NJ Veterans Honored In Essex County At Annual Ceremony: 'It's A Team Effort'

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Several U.S. military veterans from Essex County attended an annual Veterans Day ceremony held earlier this week.

The county held its 2026 ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park in Newark on Monday. Veterans Day falls on Wednesday, Nov. 12 this year.

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"Essex County Community Star Awards" were presented to the following veterans:

• Norris Holmes is a resident of Orange who will turn 94 years old on December 16. Born in Georgia, his family moved to Newark in 1948 and he joined the Air Force in 1952, where he was a member of the Air Police and worked in security. He had the rank of Airman 3, fought in the Korean War and was stationed in Northern Africa and at a base in Topeka, Kansas.
• John Kelly comes from a family dedicated to public service. He has continued that tradition by serving his hometown of Nutley as Mayor and his country as a member of the Army and Army National Guard. He has been deployed to the Middle East and to Puerto Rico on a humanitarian mission and most recently interrupted his mayoral duties for six months while he was in Iraq as a JAG officer.
• Saleem Muhammad is a resident of Newark who served in the U.S. Army and is a Vietnam veteran. Mr. Muhammad continues his service today by helping disabled veterans receive VA treatment and disability pensions for which they qualify. He also helped organize Charlie Chapter of LZ Hope during the pandemic. When the group could not meet because of COVID, Mr. Muhammad believed it was important for the veterans to continue to have a venue to gather on a weekly basis. He also mentors young boys to stay out of trouble through his barbershop ministry.

The honorees were each thankful for the recognition.

"Thank you to everyone who made this possible," Muhammad said. "When we came home from Vietnam, we were not treated so well, so when you see a vet, please give them your thanks."

"A veteran doesn't make the sacrifice alone," Kelly said. "I want to thank my wife, my parents and family, and the community. When someone goes away, it's a team effort."

County officials also recognized Newark resident Frederick Dammont, a 104-year-old veteran who served with the Allied Forces during World War II. During World War II, Dammont served in the Polish Army and fought alongside U.S. troops with the Allied Forces.

During the program, Positive Community publisher Adrian Counsel presented each of the honorees, as well as all veterans in attendance, with a "Crispus Attucks Medal of Freedom." Attucks was the first person killed during the Boston Massacre in 1770 and is regarded as the first person killed during the American Revolution.

"We are proud to stand with our veterans at this important occasion, give them our respect and thank them for representing our country with valor and bravery," Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said.

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