LONGPORT - The first two “Banners for Veterans” were raised along Atlantic Avenue Tuesday morning. The members of the Public Works Department will continue to install the banners that honor notable veterans of the borough.
The project is being undertaken by a community group led by resident Dolores Wilson, along with Mayor Patrick Armstrong and members of the American Legion.
All the banners should be erected by Friday morning, according to American Legion Commander Larry Pacentrilli.
“With the help of her husband Joe, Dolores made it all happen in under three months – far less time than anyone had envisioned,” Pacentrilli said.
Pacentrilli said there was a high level of community interest in the program honoring citizens of the borough who served in the military over the years. Originally, the committee planned for 35 banners, but more banners will be installed. The committee raised all the funds needed to get the banners manufactured by a local marketing company.
The banners are being erected along Atlantic Ave instead of Ventnor Avenue as was originally planned. Pacentrilli said the switch was made to accommodate prior approval granted by Atlantic City Electric for town banners and flags on its utility poles, which will be replaced with the veterans’ banners.
The banner installation project will be completed by Labor Day and the banners will stay up until after Veterans Day. Afterward, the banners will be removed and kept in storage until May when they will be installed in time for Memorial Day 2026, when the Legion will hold its annual Memorial Day parade and service at Thomas B. Reed Park.
PROVIDED/The banner honoring Thomas B. Reed is hung in front of the Longport park that bears his name.Reed’s banner was the second banner installed on Tuesday on a pole in front of the park that bears his name.
The first banner installed honors U.S. Army Pvt. John A. Kuzmann, for whom American Legion Post 469 was named. Kuzmann, was killed in action in Okinawa on April 8, 1945, just days before the end of WWII. He was just 19 years old.
