley Eberle, another councilwoman.
Eight more signs will be posted. Many veterans yesterday said they see the sign as an important reminder of what the Purple Heart means.
"I fought for this country, shed blood for it twice and I hope the young generation will know what a Purple Heart means when they see this," said 85-year-old Edward Kopec of Somerset, a former Army corporal in the Infantry, who was wounded in World War II's invasion of Normandy and on the Ziegfried Line.
Freeholder Richard Fontana called it "very fitting" that the sign be unveiled two weeks before Memorial Day.
Cathy Bugman works in the Somerset County bureau. She can be reached at cbug man@starledger.com or (908) 429- 9929.
