By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Every year, countless motorists using the Garden State Parkway drive past a modest military memorial located at the Ocean View service plaza in Cape May County.
Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio believes very few of them have even noticed the memorial, a place of reflection oddly located next to a noisy, heavily traveled toll road.
“Now, when you leave the rest station, you ride by it and don’t even know what it is,” Desiderio said of the memorial.
Hoping to bring more recognition to the obscure site, Desiderio is talking to the state agency that operates the Garden State Parkway about naming the memorial in honor of Cape May County veterans.
He told VFW officials and representatives of VFW auxiliaries during a meeting Sunday in Sea Isle that he would like the memorial named the “Cape May County Veterans Memorial Park” or something similar.
Desiderio, who also serves as a Cape May County Commissioner, noted that he plans to meet with veterans groups around the county to seek their opinion about what the memorial should be called.
“It is the first place that many people see while traveling in our county. It is the only parkway rest stop in Cape May County,” Desiderio said while speaking at the meeting at VFW Post 1963.
The Ocean View rest stop, located in Dennis Township near the Exit 17 ramp leading to Sea Isle, is the southernmost service plaza on the 172-mile parkway.
Motorists have a place to grab some food, refuel their cars and go to the bathroom at the rest stop. The tiny memorial is also part of the Ocean View complex, but is located slightly away from the Sunoco gas station and a convenience store that serve as the main parts of the rest plaza.
It consists of a small landscaped plot of land close to a parking area for buses and tractor trailers. The memorial includes a pavilion, flag poles, decorative pavers, small wooden benches and plaques that denote the different branches of the armed services.
“This monument is Dedicated to the Men and Women of Our Armed Forces Past, Present, and Future,” one plaque states.
After speaking at VFW Post 1963, Desiderio visited the memorial and pointed out what he believes are some of the flaws. He said the monument currently has no name. He also couldn’t find a plaque or marker that states when the memorial was built.
“All I ask is that they spruce it up and put some signage here just so people know what it is,” Desiderio said of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the parkway’s operating agency.
Desiderio said he has already spoken to representatives of the turnpike authority and they are receptive to the idea of naming it in honor of Cape May County veterans. There are also plans for the authority to install signs along the parkway itself to let motorists know of the memorial.
“If we can come up with a name, they would come up with the signs,” Desiderio said.
Also appearing at the gathering at VFW Post 1963 on Sunday was state Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, who represents Cape May and Cumberland counties and a small part of Atlantic County.
McClellan, a Republican from Ocean City, was re-elected on Nov. 2 and has just been appointed as the Assembly’s minority whip, placing him in the GOP’s top leadership group.
McClellan told the VFW representatives that he plans to introduce new legislation that will revive the “Veterans Court,” a part of the state’s judiciary system that hears criminal cases involving veterans.
“I promise you in 2022 that legislation will be coming through,” he said.
The Veterans Court is supposed to handle criminal cases involving veterans separately from New Jersey’s regular criminal justice system, McClellan said. It is considered a key part of efforts to help veterans overcome such things as homelessness and substance abuse by connecting them with social service programs.
However, McClellan said there has been “confusion” that has placed the veterans in with the regular criminal justice system instead of having their cases heard separately.
“It continues to be a problem,” he said.
McClellan will be one of the prime sponsors of a bipartisan bill to “reprise” the Veterans Court. He said the legislation is another way to ensure that veterans will get the help they need.
During Sunday’s meeting, representatives of VFW Post 1963 and VFW auxiliaries in Cape May County and the state praised the relationship they have with Desiderio, McClellan and other lawmakers for programs that benefit veterans.
“We don’t stop here. We continue to work hard to help all,” Desiderio said of the local, county and state support network for veterans.
Speakers and guests at the meeting included Mark Lloyd, commander of VFW Post 1963, his wife, Patti Lloyd, president of the Post 1963 Auxiliary, Deborah McLendon, president of the VFW Auxiliary Department of New Jersey, and Jacqueline Hinker, president of the VFW District 17 Auxiliary.
Jonathan Hinker, Jacqueline’s husband, was wounded while serving in Iraq in 2003-2004 with the New Jersey National Guard’s 253rd Transportation Company based in Cape May Court House. Jonathan Hinker, who was accompanied Sunday by his service dog, a Labrador retriever named Zena, is running for judge advocate in 2022-2023 for the VFW Department of New Jersey.
As part of the meeting, Desiderio presented McLendon with a ceremonial key to Sea Isle City in recognition of her work on behalf of veterans.
The meeting also touched on the growth of the VFW Post 1963 Auxiliary. Patti Lloyd said the Post 1963 Auxiliary is the largest VFW auxiliary in New Jersey, with 324 members.
Mark Lloyd, in opening remarks, called the members of the Post 1963 Auxiliary “the most staunch supporters of veterans.”
“You are the heart and soul of this VFW post,” he said.
