Ocean Co. remembers its sons who went off to WWI
TOMS RIVER - Ocean County will remember its 2,433 residents who served in World War I and the 75 who never came home at a commemoration ceremony at noon today inside the 1850 courthouse on Washington Street.
One hundred years ago today — April 6, 1917 — the United States entered the "war to end all wars" after President Woodrow Wilson signed a formal declaration of war against Germany that had been approved by Congress.
Ocean County Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr., a retired history teacher who has read almost 100 books about World War I, will serve as master of ceremonies of the centennial observance. The Garden State Philharmonic is scheduled to perform at the ceremony and there will be readings by local high school students and insights from local historians, according to the county Division of Public Information.
The event is free and open to the public. The Ocean County Sheriff's Office, which protects the courthouse and its grounds, will open the front entrance of the Greek Revival building — a rare occurrence, Bartlett noted. The ceremony will take place upstairs in historic Courtroom One.
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"The front of the courthouse has been decked out, I think, very beautifully," he said.
To mark the occasion, the Ocean County Cultural and Heritage Commission and the Department of Building and Grounds have fixed American flags with 48 stars — Alaska and Hawaii were not states in 1917 — to the columns of the Ocean County Courthouse, along with patriotic bunting. The centerpiece of the period decorations is a red, white and blue banner that includes 2,433 stars for each county resident who went off to fight in World War I. In the middle of the banner, there is a single large star that bears 75 gold stars for each county resident who was killed in the war.
The county was able to obtain a precise count because it has in its archives the names of those residents who either joined the military voluntarily or were drafted to serve in World War I, as well as those who perished in the conflict overseas.
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"To me as a former history teacher and one who has a great interest in history, I think and the board thinks, it's only appropriate that we should always remember what we have here today, that we didn't invent it," Bartlett said. "Those who came before us sacrificed their time, their talents and in many cases, their lives, to give us what we have."
Bartlett also pointed out that the American Legion has loaned the county — for the purpose of a display in front of the courthouse — an original, French 75mm cannon that was actually used extensively in World War I a century ago.
"And it will stay there for a while," the freeholder said.
Freeholder Director Joseph H. Vicari said that when he and Bartlett began serving on the freeholder board at the start of the 1980s, there were still many World War I veterans alive and residents of Ocean County.
"They were very, very humble people," Vicari said. "They never bragged about anything, but they were always proud to be an American and they never asked for anything. They were just proud to serve America and something that we really lost and should be continued. ... Pass by the county courthouse on your way home today, you will be very proud to live in Ocean County."
Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com