The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation will host a Veterans Day Ceremony Friday, Nov. 11 beginning at 11 a.m. The ceremony is free and open to the public.
Major General Clark W. Martin (U.S. Air Force Ret.) is this year’s keynote speaker. Martin is the former assistant adjutant general and commander of the New Jersey Air National Guard. He was responsible for the command and control of the New Jersey Air National Guard and now serves as chairman of the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation.
Martin entered the Air Force in 1966, having been commissioned through the Air Force ROTC program at The Citadel, Charleston, S.C. After navigator training at Mather Air Force Base, Cordova, Calif., he served as an RF-4 reconnaissance systems officer in the 14th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 1967-68. During that time, he also served 100 days with the 23rd Tactical Air Support Squadron, Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, as a forward air controller in the O-2A during the Tet Offensive.
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He flew 153 combat missions, 100 of them over North Vietnam. Following a tour of duty at Hahn Air Force Base, Germany, the general separated from the U.S. Air Force in 1972. Martin later joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 1975 and transferred to the Air National Guard in 1981. He is a master navigator with more than 3,500 hours of flying time, primarily in the F-4D/E.
As part of the annual ceremony, the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation will induct four veterans into the “In Memory” program, which honors those who served in Vietnam and later passed away as a result of their tour, but whose names are not on the Memorial. The four inductees are Manning J. Jones, U.S. Army, West Milford, N.J., who died on Dec. 22, 1996; Roman P. Niedzwiedz, U.S. Army, Evesham Township, N.J., who died on March 6, 2010; Robert M. O’Connell, U.S. Army, Mahwah, N.J., who died on Aug. 18, 2004; and Albert T. Schillaci, U.S. Army, Rutherford, N.J., who died on Aug. 17, 2009. As part of the ceremony, family members will say a few words about their loved one and light a candle in their memory.
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Additional participants include Lisa Coppola, a well-known singer-songwriter; Joseph Formola, Chaplain, N.J. State Council, Vietnam Veterans of America; Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 200 Color Guard; and Plainfield High School USAF JROTC.
The Vietnam Era Museum & Educational Center is located adjacent to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial off the Garden State Parkway at exit 116. The Museum & Educational Center is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Regular admission is free for veterans and active-duty military personnel. Regular adult admission is $5, student & senior citizen admission is $3 and children under 10 are admitted free.
New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation, Inc.
1 Memorial Lane, P.O. Box 648, Holmdel, NJ 07733
Phone: (732) 335-0033; Fax: (732) 335-1107; njvvmf.org
