Upper Freehold does more to honor those who serve
BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD- Township veterans have a new hub of support.

The Upper Freehold Township Veterans Council (UFTVC) was officially created by resolution at the April 24 Township Committee meeting.

Mayor Steve Alexander, a veteran, appointed resident Bruce Novozinsky and former Mayor William Miscoski to serve as the committee's co-chairmen. Alexander thanked the committee for pushing the idea of such a council along.

In recognition of Novozinsky, who served in the U.S. Navy from 1979 to 1983 as a petty officer second class and Navy diver, Alexander noted that there are few job assignments in the military harder to qualify for than Navy diver.

The mayor also commended Miscoski, a Vietnam War veteran who served in the U.S. Air Force from 1966 to 1970. Alexander said Miscoski went to Thailand in 1967 to build runways and was dropped into Vietnam during the 1968 Tet offensive.

"That was his welcome to Vietnam - an extremely long, difficult battle," Alexander said.

Ken Giovanelli, a retired senior chief in the U.S. Navy and an Iraqi war veteran, will also serve on the committee. As a reservist, Giovanelli had received a phone call one evening and was ordered to report for duty in Gulfport, Miss., the following day. Even though Giovanelli had his own business, he had no reservations about serving, according to Alexander.

Doug Walsh, a Vietnam veteran who served as a crew chief on F-111s and F-4s in the U.S. Air Force from 1972 to 1976, will also serve on the committee.

Richard "Dick" Kober, who served as a petty officer third class in the U.S. Navy from 1958 to 1961 and who refers to himself as a "tin can sailor" for serving on a destroyer, was also appointed to the committee.

George Friedel, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who served in the Army, and retired Lt. Col. Richard Caudillo, who served 24 years in the U.S.Army andArmy Reserve and who received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, will also be on the committee.

Caudillo also served as a rifle leader in the 1st Battalion in Vietnam. When Alexander asked how Caudillo received an air medal while serving in the Army, Caudillo said it was for 25 combat assaults by helicopter.

All township members who are veterans of the Korean War or World War II will be considered honorary distinguished members with nonvoting positions on the UFTVC.

According to the resolution, the UFTVC is being created to identify and recognize township men and women who have served or are currently serving in the military in foreign wars and conflicts and theaters of operation, and to provide assistance, when available, to those vets and their families.

The committee will try to identify all township veterans and create a directory with information to recognize them and provide assistance if necessary and available. The committee will assist veterans and dependents with questions and inquiries regarding available benefits and programs for assistance with medical appointments, pharmaceutical retrieval services and reasonable food shopping services.

The UFTVC will also petition the governing body to parcel an area of land within the township to serve as a memorial garden. The garden will be designed and constructed by volunteers from the community and maintained by volunteers. A memorial plaque will be erected in the garden but will not include the names of any political or UFTVC committee member.

Col. Carmen Venticinque, state chairman of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, attended the meeting to recognize the township and its support of citizens in the National Guard and Reserves.

"In one month, 3,200 members of the Army National Guard will be activated to serve in Iraq in three locations," he said. "There are 106,000 members of the National Guard now serving in the war on terror."