Clifton Merchant Magazine - May 2011

Clifton Merchant Magazine • Volume 14 • Issue 7 • July 3, 2009

8 March '69Hi GaryHow are you, well, all good things must end and they did...i came

back to my unit but now realize i should have stayed in Cam-RhanBay but I was getting kind of nervous and lonely hanging aroundthere as I had too much time to myself to think about being home& thinking of Tracie & ya'll...

28 April '69Dear Mom & DadGary, Cindy & RobbieI'm sorry I haven't written sooner but we got some new people

into CAP & they keep rotating them around & being they got someSgt.'s in (state-side Sgt.'s) who don't know a damn thing about Viet-

A MAN OFLETTERS

From the fields of Vietnam, Guy Tulp in his own words

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Once I found a pink moth. Perhaps someone

will tell me there is no such thing as a pink

moth. There may be no such thing as a flying

horse, or a gold calf, but I say once I found a pink moth.

The front door of the large three-story house where I

grew up was protected

on the outside by

four panels of

windowpanes, nearly

like a greenhouse.

Before we entered the

house, we had to turn

into this small

enclosure of glass,

wipe our feet, turn the

doorknob, and step

into the front hallway.

I found my pink

moth in this enclosure.

It is here that birds often took a wrong turn and flapped

their wings in a rush of feathers and noise against the

glass, trying to break through the invisible barrier. It was

here that spider webs collected, bees buzzed angrily

against the glass as they too were caught in the trap.

One morning - perhaps I was eight or ten - I stepped

out through the front door. I noticed another moth was

desperately trying to find its way out of the enclosure.

Each time I found a

bee, a bird, or a moth

trapped in the porch

vestibule, I caught it

and let it go. But I

noticed this insect was

a color I had never seen

before on a moth: pink,

completely pink. I

caught the moth, held it

in my cupped hands.

What does a boy do

with a pink moth? I

stepped back into the

house, found a shoebox, filled it was grass and a soda

cap of water, and placed my moth in the box.

It died, of course. Things cannot be held too

By Christopher de Vinck

What does a boy do with a pink moth? I stepped back into the house, found a shoebox,

filled it with grass and a soda cap of water and placed my moth in the box. It died, of

course. Things cannot be held too long. They need to be set free.

M O M E N T S o f G R A C E

Keep Pedaling


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long. They need to be set free. I

threw the shoebox, the soda cap, the

grass into the garbage can, and I

buried the moth in the garden. I feel

as though I am always being pulled

between wanting to hold on to

things and wanting to let them go.

I remember the afternoon my

daughter, Karen, learned how to ride

her bicycle alone for the first time.

We began in the early fall, Karen

and I. I took her training wheels off,

but she insisted that I grasp the

handlebar and the seat as we walked

around the court.

“I’ll just let go for a second,

Karen.”

“No!” she insisted.

Perhaps Karen will be a lawyer

someday, or a singer. Perhaps she will

invent something, make a discovery,

give birth to her own daughter. I

thought about these things as we

wiggled and rattled our way around

the block. It didn't take her long to

understand how to turn the pedals

with her feet. As I held on to the

bicycle, Karen’s head and dark hair

were just to the right of my cheek.

She always looked down toward the

front of the bicycle, calling out

suggestions or laughing a bit.

After a few weeks Karen was

comfortable enough with my letting

the handlebar go, but I still had to

clasp the rear of the seat.

“Don’t let go, Daddy.”

Halloween. Thanksgiving. The

leaves disappeared. We spent less

and less time practicing. Wind.

Cold. Winter. I hung Karen's bicycle

on a nail in the rear of the garage.

Christmas. One of Karen's

favorite gifts that year was five

pieces of soap in the shape of little

shells which her mother had bought.

New Year's Eve. Snow. High fuel

bills. And then a sudden warm spell.

“Roe?” I said as we woke up. “Do

you hear that bird? It’s a cardinal. It's

been singing for the past ten minutes.

Listen.” My wife listened. I listened.

The children were downstairs

watching television.

After I showered, dressed, and

ate breakfast I found Karen in the

garage trying to unhook her

bicycle. In this last week of

January, when it is usually too cold

for the children to be outside on

their bicycles, it was nearly sixty

degrees. I walked into the garage

and lifted the bicycle off the nail.

“I love my bicycle, Daddy.”

She hopped on as I pushed her

across the crushed stones of our

driveway to the street. I gave her a

slight shove. “Let go, Daddy!” And

Karen simply wobbled, shook,

laughed, and pedaled off as I stood

alone watching her spin those

wheels against the blacktop.

Einstein spoke about time, about

the speed of light and objects

moving beside one another. I

wanted to run to Karen, hold the seat

of her bicycle, hold on to her

handlebars, have her dark hair brush

against my cheeks. Instead I kept

shouting, “Keep pedaling, Karen!

Keep pedaling!” and then I

applauded.

There is no use holding on to the

pink moth and your daughter. They

will do just fine on their own. Just

set them free.

Keep pedaling, Karen. Keep

pedaling.


Dr. Christopher de Vinck, a graduate from Teachers College,

Columbia University, is the Language Arts Supervisor at

Clifton High School; an adjunct professor of English

Education at Montclair State University, and the author of

12 books. His best known work is The Power of the Powerless

(Crossroad Books) a book on the struggles and joys of loving

his severely disabled brother. This essay is from his upcom-

ing book ‘Moments of Grace: Days of a Faith Filled

Dreamer,’ which will be in bookstores July 1.



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Editor & PublisherTom Hawrylko

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Staff WriterJoe Hawrylko

Contributing WritersIrene Jarosewich, CarolLeonard, Rich DeLotto,Don Lotz, Jack DeVries© 2011 Tomahawk Promotions

1288 Main AvenueDowntown Clifton, NJ 07011

We Honor Our VeteransMemorial Day is a Time to Reflect on Service

Joseph Hawrylko began his jour-ney into Alzheimer’s disease in

1969 and with him, he took his sto-

ries of service during World War II.

At his bedside until his death in

1976, my mom Julie said it was

what he saw during the war—shell-

shock—that triggered the disease.

Over the decades, I’ve often tried

to find out more about Joseph John

Hawrylko. In 1999, when I did a

commemorative journal for our

American Ukrainian Veterans Post

in Perth Amboy, one of the guys

from our church shared a happy tale

of how he ran into my dad on a troop

transport at the war’s end.

But dumb luck happened when his

namesake, my son Joseph, a writer

here, Googled his name and found

some history on his grandfather.

According to a book entitled OmahaBeach and Beyond The Long Marchof Sergeant Bob Slaughter, my father

was stationed in Devonshire,

England, with the 1st Battalion, D

Company, in December, 1943.

“Captain Schilling went on a

recruiting expedition into the regi-

mental rifle companies looking for

large, tough men to carry the heavy

machine guns and mortars—and he

found them,” wrote the author.

“George Kobe, Randolph Ginman,

Bernard Latakas, Walfred

Williams, David Silva, Stanley

Borden, Dino Pettenuzzo, Joe

Hawrylko, Ben Litwin and Bernie

Rooker were just a few of Captain

Schilling’s hand-picked men, and

they proved to be some of the best

combat soldiers in D Company.”

In 1943, my dad was 30, certain-

ly not a kid, and while both my

brother and I are over 6 feet, Joe

was short, maybe 5’8” and sinewy.

No other details on Joe are offered

but the book explains how their

intensive infantry assault training

got them ready for D-Day, June 6,

1944, when 160,000 Allied troops

landed along a 50-mile stretch of

heavily-fortified coastline to fight

Nazi Germany on the beaches of

Normandy, France.

My dad’s story is typical of gen-

erations of Americans who served

our nation honorably, too many of

whom did not return. With this edi-

tion, we pay tribute to our veterans,

shining a light on their service,

keeping their memories eternal.

During WWII, U.S. Army Rifleman,Joseph Hawrylko.

E D I T O R I A L B Y T O M H AW R Y L K O


Wounded on the battlefieldof South Vietnam inJanuary 1969, Guy Tulp

wrote to his brother Gary on March 8:

“Well, all good things must end, and

they did. I came back to my unit, but

now realize I should have stayed in

Cam-Rhan Bay... I was kind of nervous

and lonely... I had too much time to

think about being home and Tracie and

ya’ll. So when I talked to the doc he

finally let me go back to Da Nang.

“Like anybody else that has been hit

once, you really begin to get jumpy as

you worry about getting hit again. Plus,

this post Tet Offensive makes everything

a little hairier.

“Captain mentioned M.P. Duty in Da

Nang, so I’m thinking about trying to get

that, or maybe after calming down out

here, I’ll stay with the CAP (Combined

Action Group). I really do not know

what I want to do, but just know I want

to make it home alive and in one piece to

get married and see ya’ll again.

“I see you’re getting your plans

together about a new Camaro. I’m glad

you know what you want, and you’re

working hard at getting it; as nothing

good comes easy.

“So keep that in mind about anything

you do. By the time I get home I hope to

see that you have that new car, and also

passed school for the year.”

Standing in front of an oil painting of Guy done in 1979 by Sharon (Rist) Tahan, are brotherBob, mom Josephine nephew and namesake Guyler Tulp who is the son of Gary, at right.

By Tom Hawrylko

GUYLER TULPA Man of Letters

November 19, 1968

Gary, I’m goingback to the bush as we are going on a new operation starting tomorrow.When I get paid inthe field I want tomail a check of$200 to you andwant you to do myChristmas shopping.

Now listen, Iwant you to geteveryone somethingnice, and especiallyTracie and yourself.Don’t let Tracieknow as she’ll wantto do the shoppingfor you. Talk toMom and get her tohelp.

Bye for now,Your brother, Guy

In 1967, Guyler Tulp just wanted

to get on with his life. He and his

high school sweetheart Tracie

Dudinyak already had talked about

marriage—in fact, that Christmas

they became engaged. But the

draft was underway and that meant

uncertainty as many as 40,000 men

were called for induction each

month, most to the US Army.

“He didn’t want to stand around

waiting to be drafted,” his older

brother Gary, now 60, recalled of

Guy’s decision to enlist in the US

Marines. “He wanted to get it over

with, to get on with his life.”

“If I go,” said Guy, then a 18 year

old senior at CHS, “I want to join

the best, I want to go first class.”

Telling this story 44 years later

stirs laughter, pride and sorrow. Guy

Tulp did go serve his country first

class. In February 1967, he went to

Marine boot camp in Parris Island.

He came home to Clifton that spring,

sharp and squared away. Like thou-

sands of other 18 or 19 year old men

in 1967, he was soon shipped out to

Vietnam. About a year later, some

30 days short of returning home to

Clifton, USMC Cpl. Guyler N. Tulp

was killed by a missile shell


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After boot camp in Parris Island, Guy Tulp with his dad also named Guy, at theirThanksgiving Lane home around Easter, 1967.

710 Van Houten Avenue • Clifton • 973-777-1559 Visit Us Online: www.mariosrestaurantpizza.com

on April 30, 1969, when his Marine unit,

the Second Combined Action Group, was

ambushed 15 miles outside of Dang Nam.

Sadly, Guy Tulp and 28 other

Cliftonites who died in service to our

nation during the Vietnam War remain

forever young, as their names are etched

in granite on the monument in Main

Memorial Park. Their youthful, strong

and brave images are preserved in photos

or paintings found in the homes of those

who survive them. Their lives are retold

on the pages of books and their heroism

relived in stories. Every Memorial Day,

bells are rung as their memories are hon-

ored in our American tradition.

Nearly five decades later, going

through a four inch high bundle of let-

ters—perhaps 50 in total—and reading

his thoughts, opening boxes of memora-

bilia and sharing memories, Clifton’s

Guy Tulp is still 20 and forever in the

hearts of his family.

Sitting in the living room of the

youngest sibling Bob’s home (he’s now

47), is his mom Josephine (Fiorentino),

now 88 and one of Gary’s sons, also

named Guyler.

“That blows my mind,” said the

namesake, a twin who is 30 and a

Spanish teacher in the West Windsor

School District. He’s amazed at his late

uncle’s bravery. “When I was 17... my

friends and I couldn’t imagine it. We’d

talk about going away to college... but to

sign up for the Marines to go to war?”

SEVENTEEN AND SEASONED

For many American boys in 1967,

that’s the decision they faced—get a

deferment, get drafted or enlist. Guy

Tulp and his Clifton buddies—Charlie

Szabanos, Bobby Kolnut, Joe Fede and

Tommy Straccamore—wanted to go first

class so they signed up for two years with

the Marines.

They went to Parris Island boot camp

and then to Vietnam. The other boys

returned home to Clifton and have since

moved on. But Guy’s fate was found on

a combat field in Nam. His letters, which

mix concerns about his family and fiance

along with his own future and a matter-of-

fact reports of heroism on the battlefield,

are telling. Here is what he had to say to

his brother Gary on August 3, 1968:

“I don’t want you to show Mom or

Dad, but I have to tell you because if

anything ever happens to me, you will


W

M

May not be c

W

January 14, 1969

Hi Gary, I mailedpictures of the A.K.47 automatic rifle I got when I killedone V.C. last night.I wounded two others, but all wecould find were theirblood trails.

But the dude Ikilled was carryingpapers and gave thenames of two V.C.We picked them upand took them toheadquarters wherethey were questionedand proved to be part of the V.C.infrastructure andare now on their way to Saigon for questioning and punishment.

I may get promot-ed to Corporal, beingthe Skipper waspretty impressed bymy doings.

Take Care,Your Brother Guy

Guy at Gary’s First Holy Communion at St. Philip’s Church. At right, Guy and TracieDudinyak who were engaged on Christmas 1967. They planned to marry on Sept. 27, 1969.


know and can tell them that all the

time I wrote and said it was peace-

ful... I was only trying to keep them

from worrying. And that I wasn’t

stupid about what’s happening

around me.

“So here’s the facts. Right now,

we’re keeping the Cong from over-

running Da Nang and there’s

39,000 Cong trying to get through,

and only about 5,000 of us.”

“We’re building bunkers and

bringing in more men and supplies

and getting ready for them to try

and get through us. But if we win,

I’ll probably be home by February,

because if we beat the gooks here,

Russia won’t supply them any-

more. And if I’m lucky I might be

transferred to Da Nang before this

big fight starts.

“But Gary, I want you to do me a

big favor, stay in school and pass.

And don’t go into the service. Now

I realize how good home was, and

how everyone worries, and Mom

and Dad don’t deserve to have to

worry about two of us. ”

In most every letter, Guy, who

some still remember as the mature

youth with black curly hair who

worked part time at Parkway

Service Center on Van Houten Ave.

and Broad St., is positive.

“He sounds like a grown man,”

Bob commented of the letters he

has read over the decades.

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Cpl. Guy Tulp was 20 years old on when he was killed in an ambush on April 30,1969. The grizzled Marine from Clifton was proud to serve our nation.


The youngest brother was just 5 and still

in knickers for the funeral at St. Philip

the Apostle Church on Valley Rd., which

was on May 16, 1969.

Two incidents Bob remembers vividly.

The first is when Guy came home from

boot camp around Easter and gave

Robbie a bottle of Jade East cologne.

The second was in Sept., 1969, his first

day at School 2 on Van Houten Ave.

“Guy promised he would take me to

Kindergarten,” said Bob. “I guess that’s

when the reality set in.”

On the day the news of Guy’s death

arrived in Clifton, mom Josephine

recalled looking out her kitchen window

on Thanksgiving Lane. At the Kelly

home she noticed a Marine officer at the

door. “He went from there to Sophie’s

(her sister’s) home on the same block. “I

said to Mrs. Kelly ‘Is that for me?’ And

she said no. I said: ‘Don’t lie to me!’”

A neighbor went to get Mr. Tulp who

worked at the Garden State Farms milk

store on Main Ave. in Passaic Park. The

neighbor told him it was a problem at

home but no details. Since he was the

only one in the store, Mr. Tulp would not

leave. The neighbor called the main

office and arranged for coverage before

Mr. Tulp, who still did not know Guy was

dead, would leave.

Gary was getting into his 1964 Chevy

Super Sport in the CHS senior parking lot

that day. He was amazed when he heard

his name on the loudspeaker with a com-

mand to report to the office—he figured

he got caught cutting class.

“They told me my mom was sick, to

get home and take care of her,” he said.

“I get there and dad was at uncle Jack’s

house. He said ‘your brother’s dead.’

Forty-two years... it’s like yesterday,” he

shook his head, shuffling letters before he

paused. “You just don’t lose that.”

Repercussions to Guy’s death, Gary

stated, were “tremendous... and they still

are not over till this day.”

April 28, 1969

Hi everybody.I’ve been thinking

about what I’mgoing to do when Iget back to theworld for a living.So keep your eyesopen for me and letme know any ideasyou may have.

I’m really beginningto wonder how I’llever support a wifeand myself. There’srent, insurance,chow, clothing, medical, dental, hos-pitalization, trans-portation, electric,gas, ninety-nine thousand otherthings, savings, eventually (withinprobably two years)kids.

So please, if youcome up with anyanswers, clue mein! By the way, I took the test for high school,and I will get myEquivalency Diplomain about five moreweeks.

See ya’ll soon.Love Guy

That’s Bobby being held by mom Sophie, their late sister Cindi (Mann), who died last year,at left is Guy and Gary is on the right.

While the family celebrates Guy’s life, there are lin-

gering, bothersome facts.

For instance, when Guy was wounded and escaped

death in Jan. 1968, his father wanted his son out of

Vietnam. “My dad was very patriotic. But he felt my

brother had did enough. He wanted him out of there. He

tried calling a lot of people. In fact he had a cousin who

was a two star general in the Army. We didn’t even know

that. He came over our house and at dinner I remember

him saying there was nothing he could do. His son was

in Vietnam too and they needed every kid over there...”

Revenge was part of the equation.

“After Guy died I wanted my pound of flesh,” said

Gary. Shortly after the funeral, Gary announced that he

wanted to join, and like his brother, he didn’t want to

wait for his draft number to come. He wanted revenge.

“I needed my dad to sign the papers. But he said he

wouldn’t do it a second time. We had a helluva fight.”

Next day Gary comes home and the Marine casualty

officer who stayed close to the family after Guy’s death

was sitting at the kitchen table.

“I come in, dad tells me to sit down and he leaves the

room,” Gary recalled. “Leave your old man alone!” the

Marine shouted. “You’re not going anywhere. Give me

your draft card.” Gary showed the Marine his 1-A (eligi-

ble for military service) card. He gave the 18 year old kid

a card which classified him as ‘only surviving son.”

On May 1, 1969, a day after Guy’s death, this upbeat

letter, dated April 26, arrived at the Tulp home.

“Hi Everyone. I see Cindy receives Confirmation

tomorrow. Tell her I’m sorry I didn’t get a gift off to

her, but when I come home I’ll make it up to her. By

the way, tell her not to go off and get married. She

should at least wait until the school years are over.

“(Ha Ha! I saw in the letter about her I.D. and her

boyfriend.) I’ll be going for now, so take care and don’t

worry about me as I’ll be home before you know it.

“See you soon, Love Guy

“P.S. If you send me a package, make it a lot of spaghet-

ti and sauce, as we all loved it the last time you sent it.

“Thanks! Guy

“Dad, By the way, I took my high school test and

won’t have the results back until next month. But no

sweat. The kid’s got his stuff together.

“Your son, “the Graduate,” Guy

“P.S. By the way, I see Gary’s doing okay with

Garden State Farms. Tell him I think for now the best

thing he can do is stay working for you or G.S.F., as it’s

a start. Tell him if he’s smart and sticks with it, even-

tually it will help him get a good job with G.S. or some

other company.

“See you soon, Guy.”



Taps concludes many military funerals conducted with honors at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as hundreds ofothers around the United States. The tune is also sounded at many memorial services in Arlington’s MemorialAmphitheater and at grave sites throughout the cemetery. It became a standard component to military funerals in 1891.

MEMORIAL DAY • MAY 30, 201111 AM SERVICES AT WAR MONUMENT, MAIN MEMORIAL PARK


This Memorial Day...We Salute America’s Veterans

East Ridgelawn Cemetery invites you to visit our Mausoleum on Main

Avenue to pause, reflect and remember the lives of those who have

passed. Visits are unlimited and unaffected by the weather. Crypts are

located in the building and convenient for elderly and handicapped.

Mausoleum entombment provides greater Peace of Mind & Security.

• niches• mausoleum

• garden graves• non-sectarian

• monumental graves• no obligation pre-need counseling

• financing available one-year at no interest on easy monthly plans

East Ridgelawn Cemetery255 Main Avenue, Clifton, NJ 07014

for more information with no obligation call:

973-777-1920


World War OneLouis AblezerAndrew BlahutTimothy CondonJohn CrozierOrrie De Groot

Olivo De LucaItalo De MattiaAugust De RoseJurgen DykstraSeraphin FioriRalph GallassoOtto Geipel

Mayo GiustinaPeter Horoschak

Emilio Lazzerin Joseph LiechtyJacob Morf, Jr.William Morf

Edwin C. PetersonRobert H. RoatAlfred SifferlenJames R. StoneCarmelo UricchioAngelo VaretoniMichael VernarecCornelius VisbeckIgnatius WuschingBertie ZanettiOtto B. Zanetti

OUR HONORED DEAD

Army Sgt. David C. Van Dillen servedfor 16 months in France during WorldWar I and returned home to Cliftonsafely.

Michael A. Waller

Director

James J. Marrocco CFSP, CPC

Manager, NJ Lic No. 3320

W W W.M A R R O C C O S.C O M

• Kenneth “Kenny” Adamo

• Richard J. Belli Jr.• Emanuel Benedetto• Norman Glenn Bly• Neil M. Cameron• Joseph Anthony Cepeda• Alfio G. Dal Pan MD.• Paul Fanelli• Frank D. Giovacco

• David C. Glasier• John J. Ingrassia• William Kasenchar• Edward Kurtz• Fred V. Lombardo• Keith J. Kusinko• Gregory K. Meneghin• Dominick R. Messina• Saul Mitchell• Carl “CJ” Mueller

• Mickey Orsages• Peter A. Pampanin• Amady Rossman• Robert J. Sautner• Eugene A. Scussel,• Michael Sinko• Stanley Sondej• James P. Trentacoste• Andrew Visotsky

Because the memory will live forever.Over the past year, we have had theprivilege of serving the families ofmany veterans. In recognition ofthe service these veterans renderedto their country, we would like toshow our appreciation thisMemorial Day. In memory of theirlives and their service, we recall...

470 Colfax Ave.

Clifton, NJ 07013(corner of Broad St.)

973-249-6111


Tim and Toby with their dad Tom.“As we reflect on the past &consider the future, we hope

you find peace & health.”

1313 Van Houten AvenueClifton, NJ 07013

Phone 973 546-2000Timothy J. Bizub, Mgr.

NJ Lic. No. 4022

515 Lexington AvenueClifton, NJ 07011

Phone 973 777-4332Thomas J. Bizub, Mgr.

NJ Lic. No. 2732www.bizub.com

Founder Joseph T. Bizub who in 1923established Bizub's Funeral Home at 205 Third St. in Passaic. For three generations, our family has proudly served our community.

World War TwoJoseph SperlingCharles Peterson Thomas Donnellan

Jerry TothFrank LennonJoseph CarboyJulius WeisfeldEdward LadwikIsrael RabkinPeter PagnilloHarold WeeksWilliam WeeksSalvatore Favata Herman AdamsEdward Kostecki

Charles Hooyman, Jr.Salvatore MichelliRichard NovakJames PotterAdam LiptakJohn Van Kirk

Carlyle MalmstromFrancis Gormley

Charles StanchakJoseph Ladwik

Karl GermelmannRobert StevensAlbert Tau

William ScottBenjamin PuzioJames Van NessGregory Jahn

Nicholas StanchakFrank Smith, JrCarl BredahlDonald YahnJoseph Belli

Edwin KalinkaStanley SwiftCharles LotzJoseph PrebolWalter NazarBenedict Vital

Thaddeus BukowskiLeo GrossmanMichael KasheyStephen Messineo

John JanekJohn YanickHerbert Gibb

William NalesnikJoseph SowmaBronislaus PitakHarry TamboerJohn Olear

John KoropchakJoseph NugentSteven GombocsThomas Gula

Raymond CurleyHarry EarnshawJames HenryJohn Layton

Charles MessineoJoseph PetruskaBogert TerpstraJohn Kotulick

Peter VroegindayMichael SobolDonald SangAndew Sanko


World War TwoGeorge Zeim, Jr.Robert Van Liere Vernon BrosemanHarold O’KeefeEdward Palffy

Dennis SzabadayLewis CosmanoStanley Scott, Jr.Charles Hulyo, Jr.Arnold Hutton Frank BarthJohn KanyoBryce Leighty

Joseph BertneskieSamuel BychekLouis NettoDavid Ward

Edward RembiszLawrence ZanettiAlfred Jones

Stephen BlondekJohn Bulyn

Gerhard KadenWilliam LawrenceRobert Doherty

Samuel GuglielmoRobert ParkerJoseph MolsonStephen KuchaJames De BiaseDominick GianniManuel MarcosNicholas PalkoWilliam SlyboomHerman Teubner

Thomas CommiciottoStephen Surgent

Albert BertneskieCharles GashPeter Jacklin

Peter Shraga,Jr.John Aspesi

Micheal LadyczkaEdward MarcheseRobert Stephan Roelof Holster, Jr.Alex HossackSiber Speer

Frank KlimockSalvatore Procopio

Harry BreenGordon Tomea, Jr.Douglas GleesonFred HazekampHarold Roy

Andrew Servas, Jr.Francis Alesso

OUR HONORED DEAD

In Loving Memory of our Founder

Joseph M. Shook, Sr.US Marine Corps 1942 - 1945

March 15, 1924 - June 9, 2008

Shook Funeral HomeInc.Over 56 Years of Service,

Still Proudly Family Owned & Operated

639 Van Houten Ave • Clifton973-471-9620

Roy B. GarretsonManager , NJ Lic.#3550

Nancy Shook GarretsonPresident, NJ Lic.#3657

Memorial Day is much more

than a three-day weekend tha

t

marks the beginning of summ

er.

To many people, especially

the nation’s thousands of comb

at

veterans, this day, which has a

history stretching back all the

way to the Civil War, is an

important reminder of those w

ho

died in the service of their coun

try.

This Memorial Day, take the

time to reflect on the lives of th

ose

who have served our nation a

nd

raise a flag in their honor.

God Bless Our Veterans!

The Shook & Garretson Families


Walter BobzinVincent LazzaroJohn Op’t HofJoseph Sondey

John ZierPeter HellrigelSteve Luka

Arthur Vanden BreeHarold BakerHans Fester

Patrick ConklinJohn Thompson

Thomas Dutton, Jr.Harold Ferris, Jr.Donald FredaJoseph Guerra

Edward HornbeckWilliam HromniakStephen PetrilakWayne Wells

Vincent MontalbanoJames MilesLouis Kloss

Andrew Kacmarcik

John HallamAnthony LeanzaWilliam Sieper

Sylvester CancellieriGeorge WorschakFrank Urrichio

Andrew MarchincakCarl AndersonGeorge Holmes

Edward StadtmauerKermit Goss

George HuemmerAlexander YewkoEmil Chaplin John HushlerEdgar Coury

Robert HubingerWilbur LeeVito VeneziaJoseph RussinErnest Yedlick

Charles CannizzoMichael BarberoJoseph Palagano

William HadrysJoseph Hoffer, Jr.Joseph PiccoloJohn RobinsonFrank TorkosArthur MayerEdward JaskotGeorge RussellFrank Groseibl

Richard Van VlietBenjamin BoykoHarry CarlinePaul DominoJohn FusiakLouis Ritz

William NiaderAlfred AipleMario Taverna

Sebastian De LottoMatthew Bartnowski

John BogertJoseph ColluraMatthew DanielsJames Doland, Jr.

305 Oldham Road, Wayne, NJ973-317-7020

www.passaiccountynj.org

Come See OurNew Facility

LEVELS OF CARE• Sub-acute Care and Rehabilitation• Long-term Skilled Nursing Care• Hospice, including Inpatient• Respite• Special Care Behavior Management Licensed by the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services

CLINICAL PROGRAMS• Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementias• Neurological Disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis

• Mental Health• Respiratory: including Ventilator Dependent & Tracheostomy Care

• Peritoneal Dialysis

Providingquality care

for over 80 years

World War TwoWalter DolginkoPeter KonapakaAlfred MasseroniCharles Merlo

Stephen MiskevichJohn PtasienskiLeo Schmidt

Robert TeichmanLouis VuoncinoRichard VecellioRobert HegmannErnest TriemerJohn Peterson

Richard Vander Laan, Jr.Stephan Kucha‘Gigito’ Netto

871 Allwood Rd., Clifton973.405.5163

and

Michael P. Lewko, MDFACR, AGSF

871 Allwood Rd Clifton

anndddNJ ArthritisOsteoporosisCenter

Arthritis • Rheumatism • Osteoporosis Aging Wellness • Functional Improvement


OUR HONORED DEAD

Memorial Day Weekend Ceremonies

Sunday, May 29

• 7 pm - Volunteers decorate the area around the War Monument in Main Memorial Park with American Flags

Monday, May 30

• 6 am - Avenue of Flags Set-up at City Hall

• 8:15 am - Fire Dept. Memorial at the Brighton Rd. Firehouse

• 9 am - Memorial Day Parade, Hepburn Rd.

• 9:30 am - Allwood Memorial at Chelsea Park

• 11 am - City Wide Memoria Service at Main Memorial Park

• Noon - Military Order of Purple Hearts at the Clifton Library

• 12:30 pm - Post 347 Memorial at the Clifton Rec Center

• 2 pm - Athenia Veterans Memorial on Huron Ave.

• 6 pm - Avenue of Flags Take Down at City Hall


Korean WarDonald FrostErnest HausslerWilliam KullerJoseph Amato

Herbert DemarestGeorge ForneliusEdward Luisser

Reynold CampbellLouis Le SterDennis Dyt

Raymond HalendwanyJohn CrawbuckErnest HagberyWilliam Gould

Edward FlanaganWilliam Snyder

Allen HillerArthur GrundmanDonald Brannon

Vietnam WarAlfred Pino

Thomas DandoWilliam SiposBohdan Kowal

Robert Kruger, Jr.Bruce McFadyenCarrol WilkeKeith Perrelli

William ZalewskiLouis Grove

Clifford Jones, Jr.

George McClellandRichard CorcoranJohn Bilenski

Donald CampbellJames Strangeway, Jr.

Donald ScottHoward Van VlietFrank MoormanRobert Prete Guyler Tulp

Nicholas CerratoEdward DeitmanRichard Cyran

Leszek KulaczkowskiWilliam MalcolmLeonard BirdJohn France

Stephen Stefaniak Jr.

Nov. 8, 1961Plane CrashRobert De VogelVernon GriggsRobert MarositzRobert Rinaldi

Raymond ShambergerHarold SkoglundWillis Van Ess, Jr.

US Army/Special Forces Captain MichaelTarlavsky was killed in Najaf, Iraq onAug. 12, 2004 and buried with honors inArlington National Cemetery on Aug.24. Tarlavsky, CHS Class of ‘92, was cap-tain of the Swim Team and enlisted inthe Army in 1996. He served in Iraq andAfghanistan and was awarded the Bronze Star. He is survived by hiswife Tricia, their son Joseph, his parents Yury and Rimma and a sister,Elina. The Veterans Alliance engraved his name on the Main AvenueWar Memorial in 2004— the first name added in 34 years.

The Iraq War

Our goal is to list each name accurately and without omission. If you feel there is an error, pleasewrite to us with the correction.See page 9 for our address.Thank you.


The corrective procedure, Dr.Graziano said, involves placing atiny stent inside the foot, right in thecollapsed space. The stent instantlyrestores the foot's natural anatomy,and therefore corrects the imbalancepropagated throughout the body.

The procedure is minimally inva-sive, virtually painless, and is cov-ered by many insurance plans. Fullrecovery—to experience all the ben-efits—takes several weeks, butpatients are typically able to walkimmediately after the procedure.

Dr. Graziano said the foot is themost used and abused part of ourbody. “We put our socks on, put ourshoes on and basically forget aboutour feet,” he said. “My goal is toeducate and treat patients, offeringa variety of options.” For a compli-mentary consultation to screen forPes Planus or flat feet, call Dr.Graziano at 973-473-3344.

Pes Planus, also commonly known as flat feet or fallen arches,is a condition when the entire sole of the foot comes into com-plete or near-complete contact with the ground. In as much as 20to 30% of the general population, the arch simply never devel-ops in one foot (unilaterally) or both feet (bilaterally). It is a con-dition some people inherit or one which anyone, from childrento the elderly, can develop from use.

Pes planus also contributes to plantar fasciitis (with or with-out heel pain), bunion deformity, hammertoes and knee pain. Itcauses misalignment of not only the foot but of the entire lowerextremity, said Clifton foot surgeon Thomas Graziano, MD,DPM, FACFAS. He is now doing a new out-patient procedurethat takes about 10 minutes to perform and can correct PesPlanus, offering a quick return to normal activities.

“It is done on an outpatient basis here in Clifton and can beperformed on anyone from children to the elderly—as long asthey fit the criteria,” Dr. Graziano said, adding: “In order tounderstand this breakthrough solution, let's first take a look at theproblem. Flat feet is a condition medically known as hyperprona-tion. It occurs when the natural space between the ankle and heelbones, called the sinus tarsi, collapses. This space is at the centerof the foot's ability to distribute weight and motion evenly, andwhen it collapses, the foot adopts an unnatural position andshape, creating an imbalance throughout the whole body. “

Free Screening for ‘Flat Feet’

Normal Arch

Fallen Arch orFlat Foot

By Joe Hawrylko

CARL RODRIGUEZReclaiming His Life, One Day at a Time

The one thing you’ll alwaysremember is when some-one shoots at you,” said

Carl Rodriguez. Leaning back into

the sofa in the living room of his

Princeton Ave. home, he winces

very slightly as the words gently

spill over his lips. Though he

remains calm, it’s clear that the

Vietnam War has left a lasting

impression on Rodriguez, who

would love for nothing more than

to let go of the past, if only his

mind would let him.

“You’ll never, ever forget that.

Ever,” he asserts. “A bullet makes

quite a sound going past you.”

After spending 11 months in

country as a field observer in the

Army in 1967, Rodriguez came

home with war momentos that will

last a lifetime. His surgically

repaired hand throbs with pain

almost daily. He needs hearing aids

in both ears to communicate. Scars

from bullets, shrapnel and skin

grafts. Rodriguez also suffers from

flashbacks, anxiety and anger

issues—the hallmarks of PTSD, a

condition forever linked with

Vietnam Veterans who were uncer-

emoniously welcomed back to

America.

Bury his past, Carl Rodriguez

cannot. But for 40 years, he tried to

do exactly that, repressing horrific

memories only to find himself inex-

plicably lashing out at those he loved

for reasons he could not understand.

It cost Rodriguez his first marriage,

strained relationships with family

and friends and at times, made him

question his own sanity.

“You come back to normal life,

but you’re never normal,” said

Rodriguez. “You tell people they’ll

never know, never understand

unless they were there.”

He lived in this private world of

torture until 2008, when Rodriguez

returned to the Veteran Affairs

Carl Rodriguez, 67, displays his dogtags and records from his service days. The US Army Sgt. spent most of 1967 in Vietnam as a field observer.



office he swore off years ago due to

shoddy treatment. Diagnosed with

PTSD, he began therapy to help

him reclaim his life. In the three

years since, Rodriguez has made

strides in his recovery. And though

he will never be able to forget

Vietnam or the ghastly affects it

had on his psyche, he has learned

that it is manageable. And that he

isn’t the only one.

“A lot of other people have gone

through the same issues,” he said.

“The best way to solve it is to talk

about it.”

PREPARING FOR WAR

“The sergeant went down a line

counting 1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5,” he

recalled. “Then he says, ‘All the

fives, step out. Congrats, you’re

now Marines.”

It was this almost machine-like

process that determined his fate. It

was February 1966, and Rodriguez

was in the Newark Armory, where

fresh recruits from North Jersey

were systematically sorted and

processed depending on Uncle

Sam’s need. Rodriguez, who grew

up in East Paterson (now Elmwood

Park) was not one of the ‘fives’ and

was shipped to Fort Carson, CO,

where Army boot instructors

trained he and other recruits in the

arts of surviving in a hostile jungle

environment.

“In basic training, they kept

telling us to pay attention and learn

this stuff, you’re going to

Vietnam,” he said. “They train you

to react to every situation, If you

do that properly, you were more

than likely going to survive.”

Spending nearly a year at Fort

Carson, Rodriguez underwent

advanced training for mortar, artillery

and heavy weaponry. His proficiency

in these skills and map reading led to

him becoming a forward observer

when he was deployed to Vietnam in

January 1967.

“At the time, the mindset was

that we were going to do a good

thing,” said Rodriguez. Known as

Pops to his peers, he was 23 when

his number was called—a man

amongst boys with guns. “Being

older, your values are completely

different, especially from today. It

wasn’t about I, it was about we.”

But within a few weeks of set-

ting foot in Vietnam, that optimism

would quickly evaporate.

“The first night, we were wel-

comed into the country with a bar-

rage of mortar,” laughed Rodriguez,

who entered through Saigon.

“You’re now in Vietnam!”

The following morning,

Rodriguez and others were loaded

on a bus to go meet up with the

25th Infantry at Cu Chi.

“They gave us rifles with

A Family Practice That Feels Like Home.Affiliated Foot & Ankle Specialists

Our centers offer individual care for all members of the family and provide the most comprehensive footand ankle care available. New patients are always welcome and often immediate appointments available.

Clifton Office:1117 Rt. 46 East973.365.2208

Teaneck Office:751 Teaneck Rd.201.238.1595

Sayreville/Parlin Office:2909 Washington Rd.732.727.5502

Visit our patient education center online & make your appointment today!

www.ipodiatry.com

We now have three convenient locationsDr. Jeffrey Miller, DPM, FACFAS Dr. Tara Blitz, DPM, AACFASDr. Eugene Batelli, DPM, FACFAS


D

Do You Have Misaligned Feet?

Schedule your surgery at Clifton Surgery Center. We are athree room state of the art, nationally accredited, physicianowned facility. Smaller and more service oriented thanhospitals, patients and theirfamilies benefit from theconvenience and lower cost.

From walking and running to cycling and other

outdoor activities, it seems we are all more

active. But when our feet are even just slight-

ly misaligned, excessive motion will occur. To

address that common issue, Dr. Eugene A.

Batelli of Affiliated Foot & Ankle Specialist of

Clifton now offer the most up-to-date treatment

for the correction of “out-of-aligned” feet.

Previously, patients were told that not much

could be done for this potentially painful con-

dition. This excessive rearfoot motion is

caused by abnormal motion between the heel

(calcaneus) and ankle (talus) bones.

Symptoms can include: shin splints, growing

pains, leg cramping, knee, hip, and/or lower

back pain, arch pain, and not being able to

stand for long periods. Past treatments

included corrective shoes, custom-

molded inserts (orthotics), or exten-

sive reconstructive foot surgery.

Dr. Batelli’s procedure (subtalar

arthroeresis) consists of inserting a spe-

cialized titanium stent into the foot

that limits the excessive motion

and restores normal motion.

The surgery is performed

during a brief outpatient visit.

There is no bone cutting or

tendon transfers. In most

cases, only a bandage is

applied, no casting is

required.

The procedure is usually performed one foot

at a time and is covered by most insurance

companies. Normally, the stent will just stay in

the foot and never has to be removed. This sur-

gery is completely reversible. The stent can be

removed and the foot will be right back to

where it started. The results are immediate.

The procedure can be performed on patients

three years old and older. Additional proce-

dures may need to be performed to achieve the

best results. The surgery is covered by most

insurance companies. For more info, call

Dr. Miller or Dr. Batelli at 973- 365-2208.

Jeffrey Miller, DPM and

Eugene A. Batelli, DPM of

Affiliated Foot & Ankle

Specialists of Clifton


no ammo,” he said. Besides a lone

sniper that was quickly dispatched

from his tree top nest by the securi-

ty detail, no troops attacked the

mostly unarmed transport.

“We were all assigned to different

units when we got there. The ser-

geant asked if anyone had heavy

weapons training,” he said. “Now,

normally, you don’t volunteer for

anything. But for some reason, I did.”

In this instance, fortune favored

Rodriguez, and he was placed with

the Army 4th Battalion, 9th

Infantry “Manchus,” where he

would assist with plotting coordi-

nates for artillery strikes. This

placed him far behind the front

lines, but only for a few weeks.

“I was on the radio one day

because a guy was sick or some-

thing,” he said. “The Lieutenant

sees me and the next morning he

calls me in and tells me I did a good

job and I’m going to go to A

Company to do radio.”

Though Rodriguez knew his

new job would be much more dan-

gerous, he could not have imagined

just how soon he’d experience the

full fury of the Viet Cong army. He

would take part in a ferocious bat-

tle on Feb. 27, 1967 filled with

many instances of heroism. Among

the many honors bestowed to

troops in the skirmish were the

Medal of Honor, six silver stars,

seven bronze stars and countless

purple hearts.

The Manchus were providing

security detail for the 65th

Engineers, which were repairing a

road near Phu Hoa Dong. Two

companies provided security for

the engineers, in addition to an

ARVN (South Vietnamese) unit.

In the early evening hours of

Feb. 26, reconnaissance had detect-

ed some Viet Cong activity nearby.

However, as darkness engulfed the

jungle, it became apparent that the

enemy was preparing for a strike.

“Very early Monday morning,

all hell broke loose,” recalled

Rodriguez. “I was sleeping at the

time. Our vest wasn’t going to stop

a bullet, but it made a great pillow.

I always slept with my radio and

my rifle in case anything ever hap-

pened. I got right on the radio and

started shooting coordinates. I

walked them in closer and then

called for a ‘Fire for Effect.’”

The American artillery rained

down and lit up the dark, dense jun-

gle just enough to expose the size

of the massive Viet Cong force,

later estimated to be as large as a

full battalion—as many as 300 sol-

diers—which quickly breached the

perimeter of barbed wire and anti-

personnel mines.

Almost immediately after the

first shots were fired, the ARVN

troops fled their American allies,

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allowing the 165th Viet Cong

Regiment to encircle the camp.

Pitch black except for muzzle

flashes which only lit up the shoot-

er’s face for a moment, the two

forces engaged in terrifying close

quarters combat.

“It was completely dark. When

it was dark, it was dark,” recalled

Rodriguez. “Like going out to the

country in night time. Every fifth

bullet was a tracer. Theirs were

green; ours were red. You had to

hear where the bullets were coming

from.”

Using his fox hole as cover,

Rodriguez called out artillery until

he was shot through his side. The

bullet did not incapacitate him, but

it did blow a hole through his radio.

Knowing that his company would

fall without his support, he ran to

another foxhole and found a war-

rant officer with an extra radio.

“I started calling artillery very

close to our position. You call in

one round to see where it lands and

from that, you adjust. There wasn’t

GPS back then. Usually, before

you go out, you call three positions

on a map,” explained Rodriguez.

“Was I responsible for our troops

getting hurt? You always wonder.

Always. Forty years later, I found

this article (which confirmed that

he did not) but you always won-

der.”

To this day, he’s still unable to

recall just how long the firefight

lasted. According to records avail-

able online, the skirmish first start-

ed at approximately 12:30 am, with

the heavily outnumbered Manchu

force holding off the 165th Viet

Cong for nearly an hour before

reinforcements arrived. American

brass was afraid that the attack was

a diversion meant to draw away

troops from higher priority loca-

tions. The Viet Cong eventually

retreated around 5 am.

“Afterwards, you sit and reflect.

Shit, I’m alive. This is my first

month here and I need to stay alive

for another 11 months? But you

put those thoughts away and you go

back and do your job,” recalled

Rodriguez. “You’re sitting there

during the evac and just see all the

body bags. I remember being on

the helicopter and seeing maybe a

half dozen bags. I didn’t know

there was so many.”

It would be a scene that would

replay over and over again during

his stay in country. Young boys,

many just barely 18 years old,

would leave on patrol and come

back to camp in body bags.

Out of necessity, Rodriguez

quickly became emotionally dis-

tant—someone you had coffee with

the other day could perish just

hours later.

“I didn’t want to know their

name, their background, whether

they had kids or family or where

they came from,” he said. “I didn’t

want to get close to people because

if they get killed, that’s the way you

get hurt.”

The methods that the Viet Cong

employed in battle also left a psy-

chological toll on Rodriguez.

Ambushes under darkness were

common. Snipers would lay in

wait in trees, while others would

spring up from tunnels to pick off a

soldier and quickly retreat before

the Americans could even assem-

ble. Simple boobytraps could catch

even the most war savvy soldiers

off guard, and mortar attacks were

a silent killer that could strike at

any time.

“Mortars you don’t hear coming.

They go straight up and straight

down,” recalled Rodriguez.

“Artillery, you can hear that go

over your head. It’s a whistling

sound as it’s coming and a woofing

sound as it passes you. You hear

that and it’s, ah, it’s ok.”

“That first skirmish set the tone

for the entire year that I was there,”

he continued. “You really

Carl with his family. From left is Rodriguez, Carla Dunphy (a special educa-tion teacher at WWMS), Nancy Hiscano, his wife, Ruth, and Susan Votack.


never slept. Your body gets some

rest and you close your eyes, but

you’re always aware of what’s

around you.”

The jungle savvy Rodriguez

endured countless missions over

the next few months without any

major incidents. By the Winter of

1967, he was nearing the end of his

standard one year deployment. To

commemorate the milestone,

Rodriguez purchased a short

timer’s stick, a polished piece of

wood on which the owner notches

each day during his final month.

“You’re counting every day

there, from your first to your last,”

he explained.

Rodriguez would never carve in

all 30 notches.

His final weeks were spent at an

old French air field near the Ho Chi

Min Trail. The Americans had cap-

tured it with the intention of mak-

ing the base a staging point for

bombing runs in

Cambodia.

The base became

operational in

December of 1967, and

immediately became a tar-

get for the North Vietnamese.

After several weeks of small

engagements and bombings, the

compound came witnessed the fury

of the Viet Cong in a massive

assault on Dec. 23. Rodriguez was

with a mortar crew in the rear of the

base when the strike first hit.

“The only thing I remember was

the explosion. My ears were ring-

ing and I reached up to my face

there was blood pouring down,”

recalled Rodriguez. “Then I real-

ized it was not so much my face but

my hand.”

An enemy mortar landed direct-

ly on his position, badly wounding

Rodriguez and the rest of the crew.

He was quickly evaced out to

Saigon Air Force

Base, where surgeons

managed to salvage

Rodriguez’s right hand,

which was a bloody,

pulpy mess of flesh and

bone. Because of burns and

heavy damage due to shrapnel,

doctors performed a skin graft on

his right leg. The explosion also

severely damaged his hearing and

caused nasty wounds to his face.

Because of his wounds and his

time served, Rodriguez was sent

back stateside for rehabilitation and

eventual discharge. By the time he

was released from McGuire Watts

Army Hospital in April of 1968,

America had become a different

place.

“We were doing the right thing at

the time when we went in,”

Rodriguez explained. “In 1968 is

when everything changed, the public

perception changed. Right after the

Second from left is Sgt. Carl Rodriguez, standing with his mortarteam in an undated photo. At right is the patch for the 25thInfantry ‘Tropic Lightning’.


Tet Offensive. It was all over TV and from that point on,

it was all down hill.”

Though he was not spit on like returning soldiers, the

reception was anything but warm.

Rodriguez remembers the leering eyes of protesters as

he left the rehabilitation center in fatigues. The rallies

shown on TV across the country. Hearing stories of his

returning brothers coming home to chants of ‘baby killers.’

Even when people weren’t outwardly hostile to vet-

erans, the treatment best described as callous.

When he returned to the job he held prior to entering

the war, Rodriguez was constantly badgered with ques-

tions pertaining to Vietnam. “Where did I serve, did I

kill anyone. I left after about three months and went to

a new company,” he explained. Rodriguez would go on

to have a lengthy career as a draftsman with Bendix in

Teterboro. “No one knows who you are, no one asks

any questions.”

The event that had the most profound affect on

Rodriguez took place shortly after returning home,

when he went to the Veterans Administration in

Newark to receive care for his numerous injuries.

“Some immigrant doctor there told me at the Vet hos-

pital that I was only in it for the money,” he recalled, still

clearly stung by those words 40 years later.

From that day forward, Rodriguez made a concerted

effort to repress all thoughts and memories pertaining

to his experiences in Vietnam.

“You file it away in the back of your head and never

talk about it,” he said. “You think that it will help you

if you bury it. The day to day stuff, you just try to

worry about that, just general life.”

And though Rodriguez remained silent about his 11

months in country, the memories from that year in

Vietnam haunt him in every facet of life.

“At the very beginning, the nightmares were

severe,” he explained. “You’d see different events

from then that you’re reliving.”

Rodriguez lost count of the times he found himself

back in the foxhole just outside of Phu Hoa Dong,

reliving the terrifying ordeal that left him with a bullet

scar along the right side of his chest. Countless other

scenes have replayed in his mind, over and over,

against his will.

“Sometimes, I’d wake up in the middle of the night

to do a security check,” said Rodriguez. This meant

getting out of bed, checking all of the windows on the

house, and then going outside to check the perimeter of

his property, which rests on the Nutley border. “If you

wake up, you just got to do it if you want to fall back

asleep.”

Eventually, as his condition worsened, symptoms of

PTSD began manifesting in other aspects of his life.

Sometimes it was presented as anxiety in normal situa-

tions, such as a small gathering of friends. In restau-

rants, he’d find himself checking for exits, planning

escape routes, the second he walked in.

In more severe instances, certain stimuli could trig-

ger flashback. For many years, Rodriguez had trouble

being around those of Asian origins. The attacks

Known as combat fatigue orshellshock in earlier conflicts,Post-Traumatic Stress Disorderis one of the many ailments asso-ciated with the Vietnam War.

A full quarter of all returning sol-diers from that conflict are thoughtto have suffered from PTSD atsome point in their lives. LikeRodriguez, many did not receiveproper treatment once returninghome and the symptoms becomechronic. Patients experienceflashbacks to the original traumat-

ic event, and haveissues with sleep,anger and relation-ships with others.

And while PTSD ismost often associat-ed with Vietnam vets,many other returningsoldiers from otherwars have sufferedjust the same. Withproper treatment, thecondition is manageable. Formore information, call the Newark

Department of Veteran Affairs at1-800-827-1000.

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)


on 9/11, which he watched unfold

from his job in Teterboro, disturbed

him greatly. Other triggers were

more peculiar.

“The smell of rain... it was

always raining down there,”

recalled Rodriguez. “You’d be

talking with someone and the con-

versation ends and you’re back in

country. There, the days of rain on

end would mean action slowed

down. You liked rain.”

Even something as simple as the

scent of a bar of soap conjured up

chilling recollections of Vietnam.

“It was better to not be clean,”

he explained. “When you’re clean,

you smell. There’s a jungle odor

that you can’t pick up. Guys who

just showered stuck out.”

Though it was most severe in the

years following his discharge, the

symptoms never fully diminished

with time. Rodriguez was cog-

nizant of the changes to his person-

ality, his odd behavior, his dark

demeanor. He was unable to con-

trol it and questioned his own sani-

ty on many occasions.

“I think that contributed to the

failure of my first marriage,”

admitted Rodriguez. “I spoke to

my daughter after my first wife had

passed. She was speaking to her

mom, who said that when I first

went in I was a warm, sweet person

and when I came back I was com-

pletely different and cold.”

MOVING ON WITH LIFE

If a complete stranger had

approached him in 1968 and

offered to sit down for a candid and

unbiased discussion about his time

in Vietnam, Rodriguez would have

quite adamantly said no without a

moment’s hesitation. The answer

would have probably been fol-

lowed by a few choice explicative.

Yet, in April 2011, he found him-

self spending more than three and a

half hours in a tell-all interview with

a writer whom he had just met earli-

er that day. It’s a scene he could

have never imagined several decades

ago, and yet, at the same time, the

conversation is just one step in a

long process of healing the mental

wounds inflicted during the war.

It’s progress that probably would

not have happened without a little

prodding from his wife, Ruth, who

pleaded with Rodriguez to return to

the VA to collect on the benefits he

earned so many years ago.

In 2008, he went in seeking

assistance for the lingering aches

and pains in his hand, back and leg.

However, doctors also diagnosed

Rodriguez with PTSD.

Though it came as a shock to

him, the news was also a welcome

relief. Rodriguez was not insane

after all. And he was not the only

one of his brothers suffering from

the same affliction.

“I began therapy and started seeing

results right away,” he recalled.

Eventually, Rodriguez progressed to

the point that his psychologist decid-

ed to put him into group therapy.

“I’m becoming more social,”

said Rodriguez. “We’ve become

quite close as friends.”

Between the solo and group

therapy sessions, the Cliftonite has

been able to manage the effects of

his condition. Rodriguez has gone

about mending relationships that

had deteriorated over the years.

Social settings aren’t as uncomfort-

able as in the past. The severity

and frequency of the nightmares

and outbursts has significantly

decreased.

“They taught us a breathing

technique to deal with anger,” he

said. “Road rage is still a big thing,

but I’m making progress. You just

say that it doesn’t matter and move

on. Just try to move on.”

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By Joe Hawrylko

BILL GUARINOSpeaking Italian Saved His Life

When he was drafted by the US Army inApril of 1943, Bill Guarino wasn’t just

scared of going to war, he was pretty sure

that he wasn’t going to come back. Like all young boys

who grew up in that era, Guarino expected to go off to

fight the Axis Powers when he turned 18, and he

accepted that he may very well die in some lonely fox-

hole on some foreign battleground.

Recalling those memories

nearly 70 years later, Guarino

is still a bit amazed that he

made it home alive. But

unlike most veterans, he attrib-

utes his safe return not to his

physical abilities, luck or faith,

but to Italian, which was the

only language used in his par-

ent’s Paterson home.

“Italian saved my life,”

Guarino said bluntly.

When a general learned of

his talents, Guarino was pro-

moted and from then on,

served as a radioman for the

camp commander. Though

not off the battlefield,

Guarino’s ability to translate

meant he was no longer the

one expected to charge head-

first into battle.

If military brass had known he could speak Italian

when he was drafted in April of 1943, Guarino might

have had an entirely different experience all together.

“I can still remember my number after all these

years,” he said. “3-7-7-9-3-3-2.”

Processed at the Newark Armory, Guarino was sent

to Camp Blanding, FL, where spent five forgettable

months training. At the end of August, he received

orders to ship out and spent most of September on a

boat which was part of a large convoy bound for Italy,

where Allied troops were in the midst of liberating the

fascist country.

Guarino got his first taste of war long before he even

reached Italy.

“We were heading for Naples and at Gibraltar, they

bombed us,” he said, recalling the evening that approx-

imately eight German dive-

bombers attacked under the

cover of darkness. “We did-

n’t think we would be going

to war yet. In fact, we when

we were bombed, we were

playing poker on the top of

the ship. Everything seemed

normal. We saw some tracers

and thought it was our guys

and then we saw the ships

just go down.”

“We were sent downstairs

into the hull, which was

awful,” added Guarino. He

waited out the ordeal in

cramped living quarters with

barely enough room for the

binks. “Everyone took out

prayer beads when the first

ship went down and we were

sent downstairs.”

The ship he was on narrowly escaped major damage,

but the convoy did suffer losses.

“It was maybe an hour tops, but they bombed and

strafed everything,” said Guarino. “About five or six ships

went down out of about 100 ships in the convoy. They had

battleships and everything, and they fired all those guns

and I don’t think any of those planes went down.”

After the attack, the convoy split up and Guarino’s

Bill Guarino while in Italy, circa 1943.


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Clifton Memorial Post 347American LegionCommander Domenic Chiappone • Past Commander Lou Poles

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• Leo Czubat• Elmer J. Lucas• Joseph J. Nikischer• Charles R. Timm

• Michael S. Wacyra• George Warholak• Matthew A. Millelferi

ship was rerouted to Port Bizerte in

Tunisia which was being used as a

replacement depot for Allies in

Italy since the end of the North

African Campaign a few months

earlier.

To pass the time while awaiting

deployment orders to Italy, Guarino,

took to designing menus for the base

mess hall, often listing the dishes in

English and Italian.

On Thanksgiving, a general came

by to inspect the facilities and pro-

moted the corporal on the spot. The

officer inquired about the menus

and, after learning that Guarino

spoke fluent Italian, the Paterson

native was promoted to replace the

corporal.

Because of the situation in Italy,

Guarino’s talents would prove to be

highly useful.

After secretly signing an

armistice with the Allies on Sept. 3,

1943, Italy became engulfed by tur-

moil. Germany invaded to keep the

Allies at bay and make use of the

leftover Italian supplies.

The new Allied-backed Italian

government arrested Benito

Mussolini, who was then rescued

by the Germans a few weeks later.

The dictator formed the Italian

Social Republic (RSI) in Northern

Italy, which remained loyal to the

Third Reich, setting the

Bill and his wife, Jane, have been married for 11 years.


stage for what was essentially a civil war.

In January of 1944, Guarino was deployed with the

34th Infantry, stationed near Naples, Italy. His ability

to translate helped coordinate with Italian resistance

fighters, interviewing RSI POWs and speaking with

locals from the war ravaged country. Because of these

skills, Guarino enjoyed perks that other soldiers did not

have access to.

“I didn’t have to sleep in the fox holes. I slept wher-

ever my camp commander slept. I was his radio man,”

explained Guarino. “We would take a house and stay

in it for the night.”

His fluency in Italian also usually led to good rela-

tionships with the locals, who helped along the way.

“We’d usually sleep in a grapevine or a cornfield for

cover. Well, we did that one day and I saw the farmer

and started speaking Italian with him,” recalled

Guarino, who also used his leave time to go visit rela-

tives near Naples. “He said his corn was going to go

bad if no one husked it. So me and two other guys did

it and we ended up having a big dinner that night with

the farmer and his two daughters.”

But as much as his ability to speak the language of

the natives put him in the rear with officers, it did not

take Guarino out of danger entirely.

“You try to be careful, but looking back, sometimes

you just get lucky,” said Guarino. “The first day of

combat, my company commander got shot right

between the eyes right after I finished talking to him.

We were going to take a hill and he gave me a prisoner

to take back. I came back and he was dead. And after

that, I was in a house with two guys that got bombed.

It blew a huge hole in it. Sometimes, you just got to

have luck.”

That factor would play in Guarino’s favor quite often

when he entered the battle. With the 34th, he took part

in the First Battle of Monte Cassino, a brutal skirmish

in which both sides sustained heavy losses. His outfit

breached the Rapido River that had stopped many other

Allied companies and marched towards the town before

being stopped.

Suffering losses as high as 80 percent, the entire 34th

Infantry was awarded the The Presidential Citation for

the legendary performance in battle. It would late take

five allied infantry division to successfully accomplish

the task of taking Monte Cassino, which was mostly

obliterated by the end of the battle.

Throughout the entire country, the scene was the

same: Most of Italy’s famed culture and architecture

was in ruins from the war.

“Florence was completely bombed out when I was

there. And across the country, every bridge was

knocked out. If they didn’t knock it out, we did,” said

Guarino, who visited Italy twice after the war. “Rome

wasn’t touched at all though.”

In June of 1944, his time on the battlefield came to an

end when he was promoted to company clerk. Guarino

had earned himself an office job with perks that included

travels to some of Europe’s most prized resort areas:

Italian Riviera, Switzerland and the French Riviera, the

last of which he said is overrated.

“If you had two cartons of cigarettes, you could stay

a weekend anywhere,” he recalled. “It took five in

France.” Guarino held that job until the Winter of 1945,

when he was discharged and sent home.

“December 12, 1945,” he added with a laugh.. “I

remember it because one of my best cousins got mar-

ried and I just got hime. I came in my uniform.”

After the war, Guarino was awarded the Bronze Star

in recognition for his efforts as an armed soldier server-

ing as a translator in combat. He had a lengthy career

as a manager at Sears in furniture. Guarino has resided

in Clifton since 1992, and now lives with his wife of 11

years, Jane, in an apartment tower off of Allwood Rd.



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By Joe Hawrylko

CHARLES LEWISCool Under Fire

Composure is perhaps themost important trait onecan have on the battlefield.

A soldier must be stoic; when enemy

gunfire rains down, decision making

must be quick, and action, even

quicker. There is no room for fear,

empathy or any other emotions

which cloud judgement.

For medics, composure is flat

out vital to the job—while others

are headed into battle to engage the

enemy, the combat medic is merely

evading gunfire long enough to

tend to the wounded.

Charles Lewis has those nerves

of steel and he’s got the Bronze

Star to back it up. Twenty four

years old when he earned the pres-

tigious award in 1944 and all of

120 pounds, he was likely the

smallest man on the battlefield on

any given day. But Lewis was an

exemplary soldier, willing to risk

death to tend to a fallen brother.

“I wasn’t married at the time, so

I wasn’t as nervous,” said the

Passaic native and the youngest of

11 children. “I got on that bus and

Charles Lewis, a WWII Army Veteran, showcases his awards.


it took me to Fort Dix. I wasn’t

scared. I take things as they come.

If you get scared over there, you’d

be in trouble.”

Drafted in November of 1942,

he expected to land in the Air Force

due to his smallish stature. But in

war time, soldiers are assigned based

on need, not personal preference,

and Uncle Sam decided that Lewis

would was Army property. He was

placed in the dental technician pro-

gram and sent Camp Maxey in TX,

where he became a member of the

102st Infantry, 407th Medical

Detachment.

After his training was complete,

Lewis was transfered to Brooke

General Hospital in San Antonio, TX

for three months. There, he was a

self-described‘bed pan commando’,

tasked with the upkeep of the hospi-

tal, in addition to his dental duties.

“We kept the camp clean,”

recalled Lewis. “The job was so

good. We kept on coming home

each night”

In September of 1944, Lewis

was deployed to the European

Theater, where the Axis Powers

were in disarray.

“When I came to Europe they

were on the edge of Germany,” he

recalled. Lewis landed in

Cherbourg, France, and was moved

inland by truck. The

Charles Lewis with his grandchildren. Top row is Jason Gobee and TracyConaughton. In front is Robin Farris, Lewis and Tim Conaughton.


Germans in retreat across much of

Europe, but some straggling groups

still roamed about the countryside.

These small packets of resistance

were harder to locate than a full

regiment, which lead to surprise

strikes.

“The first attack we had, we

were in the reserves on the Rhone

River. And across from the river is

a mountain and down at the bottom

is an open field for reserves,”

recalled Lewis. “They told us to

dig in, so we dug holes deep

enough to hide, and deep enough to

stop a tank.”

“We’re sitting in these holes and

all the sudden I hear ‘medic, medic!’

I look up and I see that the Germans

can see us atop the mountain and

they’re firing,” he continued.

In that instant, training kicked in

and Lewis leapt out of his ditch,

headed straight for his ailing com-

rades, dodging

bullets and

artillery fire

along the way.

“I ran over and the soldier has a

hole in his face the size of a silver

dollar and he’s not talking,” he

explained. “His hand is hanging by

a little cord, so I cut it, wrapped it

and put it with him.”

To this day, Lewis still does not

know the fate of the man. He does-

n’t even remember too many

details from that first skirmish

beyond that incident. The gravity

of the situation didn’t even set in

until several hours after the last

bullet was fired.

“I remember sitting by myself,

shaking and crying,” recalled

Lewis. “I remember an officer

came over and said you got the

Bronze Star for what you did in the

tank ditch.”

Hours later, he was back on

patrol searching for remaining Nazi

outfits.

“We would take a town and

move on somewhere else,” he

added. “I was in action for a week,

maybe 11 days.”

But in less than two weeks of

action, Lewis experienced all of the

terrors of war.

“A man I knew, Fisher, a had a

shell land in his hole and cut him

right in half,” he stated. “There

was nothing I could do. I told and

officer and that was

it.”

It was his own

brush with death that

prematurely ended

Lewis’ stint in battle.

Allied troops were

preparing for what

seemed to be an

uncontested river

crossing. However, as

the boats began to

near the opposite

shoreline, a hail of German

artillery and machine gun fire

rained down from high atop the

hills. Further complicating the

crossing were landmines which

were submerged underwater and

caught the first troops to hit the

coast off guard.

“They were shelling us. They

saw us coming,” said Lewis. Once

close enough to stand, he quickly

jumped out of the boat. “One lands

in front of me and then another and

then I say to myself, ‘Hey, those

two are in line with me so I better

move.’

He quickly waded to the side,

just narrowly avoiding the artillery

shell that instantly killed a nearby

soldier. A matter of feet from point

of impact, Lewis was likely spared

Charles Lewis and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, in an undat-ed photo. At right, Lewis during his service years.

because the bomb detonated in the water, dulling the

explosion and limiting the damage done by shrapnel. A

single piece of metal the size of a quarter was lodged in

his calf, where it still rests today.

“The kids behind me got it the worst,” he recalled.

“It was like getting hit with a stick really hard. It did-

n’t hurt too bad, but it would have done more damage

to take it out.”

While recovering from his injuries that day, Lewis

ran into an old friend from dental school, who helped

him secure a new job in an office, taking him off of the

front lines.

Following the Germans surrendered, Lewis was sta-

tioned in the Bavarian Mountains near Switzerland to

wait out the waning days of the war.

“It was beautiful,” he recalled. “We were part of the

occupying force. We had showers.”

Lewis remained on that work detail until his dis-

charge in October of 1945.

After returning home, Lewis, along with his brothers

Ernest and Arthur, went on to start their own business,

Commercial Printers, which the family operated for

more than 40 years—a majority of which were in

Clifton— before selling the company in the early

1980s. Lewis was also active in the Clifton Civil

Defense for over 30 years.


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By Joe Hawrylko

GEORGE BALKJYMemories from Europe

George Balkjy (front row, right) poses with some brothers in battle. Pictured with him is Joe Wood, Joe Sands, Joe “Bobo”Andria, Joe Coleogne and Tom Ortalano. The photo was taken at the ruins of St. Lo, France on Sept. 22, 1944.

Even now, more than 70 years after the fact,George Balkjy’s eyes still get wide when he

recalls the thunderous roar of the hundreds of

American bombers preparing to crossing the English

Channel in preparation for D-Day.

“I’ve never seen so many planes and ships in my life! “

said Balkjy. “Oh, there must have been 400-500 planes,

flights of 100 at a time. Flight after flighter after flight for

hours.”

Most of the memories from World War II years, both the

good and the bad, still evoke similar reaction to this day.

Balkjy remembers growing up with the certainty that he’d

be drafted. He waw the horrors of the Battle of the Bulge

first hand. And he ended his military career with a stint in

the beautiful country of Norway, an oasis in the war rav-

aged landscape of Europe.

At 86, Balkjy looks back on his life with a sense of awe.

He’s a living link to the Greatest Generation, an era of peo-

ple who braved some of the most turbulent times in

America.

“I remember at night, the car headlights,” said Balky,

recalling the fear that gripped the country during the

war years. “They would be half painted black to keep

the lights down. People were afraid of getting bombed,

I remember that. I think they caught two German spies

not long before I left.”

Balkjy was drafted by the Army in June of 1943 at the

age of 18 after graduating from Paterson Central High the

previous year.

“I had worked in my father’s grocery store, the

Stationary Market, in Paterson to that point,” said

Balkjy, who opened the iconic Ace & George’s

in

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Market after his discharge. “I had

friends who were already in, so I

knew what to expect. I went by

School 23, got on the bus and went

to Newark.”

At the armory, Balkjy underwent

routine tests as he was processed by

the military. He was set to join the

infantry like most draftees before

doctors discovered an ailment that

would possibly spare his life.

“I was taking an eye test and

they asked me what number I saw

in this bunch of colored circles,”

recalled Balkjy. “I said,’What

number?’ It turns out, I was color-

blind.”

The two friends from Paterson

that he enlisted with, John Raad (the

namesake of American Legion Post

438 in Paterson) and Joe Attara,

became GIs and were killed in action

shortly after entering the war.

Balkjy was sent to Camp Joseph

T. Robinson in Little Rock, AK for

training and was designated as a

member of the 46th Field Hospital.

From there, he was deployed to the

European Theater in February of

1944, where the Allies were prepar-

ing for a massive assault to reclaim

France, which would come to be

known as the Invasion of

Normandy.

“They took us to this place called

D-Day Hill, which was loaded with

tanks and firepower,” said Balkjy.

“We knew we had to go over. It was

just a matter of time.”

For the next several months, the

Allies would train and prepare for

the invasion in secrecy.

“I was homesick, but after a few

months you get over it,” said

Balkjy, who entered France

through Normandy a few days after

the June 6 invasion.

In Europe, his role was a litter

bearer, the name given to those

tasked with receiving the wounded

who came in on stretchers. Balkjy

was also used to move heavy

machinery and crates in the hospital,

and administered needles and other

simple remedies if the hospital was

inundated with soldiers.

Though he was well away from

the fighting, the job required Balkjy

to transport soldiers who were often

gravely injured. “You get shook up

but after a while it becomes

Balkjy in an undated service photo.


second nature,” he explained.

That would be Balkjy’s role as the

Allies marched across Europe,

reclaiming many iconic cities that

had fallen under Nazi rule.

“We were about five miles

behind the line until we got to

Berlin,” said Balkjy. “We were

supporting General [George]

Patton’s Army. Europe was com-

pletely devastated, bombed out the

whole way.”

“Oh Christ. I remember being in

Aachen and Cologne. I had never

seen a city so devastated in my

life,” he continued. “I mean wiped

out, totally wiped out. Just piles of

rubbish everywhere.”

But before reaching Germany,

Balkjy first had to survive the

Battle of the Bulge, a failed offen-

sive launched in surprise by the

Nazis in December of 1944.

“We would read the Stars &

Stripes (the Army newspaper) to fig-

ure out what was going on. The Stars

& Stripes is how we knew we were in

the Battle of the Bulge,” he said.

Taking place in Belgium, severe

winter storms prevented the Allies

from utilizing air support. Though

the Americans won the battle, it

was costly, with some 19,000 US

soldiers killed in action.

“The weather was so bad the Air

Force couldn’t come,” said Balkjy.

“We were stuck there in the hospital.

Then one day they told us to get on

the highway and walk. There were

no cars and no trucks. Some of our

patients couldn’t walk, so one of the

MDs stayed behind with them.”

After the Allies defeated the

Nazis at the Bulge, the march to

Berlin continued. In the waning

days of the war, Balkjy caught a

glimpse of the legendary general of

the Third Army.

“We were told that Patton was

coming through on the highway, so

we all went and lined up,” he

recalled. “The first thing I saw was

a Jeep with four stars on it and this

real loud siren. Then come a big

tank with Patton sticking out the top.

And he’s sitting there like this,” said

Balkjy, crossing his arms and flash-

ing a stern look across his face.

“And he’s got these two pearl pistols

and a big white helmet. And he goes

on by and we throw him a highball.

He was showtime alright.”

Just a few short weeks later, Hitler

committed suicide and Germany

surrendered. With the war over in

Europe, Balkjy and the 46th Field

Hospital were to care for Russian

POWs, where he remained until his

discharge in January of 1946.

“It was the best time of my life,”

laughed Balkjy. “Blue eyes, blonde

hair and it was almost completely

untouched by the war. I just

remember saying, what the hell is

this, paradise?”

By Joe Hawrylko

BERNIE FICACCIHanging Out in a Huey

Bernie Ficacci was ahead ofthe curve when he snuck

behind his parents back to

get his enlistment papers signed in

the Winter of 1961. “I started getting bored here so I

went to Newark to go sign papers,”

said Ficacci, 70. “I wanted to get it

over with really.”

Though the draft was in place, vol-

untary enlistment seemed like a rela-

tively safe bet at the time. To those

that even knew that Vietnam existed,

the developments in the country

seemed relatively minor. By the time

Ficacci had signed his Army papers,

President John F. Kennedy had

already deployed some 10,000 troops

as ‘advisors’ to the region.

Ficacci’s basic and advanced

infantry training at Fort Dix was

normal. There, he learned how to

man the massive miniguns

attached to the sides of the Huey

helicopter. However, when he

was shipped to Hawaii to await

deployment orders in 1962, it

became apparent where he and the

other recruits were preparing for.

“I had to do jungle training and

all kinds of prison camps. You go

in case you get caught so you

know what to expect,” he

explained. “If you got caught,

you’d end up getting hurt. They’d

hang you from a tree.”

However, Ficacci and the others

took the training a little overboard

at times.

“I ended up getting stitches in

my leg,” he laughed. “We were

fooling around and in it went.”

But despite that incident,

Ficacci’s days in Hawaii were fair-

ly stress free; far more leisure than

work, with off days spent on the

beach.

Naturally, like any young man

with too much time on his hands,

he found trouble.

In Vietnam in 1962, Ficacci with another soldier named Conway.



The Army had organized war games, and Ficacci and

a fellow soldier decided they had enough and wanted to

go home.

“We ended up changing armbands and taking a tank,”

he said. “My buddy started

driving. He was doing pretty

good... right until he hit a

Volkswagen. It was a bunch

of girls from Hawaii

University driving through

the pineapple fields.”

Perhaps due to the fact that

a stray tank hitting a car isn’t

something likely to be

believed, Ficacci and his

friend made it safely back to

camp without any problems.

However, Ficacci was

growing bored with life in

Hawaii. Deployment was

inevitable, so he volunteered

to get shipped out to Vietnam

in 1963, around the time that

President Lyndon B. Johnson

was expanding the war.

Ficacci landed in Saigon at Tan Son Nhut Air Base on

a 90 day Temporary Deployment with the 25th Infantry,

tasked with training South Vietnamese soldiers and run-

ning patrols. “I showed the South Vietnamese how to get

in and out of the chopper,” he said. “We tried to teach

them how to fight but they’d always run.”

And though he was not walking in the notoriously

dangerous jungles, there are plenty of risks when hang-

ing halfway out the door of a moving helicopter.

“One golden BB, that’s all it took,” he said. “I was a

crazy guy, but I’d get shakes after I’d come back from

missions. But when you’re out there, you don’t think,

you keep shooting. I had a pilot who always said, ‘You

do the shooting, I’ll get you home.’

Ficacci was sent back to Hawaii when his TDY con-

cluded at the end of 1963. He served on the competitive

Army Rifle Team until his discharge in 1964.

“I was spit at when I came home from Oakland to

Newark,” recalled Ficacci. “They called me baby

killer, mother killer. You couldn’t do anything because

the MPs were there and you’d get in trouble. When

you had your uniform on, you had to have respect for

everyone.”

Even after all of his experiences in Vietnam, it’s the

treatment of those returning veterans that bothers him

most.

“I lost 56,000 brothers there, ”he said.

Ficacci, who graduated Clifton High School in 1959, enjoying a little free time on thebeachers of Hawaii in 1962.

2001199119811971196119511941

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Did You Graduate CHS in


By Rich Delotto

CLIFTON POWSRemembering Those Incarcerated During WWII

For over six months, a book entitled

Unbroken has been on the best seller list. It

is the story of a WWII aviator who bailed

out of his B-24 bomber over the Pacific and

began a two and a half year journey of survival,

mistreatment, torture and eventually, liberation.

What he endured is beyond description. The

fact that he lived to tell his story is a miracle.

What that man did what his life after the war is

another miracle waiting to be read. That

man’s name is Louis Zamperini, alive and

well at the age of 94, now living in California.

During WWII, at least 49 men from Clifton were

forced to surrender and became POWs to the Axis pow-

ers. Two of them never returned from incarceration:

Army PFC Joe Carboy, 52 Gould St., was wounded in

the Philippines on Jan. 6,

1942. He returned to duty

but was taken prisoner that

May. He later died in captivi-

ty.

Army Sgt. Charles Hooyman

Jr., 18 Union Ave., was reported

captured on Bataan, survived the

Bataan Death March and was

taken to a prison camp in the

Phillipines. After the war, fellow

POWs reported that Hooyman was

executed by Japanese guards.

This Memorial Day, take a moment to remember the

millions of servicemen and women who have made the

ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Harry Alexander 39 Byron Pl.

Joseph Avato 127 Warren St.

Charles Bayer 37 Ann St.

Daniel Barna 32 Mahar Ave.

Theodore Becker 89 Speer Ave.

Joseph Blasczyk 100 Highland Ave.

Andrew Bodi 285 Lakeview Ave.

Joseph Bush 13 Fenner Ave.

Edward Calderaro 250 Hamilton Ave.

Patrick Commincioto 30 Marconi St.

Ignatius Corrao 286 W. 3rd St.

Peter Daniels 106 DeMott Ave.

Robert DeGhetto 21 Piaget Ave.

Nicholas Demchak 30 Arthur St.

John Derling 92 Fenner Ave.

Curt Doescher 22 Broad St.

Leo Durkin 272 E. 1st St.

Abner Fleisher 815 Valley Rd.

Raymond Foster 31 Hamilton Ave.

Michael Franke 63 Center St.

Joseph Friedman 60 Hadley Ave.

Charles Gebauer 36 E. 7th St.

John Kmetz 223 E. 6th St.

Peter Kowal 106 Monhegan St.

Fred Maden 110 Market St.

Stanley Manista 51 Major St.

Roger Marlin 253 W. 2nd St.

Emil Mason 106 Monhegan St.

Charles Maurer 90 E. 9th St.

Robert Mabey 121 Madison Ave.

Steve Olesak 232 E. 6th St.

Alexander Pasko 18 Milosh St.

Harry Pollack 178 Ackerman Ave.

James Prehart 654 Lexington Ave.

George Ralph 123 Oak St.

Louis Salerno 4 Althea St.

Russell Reed 84 McCosh Rd.

Arnold Rubin 3 Madison Ave.

Donald Sang 31 Madeline Ave.

Raymond Schmidlin 871 Valley Rd.

Saul Schwartz 408 S. Parkway

Joseph Taverna 46 Summit Ave.

Frank Tiedeman 336 W. 2nd St.

Lawerence Tumminello 38 Arthur St.

George Van Brook Hoven 17 Huron St.

Lawerence Van Liere 535 Lexington Ave.

Joseph Wade 38 Valley Rd.


Deep in the soul of everyparent lies the paralyz-ing fear that something

bad, really bad, can happen totheir child - something out-of-con-

trol, something that cannot be

fixed, something that will cause

pain forever. And, for a few par-

ents, despite all their best efforts,

despite their best intentions, despite

all their love and care, this terrify-

ing realization that something bad,

really bad, can happen one day

comes true.

With poignant emotion, Dennis

Benigno still recalls the moment in

1984 when he received a call from

Clifton police to his office at

Hoffman-LaRoche. His son Dennis

John, 15, had been hit by a car. It

was 3:20 in the afternoon of August

22 and Dennis John, walking home

from a football physical, was hit by

a car that swerved to avoid hitting

another person. His son flew into

the air and upon landing, hit his

head on the rock-hard road.

“Six months earlier,” said

Benigno in a tone still tinged with

disbelief, “I saw a colleague of

mine at work and in his eyes was a

look of deep distress. His son had

been injured in a construction acci-

dent; for several days had been

lying unconscious. I had asked him,

‘John, I don’t know how you do it

– how do you get through it when

your kid is hurt that bad?’ Can you

believe that? I asked him that. Then

I got the call about Dennis. Then I

knew how John did it.”

Dennis John, now 42, cannot

communicate, but his parents,

Dennis and Rosalind Benigno,

think that he understands some

things. He has severe Traumatic

Brain Injury (TBI) and is in a min-

imally conscious state. Lying in a

raised hospital bed on the first floor

of the Benigno’s Hazel Street

home, he seems aware, although

not clear to what extent. At times,

says Rosalind, he can move his

right arm slightly. Dennis John is in

excellent health, with clear pale

skin and dark eyes that look out

OUT OF TRAGEDYCOMES A MISSION TO BRING HOPE

By Irene Jarosewich

Mom Rosalind with Dennis Benigno in a recent photo.


onto his immediate world. The

Benignos take some comfort from

the knowledge that their dedication

to their son’s care, with the assis-

tance of nurses, means that Dennis

John is not in any pain.

“The worst thing” said Benigno,

with sadness clearly in his voice,

“is to come down the stairs every

morning and see my son alive, but

not able to live – it kills me – it kills

me that I can’t help my kid more.”

After the accident, Dennis John

spent several months in a hospital,

then in rehabilitation, and when it

became clear that nothing more

could be done, the Benignos

brought their son home.

DEALING WITH THE TRAUMA

You just cannot plan for some-

thing like this, say the Benignos,

you just can never be ready.

Financially, Dennis John is still

covered under a catastrophic injury

insurance mandate that was in

effect in 1984, so he will get med-

ical attention for the rest of his life.

However, in 1990, that mandate

was repealed by the New Jersey

state legislature in agreement with

insurance companies and coverage

was capped at $250,000 for life.

“Two hundred fifty thousand!”

snorts Benigno with irritation,

"That’s nothing! That’s one month in

the hospital for an injury like this.”

Dennis and Rosalind, who mar-

ried in 1964, both grew up in

Garfield. Their first-born is daugh-

ter Kim Anne, who now lives in

Oakland, New Jersey with husband

Bill Lyons and twin eight-year-old

boys, Ethan and Jack. The

Benigno’s second child, Dennis

John, was born in 1969.

“We’ve always been a close

family,” said Rosalind, “Kim is

dedicated to her brother, as is her

husband. The boys love their uncle.

We could not have done it, come

this far, without one another. When

I saw my son lying there in

“When we realized that right now there is very little more that we could do for our son other than keep him healthy and comfortable,

we didn't want to stop there. Brain injury victims cannot speak.

We wanted to speak for him.


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the hospital, I just looked at him

and said ‘God, he is now in Your

hands.’ It is our family, our friends,

our faith that gave us the strength to

come this far.”

The Benignos soon realized that

their son would not get better, that

they had reached the limit of what

current medical and rehabilitative

treatment could provide. They

decided to take their newfound

knowledge about brain trauma and

work to expand brain injury

research with the goal of finding a

cure. The Benignos were a bit

stunned by how little expectation

there was about ever finding a cure

for TBI, even among knowledge-

able health professionals, as well as

the miniscule sums being given to

fund research about repairing trau-

matic brain injuries.

Injured brain can be repaired;

brain cells and brain tissue are

capable of regeneration. The inside

of the skull is a rough, boney, sur-

face. When the brain, a soft, fluid-

filled sac of tissue abruptly collides

with the scaly, rough surface of the

inner skull, the result of a fall or

accident or collision, brain cells

and tissues are damaged and die.

However, with the advances of sci-

ence, various avenues of research

are exploring different ways that

cells can be regenerated and

repaired. Major advances have

been made in the regeneration of

liver cells, for example, but funding

for brain trauma research has been

given a low priority.

Brain injuries are one of the

most common injuries in the

United States. Currently, in all age

groups, an estimated 5.5 million

people in the United States are dis-

abled from TBI; of these, 3.2 mil-

lion have suffered severe and per-

manently debilitating conse-

quences from their brain trauma.

According to Center for Diseases

Control, traumatic brain injury is

more prevalent than many other

well-known health disorders –

more than prostate cancer (250,000

diagnosed cases annually) or

epilepsy (2 million Americans) or

muscular dystrophy (several thou-

sand cases nationwide). A brain

injury can be relatively mild, such

as a concussion; sometimes the

injury can be fatal. However, mil-

lions live in the middle with moder-

ate to severe brain trauma, alive,

but not able to function fully.

The primary source of brain

injuries is motor vehicle accidents,

but TBI also can be caused by bicy-

cle accidents; motorcycle acci-

dents, seniors falling, slippage on

snow and ice, sports injuries such

as from football, soccer, skiing,

snowboarding, fights and brawls,

even gunshot wounds to the head.

A brain injury can happen to any-

one, anytime, anyplace – throwing

a family’s life into a tailspin. Since

the primary source of brain injuries

is motor vehicle accidents, every-

one is vulnerable.

According to federal government

statistics, traumatic brain injury is

the leading cause of death and dis-

ability among young Americans

under 30. Last year, approximately

1.5 million people sustained a trau-

matic brain injury; of those, 1.1 mil-

lion were treated in a hospital and

released; 235,000 required longer-

term hospitalization; 50,000 died.

The national cost of TBI is estimated

to be $60 billion annually.

TBI has been named the signa-

ture wound of the wars in Iraq and

Afghanistan, with an estimated

360,000 brain-injured men and

women having returned from these

conflicts.

Due to the nature and unpre-

dictability of the severe disabilities

associated with brain injury, many

victims live out their lives institu-

tionalized without hope of

improvement. And because of the

national prevalence of brain trauma

victims, experts refer to TBI as the

"silent epidemic”.

The Benignos attribute general

low awareness in part to a funda-

mental misconception between

injury and disease. A brain injury is

different from diseases of the brain,

such as Alzheimer’s or brain can-

cer. People cannot comprehend fix-

ing the brain – but it can be done. It

can be repaired. Stem cell technol-

ogy, genetic research, nerve cell

rejuvenation are all avenues of

research to pursue.

Rosalind also believes that anoth-

er reason that finding ways to repair

traumatic brain injuries receives

such low priority is because victims

cannot speak and, therefore, there

are no high profile people to publi-

cize the problem - such as

Christopher Reeve for spinal cord

injuries or Jerry Lewis for muscular

dystrophy – no one to promote

Dennis sr. and Rosalind with Dennis, daughter Kim and her husband Bill Lyons with Ethan and Jack.



awareness. In turn, the families of

TBI victims are so overwhelmed

with caring for the injured, or so con-

sumed with guilt when a victim

needs to be institutionalized that

their feeling of hopelessness leaves

them gripped in silence.

So the Benignos began their

mission.

NATIONAL, STATE, LOCAL –HEAVY LIFTING

New Jersey is the first state, said

Benigno, to provide a continuous

source of money to state facilities to

fund brain injury research. For years,

Benigno spearheaded an effort to

establish the New Jersey

Commission on Brain Injury

Research, which has an interesting

funding source: a one dollar sur-

charge is added to all New Jersey

motor vehicle traffic violations,

which is then funneled into brain

injury research. The struggle was a

long one, but finally the Brain Injury

Research Act was approved in

Trenton. On January 3, 2004, then

Governor Jim McGreevy came to the

Beningo home for a public signing.

“It was a great day,” said

Benigno, “and as a result of the

Act, now more than 3.5-4 million

dollars each year go to New Jersey

research facilities such as Robert

Woods Johnson or UMDNJ specif-

ically targeted for research on brain

injury repair. For the first five

years, starting in 2005, I was the

Executive Director of the New

Jersey Commission, now I am a

volunteer commissioner. People

from other states come to New

Jersey to see how we did it.”

Besides working on the state

level, Benigno worked with New

Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell to

convince Congress to focus on the

problem, as well. With the urging of

Benigno, Pascrell pushed to estab-

lish a Congressional Brain Injury

Task Force in 2001, which he now

co-chairs. In the past few years, the

profile of the task force has risen

considerably due to hearings held

about the dramatic increase in brain

injuries among returning combat

veterans. Benigno hopes that

research and experience garnered in

military hospitals from these

tragedies will spill over soon into

civilian research.

Besides working with state and

national officials, the Benignos

have established a private founda-

tion – The Coalition for Brain

Injury Research – a not for profit

501(c)3 that does public awareness

and fundraising events to raise

money for research grants dis-

persed annually to selected appli-

cants from throughout the United

States. Recent recipients include

the University of Texas and the

University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“Ten years ago,” said Benigno,

“research on how to repair the brain

was not even a blip on the screen.

But look at cancer research 40

years ago, we’ve made tremendous

advances in cancer treatment since

then. Brain injury is still on the bot-

tom rung of the funding ladder, but

at least we’re on the ladder. There

have tremendous advances in neu-

roscience in the past decade alone.”

Dennis, an architect by profes-

sion, is retired now, although still

does work occasionally for private

clients. He continues to devote

most of his time to the foundation

and increasing public awareness

about TBI.

“When we realized that right now

there is very little more that we could

do for our son,” he said, “other than

keep him healthy and comfortable,

we didn't want to stop there. Brain

injury victims cannot speak. We

wanted to speak for him. We do not

want others to feel as overwhelmed

as we did and for the situation for

brain injury victims to always be

hopeless. Maybe research into brain

injury repair will not provide results

quickly enough to help our son. But

we do this so that in the future, oth-

ers can have hope."

On June 10, the Coalition forBrain Injury Research is sponsor-ing its annual beefsteak dinner at6:30 pm at the Clifton AtheniaVeterans Hall, 147 Huron Ave.Comedy entertainment, a silentauction and 50/50 raffles areplanned. Tickets are $45 and pro-ceeds will benefit the search for abrain injury cure. For ticket infor-mation, call Dennis Benigno at973-632-2066. For more details onthe programs of the Coalition, go towww.brainjurycure.org.

Dennis Benigno in 1984.


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For 14 years, Clifton’s Dave Szott made a livingin the trenches of the NFL, spending a bulk of

his career with the Kansas City Chiefs and later

making stops with the Washington Redskins and New

York Jets. He’s been named to All-Pro teams and

achieved life goals he made decades ago as a child.

But despite his success on the field, it’s what he’s

done off of it that he finds most rewarding.

Though his official title with the Jets is Director of

Personnel, one might consider Szott to be a profession-

al mentor. His role is to assist New York Jets players in

any off the field matters: financial advice, completing a

Dave the MentorBy Joe Hawrylko

Mustang receives Clifton Optimist Friend of Youth Award


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degree and life in general.

It’s a position that perfectly suits

his skills. Szott had many role

models in athletics while growing

up in Clifton, and since his playing

days, has been highly active in

many different charities.

“I have a great deal of pride in

Clifton,” said the 1986 CHS gradu-

ate. “Many great men came out of

Clifton football: Jack Purcell (a

long time youth coach), Steve

LaPage, the high school wrestling

coach. There was a good core of

guys that wrestled and played foot-

ball through high school: The

Monaco brothers, Steve Pulion,

Rich Cinoa, Brian Smith, myself.

We won counties all four years. It

was a great era in Clifton. The city

had such a great mix of diversity

and ethnicities.”

The experiences he had as a young

boy growing up in Clifton influenced

Szott to enact positive change no mat-

ter where life takes him.

“It really is a privilege,” he said.

“I feel the game has given me so

much. God has given me a plat-

form,” said Szott. “The popularity

of the game allows me to talk about

subjects that are near and dear to

my heart.”

Faith and charity work have

been intertwined since Szott

Fighting Mustang Dave Szott was an anchor on the offensive line. Facing page, Szott with his boys Shane and Josh.

gr

S

P

at

go

P


was drafted by the Kansas City

Chiefs in 1990.

“In Kansas City, I fought as a 7th

round pick and made the team,” he

recalled. “I remember standing

there on Arrowhead Stadium with

70,000 ravenous, screaming fans

and realizing I had accomplished

all of my life goals. That’s when I

really started to search.”

Seeing other rookies consumed

by self-indulgence and greed

inspired Szott to look for guidance

from a higher power.

“I needed more depth and under-

standing of my faith,” he explained.

Szott was a parishioner at St.

Andrews as a child. “I ended up

From left, dad Ed., mom Kay and his grandmother in his early pro football days. He and his wife Andrea, also a CHS grad.

gravitating to a more fundamental type church.”

His renewal of faith also gave way towards a sense

of charity. Shortly after making the team, Chiefs man-

agement approached Szott about helping various

groups in the community.

“There’s a scripture that reads, ‘Feed the widows,

father the fatherless,” recalled Szott, who has been

affiliated with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes

since his days as a Chief. He also was motivated due

to family ties.

“I have an older brother who is visually impaired,”

Szott said of his brother, Kevin, who is five years older

and suffers from Rentinitis Pigmatosa.

These two factors paved the way for the Cliftonite’s

involvement with two large charitable organizations:

Szotts for Tots and the Children’s Center for the

Visually Impaired.

Szott’s already sizable activity in charitable organi-

zations increased when his son, Shane, was born in

1995 and diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy a few months

later. Unfortunately, as Shane grew older, he required

more specialized care that wasn’t available in Kansas

City. In 2001, Szott requested a trade so that he could

find a team closer to an appropriate treatment center.

“As much as I loved Kansas City, I did what was

best for my family,” said Szott, who landed in

Washington playing for the Redskins. His fami-


ly moved back to New Jersey, and Szott would take a

train down to Washington, D.C. each week, saying with

the team for five days at a time before returning home.

“It was a very tough decision, walking away from

something that you had worked for your whole career,”

he added. “I never envisioned leaving there. I had

spent my whole career there.”

After a year with the Redskins, Szott signed with the

New York Jets, where he played until his retirement at

the end of the 2003 season. However, the Cliftonite

stayed with Jets organization, working his way up from

offensive line coach to his current role as director of

personnel, something he explained as being an H&R

director for football.

“What I’m doing now I did as a player,” said Szott.

“Whenever I would see a young man in need, I’d pull

him aside and he can’t take that advise or not and I

respect that.”

And despite being retired as a player, Szott still uses

his name to generate awareness for numerous causes.

Szott is also on the Board at the Children’s Learning

Center in Wyckoff, where he assists with fundraising.

He is on the Board of the Matheny Medical and

Educational Center, which is Shane’s school in

Peapack. His wife, Andrea, is on the Friends of the


Matheny Medical and Educational

Center Board.

Szott is advisor and coach for his

younger son’s football team, the

Morristown Wildcats. Last year,

the squad played a scrimmage

against the Clifton Junior

Mustangs, led by Szott’s good pal

Joe Gaccione at Albion Park.

“We also have camp here [the

Jets’ training facility in Florham

Park] in the Spring and I get some

of the Jets players to help out,” he

added.

“My dad and Jack Purcell (who

coached Szott in youth football)

flew to Kansas City. I took them

fishing to thank them,” said Szott.

“I had the best role models for

parents. My mother was on the

Board of Education in Clifton.

Education was stressed,” said

Szott, who earned a degree in polit-

ical science from Penn State in

1996. He took courses in the off-

season to complete his studies. “I

watched my parents support Kevin

for years, and it helped relieve

some of my anxieties when I had a

son of my own who was disabled.”

“The life lessons you learn

there—preparation, teamwork,

dedication. Seeing planning all

come together,” he said, “Jack’s got

buddies that still call him up.”

“Faith, family, football: those

are the three ‘Fs’ in my life,” he

said. “I like to keep it simple. If I

get more of anything else, the plate

is too full.”


Clifton Optimist Awards

Sgt. Billy Gibson will receive the Judge Joseph J. Salerno Respect for Law Award from theClifton Optimist Club. He is one of four recipients to be feted at the 2011 Awards Dinner whichis on May 22 at the Clifton Recreation Center, 1232 Main Ave.Other recipients include former NFLer and 1986 CHS grad, gridiron legend Dave Szott. He

will receive the Club’s highest honor, the 2011 Friend of Youth Award. Jack Whiting will receivethe Community Service Award and former Councilwoman Gloria Kolodziej will be honored for herLifetime Achievement. Tickets are $35. For more information, call Optimist Club members Tom Hawrylko at 973-

253-4400 or Ted Munley at 973-473-2200 x112.

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Allwood Community Church, at

the corner of Merrill and Chelsea

Rds., holds its annual fish and chips

dinner on June 4 from 5:30 to 7 pm.

The event will be catered by

Tastefully British. Tickets are $12,

or $10 for children under 10. Call

973-471-8019 or 973-777-6360.

The Ladies Auxiliary of the Boys& Girls Club of Clifton hosts its

4th Annual Tricky Tray on May 6

at 6:30 pm. Tickets are $15 and

include one sheet, dessert and cof-

fee. Call 973-773-2697 ext. 43.

Holy Ascension UkrainianOrthodox Church at 635 Broad St.

has a Flea Market on May 7. Free

admission and there’ll be a

Ukrainian kitchen. Over 40 ven-

dors will be selling new and used

wares. Info, call 973-575-8355.

St. Nicholas Ukrainian CatholicSchool is presenting a four day car-

nival on May 5 to 8 on the grounds

of the school and parish, which is on

President St. in Passaic. There will

be rides and games, as well as food

and beverages. Call 973-779-0249

US Armed Service Veterans who

have been awarded the Purple

Heart, Navy Cross, Silver Star,

Distinguished Flying Cross and

Medal of Honor should contact Tom

Miller of Passaic County Veterans

Services regarding May events to

honor vets. Call 973-569-4090.

The CHS Class of 1956 will hold

its 55th year reunion on Sept. 23, at

the Cucina Calandra in Fairfield.

For details on the event or to provide

leads to classmates, contact Judi

Zagaya Den Herder at 973-779-

C L I F T O N Ev e n t s…

Name: __________________________________________________________________________________

Address: ________________________________________________________________________________

City: ____________________________________________State:_________________________________________

Zip:______________________Phone:_____________________________________________

Email:________________________________________________________________________

PLEASE MAKE CHECKS TO TOMAHAWK PROMOTIONS, 1288 MAIN AVE., CLIFTON, NJ 07011

Have Clifton Merchant Mailed.$27/YEAR SUBSCRIPTION

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6923 or [email protected] or

Terry Guarrera Gloede at 973-773-

5910 or via [email protected].

The CHS classes of 1970 through1974 host a reunion on Nov. 4 at the

Parsippany Hilton from 7 pm to mid-

night. Cocktail hour, buffet dinner

and desert, a four hour open bar and

entertainment are $99; more details

at www.reunions-unlimited.com.

These classes will also hold a mini

reunion on May 7 at 7 pm at the

Grande Saloon. Contact Bill Geiger

at [email protected] or call

him at 973-557-3613.

CCMS 6th Annual Locks of LoveCutathon is May 16 at Christopher

Columbus Middle School. Anyone

with at least 10 inches of hair can

have their hair cut at no charge by

stylists from Salon Ilona. Contact

Kim Dreher at 973-769-0500 or via

email [email protected].

Downtown Clifton’s Street Fair is

May 14, 10 am to 5 pm, rain or

shine along Main Ave. between

Washington and Hadley Aves.

There will be music, dancing, live

entertainment, food, arts and crafts

vendors, street performers and

activities for children. For info or

sponsorship opportunities, call

973-253-1455. Vendors call JC

Promotions at 201-998-1144.

CHS Class of 1960 is hosting their

first rain or shine Picnic Under the

Big Tent on June 4 from 9 am to 7 pm

at Tomahawk Lake Water Park,

Sparta. The $36 fee covers all you

can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner as

well as birch beer, lemonade and beer.

There is a $15 additional fee to use

water slides. RSVP by May 7 to help

organizers plan the event. For details,

call Kathy (Ploch) Mack at 973-989-

3911 or email Nancy Lewis Zink at

[email protected].

1,325 American flags will be dis-

played on the campus of city hall on

Memorial Day, Monday, May 30.

The idea is to honor a veteran for

their time in service and to remem-

ber them in perpetuity and the job is

completed all by volunteers, who do

year round maintenance. Other days

for the display are Flag Day, June

14, Independence Day, July 4,

Patriots Day, Sept, 11 and Veteran’s

Day, Nov. 11. Volunteers are need-

ed to put up and take down the flags.

To honor a living or deceased veter-

an, purchase a flag for $100, which

includes a name plate, and a ground

socket. The vet’s name, branch of

service and the donor’s name will be

placed in the registry book. For info,

call 973-519-0858.


Since1961

TheOriginal

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Happy 50th

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The Hot Grill opened on Oct. 13, 1961 on Lexington Ave., on the site of Gabe’s DriveInn, an old ice cream and hot dog stand. The owner—the colorful Gabe Maroon—

hoped to convert the land into an used car lot but could not secure the permits so he reluc-tantly opened a hot dog stand. Soon he sold it to four partners—two Italians, current ownersDominic Sportelli and Carmen La Mendola—pictured below, and two Greeks, Nick Dorisand Peter Leonidas, both now deceased. “It was Friday the 13th,” Sportelli said of the opening five decades ago, when the landmark

was nothing more than a dusty roadside stand with a few stools. “People thought we werecrazy but we became a New Jersey icon, home to the best Hot Texas Wieners.”Two decades ago, folklorist from The Library of Congress American Memory Oral History

project came to the region to determine what puts the Texas in the Hot Texas Wiener.Researchers traced the origins back to a Greek hot dog vendor in Paterson in the 1920’s. Andthen the writers and photographers of the Working in Paterson Folklife Project, followedtheir story to Clifton and onto Lexington Ave. They cited the Hot Grill as the most authen-tic of the Paterson region’s Hot Texas Wiener restaurants. So what makes a Hot Grill dog the best? Consistency, hard work, excellent service and

secret ingredients, said Sportelli. The hot dogs are made especially for them, with a blend ofbeef, pork and spices. Then, of course, they are deep-fried in vegetable oil. But the signatureflavor is the Hot Texas sauce—some say the Hot Grill chili resembles Greek spaghetti saucemore than anything cooked up in Clifton, Paterson or the Lone Star state.

Dogs are ordered two-all-the-way, two!...which means they are covered with mustard, onionswhich are diced extra small and heaped high and topped with sauce that has character,but is not terribly hot. The same way it has been served since they opened. Since 1961, the Hot Grill has fed generations of Cliftonites, serving 4,000

or more Hot Texas Wieners on a Saturday and as much as 100 gallons ofsauce. The owners have remodeled twice—once in 1967, adding boothsand stools for 60 and a more recent expansion which can seat over 150people.“Our staff and service are excellent. That means your food is

served hot and fresh,” Sportelli concluded. “When you come toHot Grill, expect everything to be the same.”



Clifton Police DetectiveTom Campbell in 2001 was

diagnosed with a rare disease

called Autoimmune hepati-

tis, which causes irreversible

damage to the liver and sur-

rounding organs. Although it

did impose some limitations,

Campbell was able to keep

the disease under control

with medications. He could

work and he and his wife Pat could attend to their kids.

But last summer, his disease became advanced and

impacted his daily life. His liver was no longer function-

ing and the medications that kept him going for the last

several years had damaged his kidneys. He began bleed-

ing internally and had to undergo several extended hos-

pital stays throughout the fall and winter months.

“Since his disease worsened, Tom has needed nearly

60 blood transfusions,” said his friend, Det. Robert

Bracken. “Being an extremely conscientious employee,

Tom did his best to stay on the job but he reached a point

when his level of fatigue was too much to bear.”

Campbell has been at home for the past two months

awaiting a liver and kidney transplant. A double trans-

plant is extremely costly and will create many out of

pocket expenses for Tom and his wife and their two kids.

“Transplant procedures are unique in that they incur

costs for both the recipient and the donor,” added

Bracken. To help defray costs, he and Det. Carmen

Bermudez have organized a beefsteak fundraiser on June

17 at 6:30 pm at the Boys & Girls Club. Tickets are $45.

To attend, donate or help out, call Bracken at

973‐460‐4255 or Bermudez 973‐296‐4713.

You’re a Neighbor,Not a Number.

TomTobinAgency.com BillEljouzi.com


Little Genius AcademyMoe’s Southwest GrillGam’s Auto ServiceClifton Rotary ClubMario’s RestaurantDeluxe Cleaners

Gourmet DessertsRaphael Orthodontics

Architectural Design Assoc.Knights of ColumbusGenardi Contracting

Cyndi Plumbing & Heating

LifeSavers Inc.The Grove

Dr. Tina ChungMushmadeClifton IHOP

Pete’s Painting

Clifton Girls Little League Softball would like to thank itssponsors for all of your help in getting us up and running!

ANNOUNCING FALL TRAVEL TEAMS THIS YEAR!!!!!10U 12U 14U AND 16U

TRYOUTS AUGUST 29 THRU SEPTEMBER 2

[email protected]

Our Season is Now Underway

at Main Memorial Park



The Garden State Opera presents

a concert of operatic highlights at

the YM/YWHA, 199 Scoles Ave.,

Clifton, on May 23 at noon. The

artists are soprano Laura Mitchell

and tenor Kevin Peters accompa-

nied at the piano by Wei-En Hsu.

Tickets are $10, and $5 for seniors

and students. Call 973-928-1774 or

gardenstateopera.homestead.com.

The Clifton Arts Center &Sculpture Park presents“Visions” an exhibit and sale of

artwork by the student artists of

Clifton High School. The gallery is

open Wed. to Sun., 1 to 4 pm and

Visions is displayed through May

28. The Center is also seeking

submissions in any medium that

evokes the theme of The Practiceof Art: Physicians as Artists for a

group exhibition in Nov. This show

is open to all MD doctors, who are

researchers, practicing physicians,

surgeons or dentists, and are work-

ing in the United States and who

submit for the above theme. There

is a limit of five submissions per

artist. Deadline is June 10.

Questions to rcammilleri@clifton-

nj.org. The Clifton Arts Center is at

900 Clifton Ave., on the city hall

campus. Admission is $3. For

hours/info: www.cliftonnj.org.

The Clifton Community Band’s10th Annual Lollipops & Roses

Intergenerational Concert is on

May 22 at 2 pm in the CHS

Auditorium. This special anniver-

sary edition will include favorites

from the last decade of Lollipops &

Roses concerts. Admission is $7,

children under 12 are free.

Proceeds benefit the Clifton

Education Foundation and the

Clifton Community Band. Tickets

at the door or in advance by calling

973-777-1781 or writing

[email protected].

PCCHC—the Passaic County

Cultural and Heritage Council at

Passaic County Community

College announced the availability

of grants. Non-profit organiza-

tions that have arts and cultural

projects planned for Jan. 1 to Dec.

31, 2012 should apply. The dead-

line is July 14. PCCHC has free

grant workshops to assist in

preparing grant applications. They

will be held on June 1 in Paterson

and Hawthorne and June 2 in

Wanaque. Call 973-684-6507 or go

to www.pccc.edu/pcchc.

The Theater League of Clifton, in cooperation with ATC Studios, presentNarnia, The Musical, based on C.S. Lewis’ classic, The Lion, The Witch and TheWardrobe. Show dates are May 20-29 at School 3 on Washington Ave. Cast,seated from left: Gabe Green, Faith Bates, Alyssa McGraw and Gregory Gwynwith Brandon Essig, Sarah Robertson, Michael Marotta, Kevin Ohlweiler andMike Sunbury standing. For tickets, go to www.theaterleagueofclifton.com orcall 973-928-7668.

CHS Senior Kelly Yoo is among thestudents who have their work ondisplay at the Clifton Arts Center.



St. Peter’s Episcopal Church hosts Market Fair, a

Saturday sale of collectables, is on May 7 and 14, from

8 am to 4 pm. Free admission and there still is room for

vendors. Tables are $25 or $30 Items on sale cover a

wide variety of materials. For info, call 973-886-5105

or via email at [email protected]. St. Peter’s is at

380 Clifton Ave. and is an all inclusive Episcopal

Church supporting many initiatives. including the city’s

food bank and homeless shelter, St. Peter’s Haven.

The Geraci Citizen League held their annual St.

Joseph’s Dinner Dance at the Brownstone on March 19.

The tradition goes back to the 1930’s and the menu

included pasta with sardine and finocchi and one

orange and a delicious St. Joseph’s zeppola. “Italian

people really care about coming together,” said Chair

Nina Corradino. “They care about tradition and they

came from west and east and north and south, and

together, we made a special day.”

St. John Lutheran Church hosts a Spring Fashion

Show by Dress Barn on May 14 at 1 pm. Hosted by

the Ladies of WELCA, a table of delicious Viennese

desserts will be included as well as prizes. Tickets are

$7, call 973-779-1166 for reservations. The Church is

at 140 Lexington Ave., Passaic.

The Knight of Columbus present the Army Tank Pull

on June 26 from 8 am to 4 pm at Eddie Mayo Park,

1100 Clifton Ave. Teams of 20 are tasked with raising

funds and a test of strength. Deadline for team entry

and fundraising is June 7. Proceeds benefit the

Wounded Warrior Project and Veterans and various

Knights charities. For more info, call 973-472-0061 or

visit www.tankpullkofc.org.

At left, the Clifton Arts Center, in association withTomahawk Promotions has published The Many Faces ofPassaic County 2011. The full color 32 page tabloid cel-ebrates the artists and arts of the 16 communities of ourcounty. The project, funded by the Passaic CountyCultural & Heritage Council, also celebrates the 10 yearsof service of the Clifton Arts Center. Get a free copy at theCAC or at Tomahawk Promotions, 1288 Main Ave.

Honorary Chair of the Geraci League St. Joseph’s DayFeast Michael Corradino with Chair Nina Corradino.


The 10th Annual Passaic CliftonUnico National Fundraiser is on

May 15 from 6 pm to 3 am at Bliss

Lounge, 955 Allwood Rd. Advance

tickets are $10 or $12 at the door.

Total net door and bar proceeds and

50/50s to benefit the Unico Italian

American Scholarship Fund, Clifton

Junior Mustang Football, CHS

Project Graduation and the Clifton

Stallions Soccer. Music by

Brookwood, Swingman and the

Misfit-Mutts Band, Rubber Souls,

Who Knew? and The El Supremo.

For tickets, call 973-773-2110 or go

to blisslounge.net.

St. Andrew’s the Apostle SchoolCommunity Gala on May 5 honored

Sheriff Richard and Monica Berdnik

with the Family Faith Award; Clifton

Arts Center Director Roxanne

Cammilleri with the Gloria J.

Kolodziej Community Enhancement

Award and Police Chief Gary F.

Giardina with the Mayor James

Anzaldi Service Award.

The Red Hat Angels, a team from

the American Cancer Society Relay

for Life Clifton, hosts a garage sale

on May 13 and 14 at 119 Huron

Ave. from 9 am to 4 pm. Proceeds

will support the team’s goal of rais-

ing $20,000 in the 2011 Relay for

Life Clifton, which is June 4 and 5.

For more on American Cancer

Society programs or activities, call

1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.

To learn more about the Relay For

Life of Clifton, joining or starting a

team, ongoing fundraisers and

other events, visit

relayforlife.org/cliftonnj.

Thirty-one swimmers from the Boys & Girls Club of Clifton’s Seahawks Swim Team competed in the Nationals SwimmingChampionship in St. Petersburg, Florida from April 8-10 and won 3rd place. Call 973-773-2697, ext 31 for details.

Bob Foster, Executive Director of the Clifton Boy's & Girl’s Club, accepts a$2,000 check from Passaic-Clifton UNICO member and Bliss Lounge owner,Joe Barcellona. The money was raised at the chapter's April 3rd fundraiser atBliss. Also pictured is Chapter President Dave D'Arco.


When Maryann Cornettstepped in nine yearsago to chair the Project

Graduation committee at CliftonHigh School, little did she know that

two years after her youngest of three

children graduated from CHS, she

would still be heading up the event.

Project Graduation is a nation-

wide program organized through the

efforts of parent and community

groups to provide high school kids

with an adult supervised drug- and

alcohol-free graduation night cele-

bration. The program has been

offered through the PTSA (Parents,

Teachers and Students Association)

at CHS for more than 15 years.

Cornett said she really didn’t

know what Project Graduation was

all about when her older daughter

was a freshman at CHS, but she

knew that she wanted to get

involved. That first year, she helped

with the Prom Fashion Show, a CHS

tradition and one of the major

fundraisers. She also served for the

first time as a chaperone for the

Project Graduation party.

“My mother didn’t get involved

when I was going to school, but I

really wanted to help out,” she said.

“I always enjoyed knowing what my

kids were doing and being around

other people.”

The West Paterson native holds a

degree in nursing from Felician

College and worked in the neonatal

intensive care unit of United

Hospitals in Newark before becom-

Maryann Cornett with her sonJoe, who graduated CHS in 2009.

MARYANNCORNETT

PROJECT GRADUATIONCHAIR STILL AT THEHELM FOR 9TH YEAR

By Carol Leonard


OUR CLIFTON DATES & LOCATIONS:WEEK 1: Boys & Girls club of Clifton

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WEEK 2: St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church

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ing a stay at home mom for many

years to Nicole, Jessica and Joseph.

She and her husband, Joe, moved to

Clifton 29 years ago.

After her first year as a chaperone

at Project Graduation,

Cornett was very

impressed with the

event, so she became

a little more involved

each year. The only

year that she didn’t

serve as a chaperone

was when she accom-

panied her older

daughter and the Mustang Band on a

trip to England.

“I really do believe in Project

Graduation,” she said. “It’s a night

when they kids can get into a lot of

trouble and this provides them with a

fun alternative.”

Cornett recalled her own scary

experience on the night of her grad-

uation from college, when she was in

a car driven by her friend after the

two had attended several parties.

“We were on Rifle Camp Road

and I noticed that she was falling

asleep at the wheel,” Cornett said. “I

had to wake her up or she would

have ended up driving us into the

side of the mountain.”

Cornett feels very strongly about

the dangers of underage drinking

and she would never let any of her

teenage children serve alcohol when

having friends over to their home.

For the past nine years the PTSA

has hosted Project

Graduation at Fun Plex

in East Hanover. Prior to

that, the event was held

for a number of years at

the Great Gorge Resort

and at the West Essex

Spa & Country Club.

The graduation night

celebration begins in the

parking lot at CHS, where the new

graduates assemble at about 10 pm

to board buses to take them to the all-

night party. Chaperones check the

students’ bags to make sure that no

alcoholic beverages or drugs are

brought onto the buses.

“I really do believe in Project Graduation.“It’s a night when they kids can get into a lot of trouble and this provides them

with a fun alternative.”


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“The bus ride up is the best,”

Cornett said. “The kids are so excit-

ed and noisy the whole way up

there.” Clifton Police lead the way

and accompany the caravan of 12-13

buses full of more than 400 gradu-

ates and over 40 chaperones each

year out of the parking lot and all the

way into Wayne before dropping

back and returning to Clifton.

When the students and chaper-

ones arrive, they are greeted by Fun

Plex staff and welcomed into the

complex.

“They really do a nice job of dec-

orating with balloon arches in our

school colors,” Cornett said.

“There’s all kinds of food served

from the moment they walk into the

place, and soda and water machines

are available for the kids to get what-

ever they want to drink. They also

serve breakfast in the morning

before we leave.”

The facilities include an outdoor

pool, basketball and volleyball

courts, go carts, bumper cars and a

variety of video games. A DJ is on

hand to provide music for dancing or

just listening, and the PTSA also

contracts with other entertainers

each year, such as a hypnotist, a tat-

too artist and a photographer, where

the graduates can get their picture

imposed on a magazine cover.

“There’s something for every-

one,” Cornett said. “Even kids who

just want to be by themselves have

all kinds of video games to play.”

Once the graduates arrive at the

party, no one is permitted to leave

until the group boards the buses to

return to school at 5 a.m. the next

morning.

Among the chaperones each

year are at least three Clifton Police

officers who volunteer their time

for the evening, usually the school

resource officers assigned to the

high school. Fun Plex also supplies

additional security staff to ensure a

safe and trouble-free experience for

the graduates.

The PTSA pays Fun Plex $80 for

each graduate who attends the party.

Fundraisers are held each year to

help defray some of this cost in the

ticket price charged to the students.

The price for this year’s ticket hasn’t

been determined yet, but seniors will

be receiving this information soon.

The PTSA picks up the cost for

the extra entertainment not supplied

in the contract with Fun Plex. The

group receives donations each year

from the Clifton Board of Education,

the CASA organization (Clifton

Against Substance Abuse), the

Passaic County Board of

Freeholders and the Knights of

Columbus of St. Philips parish.

Nicole (CHS 2002) and Sean Cefalo at their wedding, Aug. 14, 2010. At left,Maryann’s husband Joe, daughter Jessica (CHS 2006) with Joe and Maryann.


Register now for July & AugSummer Camp!

Cornett has a core group of about

15-20 volunteers who, like herself,

have served as chaperones every

year for Project Graduation, some

also beyond the years that their chil-

dren are in school. But each year, she

spends a good deal of time calling

around to recruit the additional chap-

erones needed for the number of

graduates attending, usually about

400-450 kids, roughly three-quarters

of the class.

“I love the night and so do the

other chaperones,” Cornett said. “I

guess that’s why so many keep com-

ing back every year. It’s great to see

these kids have so much fun togeth-

er one last time. Some of them have

known each other since elementary

school and they may not see each

other much ever again.”

She and the other members of her

committee also hope that attending

Project Graduation will help the

graduates to realize that they can

have a good time without the use of

alcohol and drugs.

Cornett fits her Project

Graduation activities around her

busy schedule as a full- time nurse at

the Passaic County Elks Cerebral

Palsy High School on Main Ave. She

began working for the program nine

years ago after spending several

years doing per diem work and as a

substitute nurse for the Clifton

Public Schools while her children

were young. She took the position

instead of returning to work in a hos-

pital because it enabled her to main-

tain the same schedule as her chil-

dren and to be there for them after

school and during the summers.

After this year, she is hoping to

turn the reigns of the Project

Graduation committee over to one of

the other parents who has been

actively involved, but will probably

stay on as a chaperone for the event.

“I think it’s about time,” she said.

Cornett is also a certified Red

Cross water safety instructor and

volunteers her time giving swim-

ming lessons and conducting water

aerobics classes for adults at the

Clifton Boys & Girls Club.

Her three children continue to

make her and her husband proud.

The oldest, Nicole, is now 27,

married and a senior world program

manager for Novartis, while attend-

ing Seton Hall School of Law part-

time. Jessica, 23, works in the fash-

ion and design field, and Joseph, 20,

is studying to be a diesel technician.

If you would like to volunteer for

the Project Graduation committee or

make a donation to the program, call

Maryann Cornett at 973-779-5678.

“I love the night and so do the other chaperones. I guess that’s why so many keep coming back every year.”

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Clifton High School stu-dents know him as theMustang weatherman,

the affable senior who gives the

daily forecast on the CAST morn-

ing news. Those in Allwood know

him as the young man behind the

counter of Barry’s Bagel and Deli,

at the intersection of Brighton Rd.

and Market St.

Thus, it is obvious CHS Student

of the Month Sufian Mahmoud is a

young man of many talents and

hobbies. So when he meets a

reporter he explains his real pas-

sion happens to be... teeth?

CHS STUDENT OF THE MONTH

By Joe Hawrylko


CHS STUDENT OF THE MONTH

“Ever since I was young, I loved

going to the dentist,” he admitted.

“It’s kind of strange, but any time I

had a loose tooth, I would go run

and ask my mom to take me to the

dentist or try doing it myself.”

In the Fall, Mahmoud will attend

Rutgers/Newark to study chemistry,

with the strategy of moving on to a

NJ dental school after completing

his four year Bachelor’s degree.

But at college and beyond, it will

be the experiences, work ethic and

life lessons he learned from his

father, Billy, and in the CHS Cast

program that help him succeed.

“I learned a lot from my dad’s

business,” said Mahmoud, who

comes in after work and starts his

weekends off at 8 am in the shop.

“Customers are the main thing

for running a business,” he contin-

ued. “If you don’t please the cus-

tomer, the customer won’t come

back and the business won’t run.”

While he spends Saturdays and

Sundays at the bagel shop,

Wednesday nights are reserved for

broadcasts of the Board of

Education meetings.

It shouldn’t come as much sur-

prise that Mahmoud would jump at

the opportunity for more challeng-

ing work in the CAST, where he’s

been a member of the crew for the

past three years.

“I brought up the idea to Mr.

(Mike) McCunney,” he recalled of

his proposal to the CAST teacher.

“I told him we have a weather seg-

ment that we wanted to do.

Eventually, they chose me and

pulled out the green screen. I did it

and from my first time I got it right,

perfect.”

According to Mahmoud, he and

the CAST team base the production

off of real weather forecasts. Each

morning, he wakes up to research

the day’s forecast, bringing the

information to school. There,

Mahmoud and his classmates coor-

dinate to generate visuals to enhace

his presentation.

The segment has become the fea-

tured part of the CAST morning

news. Mahmoud’s personal high-

light from his third year in the pro-

gram was having the school’s first

live air segment conducted outside.

“I used to not really like being in

front of the camera, but I ended up

loving it,” admitted Mahmoud, who

previously spent most of his time

helping out with the production in

CAST. “I got a lot of feedback

from teachers and friends who told

me they love it.”

And if the dentist stuff does not

work out, Mahmoud may have a

shot at being a lawyer: “To con-

clude my CAST experience, I

looked over the Music and Video

Copyright Laws and found a loop-

hole that allows our program to

play any type of media on air.”




Mike Szwec ....................... 5/1Samantha Cruz................... 5/2Jessica Perez ...................... 5/2Jordan Lynn Bykowsky......... 5/3Maria DeGraaf................... 5/3Julia Komarczyk.................. 5/3Margie Maloney................. 5/3Thomas Zangara ................ 5/3John Anderson Jr................. 5/4Spencer Flynn..................... 5/4Russell Courtney.................. 5/6Vanessa Laine Montesano.... 5/6Mary Domyon .................... 5/7Margie Hatala.................... 5/7Dorothy Alburo ................... 5/8Terry Capilli........................ 5/8Alexandra Homsany ........... 5/8

Rory Houston...................... 5/8Frank Lo Gioco................... 5/8David Peter Mosciszko ........ 5/8Matthew Nagy ................... 5/8Hector Perez....................... 5/8Christine Siluk..................... 5/8Thomas Steranko ................ 5/8Petey Pathos ....................... 5/9Ray Zang........................... 5/9Gianna Carmela Musleh ... 5/10Jessica Camp ................... 5/12Rebecca DeChellis ............ 5/11Joe De Liberto................... 5/12Michael Lonison................ 5/12Donna De Liberto.............. 5/13Myrt Petty......................... 5/13Jeff Reilly .......................... 5/13

Michael Zawicki ............... 5/13Chuck Amucka ................. 5/14Alice De Liberto ................ 5/14Dorothy Brown ................. 5/15Earl Grosser Jr. ................. 5/15Victoria Leja ..................... 5/15Fred Gurtman................... 5/16Mark McGuire.................. 5/16Rosemary Canavan........... 5/17John Hawrylko.................. 5/17Vick Ascencio................... 5/18Jamie Antal ...................... 5/18Michele D’Amico .............. 5/18Walter Hryckowian........... 5/18Mariana Pineda................ 5/18Becky Kuter ...................... 5/19Jennifer Mulick.................. 5/20Ken Bender ...................... 5/21Joe Murolo ....................... 5/21Matthew Palladino ............ 5/21

Birthday wishes to Glory Read who turned 86 on May 8. Alexandra Maria Jarosewich was welcomedto the world on on April 21. Marcin and Kathy Krynski celebrate their 9th anniversary on May 1.

Birthdays & CelebrationsSend dates & [email protected]


Birthday wishes to Glory Read who turned 86 on May 8. Alexandra Maria Jarosewich was welcomedto the world on on April 21. Marcin and Kathy Krynski celebrate their 9th anniversary on May 1.

1036

Belated congratulations toTheresa and Dan Murolo

who celebrated their 10thWedding Anniversary onMarch 16.

Gia Camille Genardi

turns 11 on May 2!

Kage Lord ...................... 5/22Danah Alburo ................ 5/23Jessica Bielen ................. 5/23MaryEllen Krattinger ....... 5/23Michele Perez ................ 5/23Donald Lopuzzo ............. 5/24Michael Santosuosso....... 5/24Brittney Abell.................. 5/25Olivia Hryckowian........... 5/25Connie Paladino............. 5/25Derek Bykowsky ............. 5/26Alyssa Dalbo.................. 5/26Kaylee Pinter .................. 5/26Jonathan Rideg............... 5/26Fred Antes...................... 5/27Steve Bielen ................... 5/27Kyle J. Magaster............. 5/27David J. Ricca ................ 5/28Anthony Alcalde............. 5/29Valerie Gancarz ............. 5/29Anthony DeSomma......... 5/30Rachel Gergats............... 5/31Christopher Ramirez ....... 5/31Christopher Smith ........... 5/31Logan Thompson ............ 5/31


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Clifton, NJ 07011

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Clifton Merchant Magazine - May 2011