Memorial Day Theft From East Brunswick Veteran Selling Poppies

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — It almost sounds too unbelievable to be true: At the very start of this past Memorial Day weekend, a person driving past stole $500 from a Vietnam veteran selling poppies along Ryders Lane.

For more than 30 years, Thomas "Tommy" Coohill, 69, has been selling poppies in East Brunswick. Coohill, who served in Vietnam with the U.S. Navy, is an active member of East Brunswick VFW Post 133. Veterans across the country sell the signature scarlet red "Buddy" poppies every spring to help raise funds for vets in need.

You can usually find Coohill at the corner of Ryders Lane and Cranbury Road, a busy intersection in town where he's sold the poppies for years. That's where his entire bag of cash — along with the poppies inside — was stolen Friday afternoon.

As he always does, Coohill left the money and the flowers in three plastic bags tied to a divider in the middle of the roadway.

"It was about 4:45 p.m. on Friday afternoon and I was out collecting on Ryders Lane, as I usually do. I walk between the cars when the light turns red and solicit for the poppies," he said. "When the light changed, I crossed over the street to walk back up. I usually leave everything tied to the post. When I looked back up, everything was gone."

What's even sadder is Coohill thinks it was someone who drives through the Ryders Lane/Cranbury Rd. intersection every day.

"Whoever did it had to know I was out there doing that. They knew they had time to quickly get out of their car and cut the bags off the pole," he mused. "So more than likely they had seen me doing that every day."

"It was the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, so people had been very generous. There was about $500 in the bag," he said. "Who steals from veterans? My guess is a drug addict. I know these people are sick. I feel sorry for them. On the other hand, I would have given them money if they asked."

Once word got out about the poppy sale theft, Coohill said the East Brunswick community has been "very generous with replacing the money we lost."

Private donations from East Brunswick residents have been pouring in, Coohill said. The East Brunswick police department gave a $500 donation to the VFW and the New Jersey State Police will be doing the same, they announced over the weekend.

Money from the Buddy poppy sales goes to help veterans who are disabled, or down on their luck, or helps provide them transport to things like medical appointments and job interviews.