Cranford 86 Project Architect Honored

CRANFORD, NJ - In Cranford Memorial Park stands a granite monument with the names of 86 hometown heroes who answered a call to duty and made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of freedom, for a country to which they would never return. And now the man behind the movement is being honored for his actions.

Don Sweeney, who created the Cranford 86 Project in cooperation with the Cranford Historical Society and other members of the Memorial Day Parade Committee is being hailed for his actions to ensure these fallen veterans are being publicly honored and remembered in an ongoing effort to document and commemorate their lives and legacy.

Sweeney is one of 19 people given a Unity Achievement Award by the Union County Human Relations Commission for 2019.

He and others associated with the Project have devoted themselves to researching and documenting the lives of these deceased veterans, and then sharing that information with the public. The biographies have been published in a 36-page commemorative booklet, as well as in the local print media, officials said.

Following the 2018 Cranford Memorial Day parade, the Cranford 86 Project dedicated an initial set of banners depicting the names and likenesses of these local fallen heroes. The banners were displayed throughout Cranford’s Memorial Park, and have been subsequently displayed on telephone poles throughout the town.

The current banners were made possible because of sponsorship by family members of the fallen, plus several of Cranford’s civic and charitable organizations. The Project is soliciting donations, and is working to ensure that each fallen hero has a banner and a biography.

In the past year, Cranford residents whose streets are named in memory of these veterans have also raised funds to raise the banners. On Memorial Day 2019, banners will be raised on (Juan) Bargos Place, Alan Okell Place, and Roger Norton Place, honoring Stanley H. Smith, Roderick W. Smith Jr., and, thanks to donations by his classmates, Vietnam War veteran Raymond Ashnault.

Officials said they honored Don Sweeney and the Cranford 86 Project for their patriotic spirit, and for their leadership in bringing the community together so that all remember and honor these local heroes.

Thanks for reading! Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site here. Have a news tip you'd like to share? Or maybe you have a press release you would like to submit or a correction you'd like to request? Send an email to russ.crespolini@patch.com

Subscribe to your local Patch newsletter by clicking here. You can also have them delivered to your phone screen by downloading our Apple iOS app here, or by visiting the Google Play store for the Android app here.