'Conduit To A Blessing': Veterans Gift Widow New Memorial After Theft In Ocean Acres

MANAHAWKIN, NJ — In 2020, Amanda Simpson lost her husband to suicide. And in the beginning of September, she suffered another loss - someone had stolen her memorial to her husband, a Marine Corps veteran, right from her Ocean Acres front yard.

The memorial, a silhouette of a soldier, had been stolen from its spot in front of Amanda's house, up a hill. It was surrounded by mourning flags and lights, not to mention her 90-pound Rottweiler. Someone had purposefully gone and taken it, and put a lot of work into doing so, Amanda said.

But on Sept. 25, that memorial was replaced with an even better one thanks to a group of local veterans who knew they had to do something.

Dennis Addesso, president of veterans' nonprofit Ma Deuce Deuce, teamed up with fellow veteran and owner of Veteran Wood Company Mike Legregni to create the new memorial. It was completed within a matter of days.

Addesso and fellow Ma Deuce Deuce team members Jay Hayden and Thomas Kiselow (who also works for Vetwork in Forked River) unveiled the new memorial to Amanda Monday morning.

Upon seeing it, she almost immediately burst into tears.

"This is absolutely amazing," she said.

The new memorial is more detailed and even is personalized with Cpl. Scott Simpson's name, a specific factor that made Amanda emotional.

It's "bigger and better," said Addesso, a fellow Marine and suicide attempt survivor.

Scott Simpson took his life in 2020 after "suffering tremendously" from PTSD for years, his wife said. He served from 2000 to 2008.

He was "a very happy guy, he helped everybody," Amanda said.

"He would give you the shirt off his back," she said.

But he was unable to get help for his PTSD, leaving behind Amanda and their daughter, who will be 10 in November.

The original memorial, gifted to Amanda by her brother-in-law, was all she had of her husband, along with their memories, she said. She grew up in the area and moved back to Manahawkin this summer after living in Lacey for 10 years. The memorial had been in front of her house ever since.

Suicide is all too common in veterans as many suffer from PTSD like Scott, Addesso said. That's why Addesso started Ma Deuce Deuce, which also goes by M22 - 22 being the number of veterans who take their lives each day. The goal is to prevent losing more veterans to suicide.

The nonprofit does everything from from taking veterans fishing to helping pay rent.

"There's really nothing we can't do right now because of our community, who gets our mission," Addesso said. "We like to say we're just a conduit to a blessing."