Lest We Forget: Hometown Hero Banners To Honor The Fallen In Newtown

NEWTOWN BOROUGH, PA — Red, white and blue "Lest We Forget" banners honoring Newtown’s Hometown Heroes for their ultimate sacrifice will make their debut along historic State Street this spring.

The Newtown Borough Council gave its nod Tuesday night to the Ned Maher Society to purchase and display the two-sided banners between May 1 and July 31 in the town’s business district.

The banners will spotlight 22 Newtown residents who lost their lives fighting for their country over the years beginning with the Revolutionary War and up to and including the Global War on Terrorism.

Matt Arlen, the manager of Ned’s Cigar Store, came up with the idea after seeing similar banners on display in small towns across Pennsylvania. Hometown Hero Banners honoring the county’s fallen soldiers have also adorned the lampposts around the Bucks County Administration building in Doylestown.

“I just thought we should do that here for Newtown considering how many have gone off to fight and lost their lives to keep us free and preserve the freedoms we have today,” he said.

The Ned Maher Society is working closely with Newtown American Legion Post 440 and with the Newtown Historical Association in compiling the names of the deceased service members.

In addition, they are raising funds to pay for the banners, which will hang from every other lamp along the street between Washington Avenue and Centre and possibly extend to nearby blocks over time.

To help raise funds for the project, the society is raffling off a crocheted American flag with the silhouette of soldiers now on display in the windows of Countryside Gallery and Custom Framing and Design.

Jen Baller, who created the crocheted American flag, with U.S. Army veteran Don Mason. (contributed)

The flag was created and donated by Jen Baller of Hazelton who wanted to help after hearing about the project from her partner, Don Mason, a U.S. Army veteran and Council Rock graduate.

“It was a labor of the heart by an absolute sweetheart,” said Arlen of the afghan created by Baller.

Raffle tickets are being sold at $10 each and can be purchased at Countryside and at Ned’s Cigar store.

“If people want to contribute to the banners, that’s great. If they want to buy a raffle ticket that would be awesome,” said Arlen.

The Ned Maher Society is named in memory of Edward “Ned” Maher who opened Ned’s Cigar Store in 1940 on South State Street and operated it for only two years before being called to duty during World War II.

Maher went off to war and never came home. The 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division was killed in January 1944 at the Battle of Anzio.

Edward "Ned" Maher with Civil War veteran Charles Duckworth. (contributed)

His banner will hang among the 22 Hometown Hero Banners that will debut this spring along State Street.

Others will honor Morell Smith, the town's only casualty during World War I; several Revolutionary War soldiers killed during a raid at the Bird In Hand; a Civil War soldier; World War II soldiers; and a larger group of hometown boys killed in Vietnam.