By Laura Pollack
Just in time for Veterans Day, Fieldsboro will be unveiling its new veterans memorial to honor all the men and women who have served their nation.
The borough is hosting a dedication ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. The memorial will be dedicated to all the past and present veterans of Fieldsboro.Mayor David Hansell and other Fieldsboro community leaders will be in attendance for the event, which will feature a rifle salute by the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 899 and guest speaker Colonel Mark Towne, deputy commander of the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.Hansell said building the memorial was something he’s been trying to accomplish for years, but finding the funding on a tight budget proved to be a difficult task. However, after the borough received a grant from Burlington County Parks and Recreation, they were able to give veterans the memorial they deserve.“It’ll be a focal point when you come into town,” Hansell said.The new memorial will be six feet wide with stone pillars. The names of Fieldsboro veterans will be displayed around the memorial. Six military branch flag poles were donated by the American Legion Group in order to honor veterans from every branch of service.There will be more than 130 names displayed on the memorial—comprised of both living and deceased veterans—which Hansell said was surprising for a small town of only 540 residents.“These are all combat veterans,” he said. “It’s either from someone who has served in a peacekeeping mission or a war and actually had combat time, so it really goes to show the heart and sole of Fieldsboro is [people with] a lot of military background.”The mayor said this is the first Veterans Day celebration they’ve had in Fieldsboro, and in order to pull it off they enlisted the help of their neighbors in Bordentown, including Andrew Law, Bordentown’s emergency management coordinator who will be the emcee of the event.Hansell said he’s grateful for all the support from residents of both Fieldsboro and Bordentown for their help and support, but it’s the freeholders who truly kickstarted the entire memorial.“I don’t think this would be possible without the Burlington County Freeholders,” he said. “They really helped us out greatly by awarding us a grant to allow us to do—what I think will be—a transmodus memorial for the veterans.”The Veterans Day festivities will continue later that day back in Bordentown. At 1 p.m. at the Bordentown Cemetery, the Bordentown Township Veterans Advisory Committee will host its annual Veterans Day ceremony. There will be a wreath laying ceremony, and plaques will be presented to Eve Ziegler and Irene Pinter on behalf of Pete Ziegler and Dick Pinter, longtime Bordentown residents and veterans who passed away this year.
