Fall 2013 Edition NJDMAVA Veterans

About NJ Veteran Journal:
The New Jersey Veteran Journal is an official publication of the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and is intended to serve New Jersey's veterans, their families, friends and concerned individuals and groups. All correspondence should be sent to:

Veteran Journal Editor
NJDMAVA/PA
PO Box 340
Trenton, NJ 08625-0340

 
VETERANS NEWS & VIEWS

STAYING AHEAD OF THE NEED AT DOYLE

By Kryn P. Westhoven, New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs

For Iven Dumas, a large part of his job is planning ahead to serve veterans. This forward thinking keeps the Brig. Gen William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in front of needs for years to come.

"If you have less than four years of burial space, you should be working on a new project," said Dumas, superintendent of the busiest state cemetery in the country.

The current construction of the Section Z crypt field and columbarium will add 10,700 double depth grave sites and 4,800 niches. The addition is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

This will plus up the 171,000 capacity that currently has 56,500 veterans and spouses interned. More than 3,000 interments have been recorded in each of the past two years. At this pace, this year is on track to surpass last year's total.

"We try to keep in mind the more than 20,000 pre-registered," added Dumas. Preregistration has been promoted to ease the burden on families when it is time to make final arrangements for a veteran.

The $10.7 million Section Z project is the latest grant from the federal Veterans Administration to keep improving the cemetery. The VA recently approved a $2,947,128 Public Information Center. Construction near the main entrance is expected to begin this fall.

The new building near the main entrance will provide a covered area for families to locate graves and easier coordination with funeral homes as they enter the grounds.

This building was first proposed back in 2002 and demonstrates how being prepared can have benefits.

"It has worked out good for us as we have plans for expansion and another state might not come through with their plan so the VA looks to whoever is ready," said Dumas.

The Division of Veterans Services at the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs is hoping another grant might get moved to the top of the list because other states are not prepared. This grant would realign grave markers and place new sod with an irrigation system in three older sections of the cemetery.

The new public committal shelter has been placed into recent use despite damage sustained from Hurricane Sandy. With repairs being made to the cemetery's chapel, the new shelter was pressed into service.

Located near the Section Z construction, the shelter features the seven service seals on the rear wall of the open air structure.

"Everyone really likes the new committal shelter," noted Dumas, who envisions that shelter being the primary area for services in the future.


CEMETERY RECEIVES $10.7 MILLION CHECK

At the state Veterans Day ceremony, New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, left, U.S. Rep. Jon Runyan, N.J. 3rd District; Brig. Gen. Michael C. Cunniff, The Adjutant General; Al Bucchi, Veterans Services director; Raymond Zawacki, Deputy Commissioner for Veterans Affairs, receive from Steve L. Muro, Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a symbolic $10,796,649 check for the construction of Section Z crypt field and columbarium at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Wrightstown, N.J., Nov. 11, 2012. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen/Released)


Armistice observed

Members of various veterans organizations present wreaths in front of the wall listing all the New Jerseyans who died in the Korean War during the commemoration ceremony for the 60th Anniversary of the signing of the Korean War Armistice at the New Jersey Korean War Memorial in Atlantic City, N.J. July 26, 2013. Photo by Mark C. Olsen, New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs


The Eagle has landed

Brig. Gen. Michael L. Cunniff, the Adjutant General, Ray Zawacki, Deputy Commissioner of Veterans Affairs and elected officials unveiled an American Eagle statue at the Veterans Memorial Home at Menlo Park Nov. 26, 2012. The statue, created by students of the Piscataway campus of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical High School, is a threeton, 12-feet wingspan statue named "Fierce Allegiance" faces the Veterans Home entrance. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Armando Vasquez/Released)


FRIDGES DONATED

The Veterans Support Organization, a national non-profit organization, donated 48 dormitorystyle refrigerators to the Veterans Transitional Housing Program - Veterans Haven South located in Winslow Township Sept. 26, 2012. Veterans Haven is a facility for homeless veterans and is operated by the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and supported by the United States Veterans Affairs, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as a wide variety of service organizations, community agencies, veterans groups and private citizens. After being medically evaluated at a VA Medical Center, eligible veterans must agree to a long term program focusing on psychological, social and vocational rehabilitation. Photo by Mark C. Olsen, New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs


VETS VISIT RANGE

Senior Master Sgt. Michael D. Monteith, second from right, munitions maintenance chief, 177th Fighter Wing moves a Veterans Memorial Home at Vineland resident Sept. 19, 2012, when 177th and the 108th Wing Airmen hosted a barbeque for the Vineland residents at Warren Grove Range. Afterwards the veterans witnessed training as A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and F-16 Fighting Falcons strafed and dropped practice bombs at the range. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen/Released


HONORING THE FALLEN

Rep. Jon Runyon (R-3rd Dist.), Brig. Gen. Michael L. Cunniff, the Adjutant General, Raymond Zawacki, deputy director for Veterans Affairs, New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs; senior military and more than a dozen veterans' organizations paid tribute our nations fallen service members at the State Memorial Day Ceremony at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery at Arneytown, N.J., May 25, 2013. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen/Released)


COUPLES RENEW VOWS

Mr. and Mrs. Eusebio Trevino were among eighteen couples at the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home at Vineland who renewed their wedding vows July 26, 2012. The 18 couples have been married for a combined total of 1,045 years. Photo by Mark C. Olsen, New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs