Politics & Government

POW From Montville to Speak at Morris County Memorial Day Ceremony

Four Montville veterans will be honored with Morris County Distinguished Service Medals.

Fourteen local veterans will be recognized at the annual Morris County Memorial Day ceremony on Friday, four of them from Montville.

The ceremony, which is sponsored by the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders, will begin at noon on the lawn in front of the Morris County Courthouse in Morristown. 

Speaking at the event will be Hjalmar Johansson, a WWII Army Air Force veteran from Montville who was held as a German Prisoner of War after being captured when his B-24 Liberator was shot down in Czechoslovakia in 1944.

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John Reed Sr., of Hackettstown, will be one of three Navy veterans recognized with a Morris County Distinguished Service Medal, along with Philip Gigante and John Callahan of Montville. Several Army veterans will also receive medals, including Rod Ridolfo (Montville); Anthony Semiz (Hopatcong); James Francis Nocera (Succasunna); William Muse (Budd Lake); Joseph James DeMaux (Riverdale); Arnold Hokins (Franklin); and John Nataluk (Rockaway). Marine Corps. veterans Richard Porzig (Mountain Lakes) and Hunter Alarcon (Flanders) will also receive medals in addition to Air Force veteran Charles Ferry II (Montville).

Additionally, a posthumous medal will be awarded to Army veteran Eugene Bozza, of Rockaway, accepted on his behalf by his wife.

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Each of the medals are inscribed with the wods "Morris County Distinguished Military Service" on the front and "Morris County Freeholders Military Commemorative" on the back. Ribbons that hold the medals are colored specific to the conflicts in which the veterans served.

Morris County has awarded more than 9,000 of the medals to veterans or their relatives since the ceremony program began in 2000.

Members of the public are welcomed to attend Friday's event.


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