By Rick Geffken
After an evening of drink and camaraderie at the Hazlet Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) hall in February 1978, Donald Sutton decided he’d walk to his girlfriend’s house nearby. The blizzard that evening didn’t deter him. Maybe he was simply anxious to see her that Valentine’s Day. Maybe he’d had too much to drink and didn’t mind the cold, blustery whiteout conditions. Or, maybe his wartime demons were haunting him again. His goodbyes to his companions that night, including an officer he had served with in Korea, were the last words he ever spoke to anyone.
In May, 41 years after Don Sutton failed to show up at his girlfriend’s, a local filmmaker staged a reenactment of Sutton’s times at the Hazlet VFW Post 4303. Holmdel’s award-winning director, Tom Phillips, assembled a camera and makeup crew, hired actors, and got permission from the VFW to film a tribute to Sutton who was only 42 when he died. Phillips said he “expected to shoot four hours of scenes in order to get a good five-minute sequence” for the eventual film. Phillips has directed more than 10 episodes of the Discovery Channel’s popular cable show, “Moonshiners.”
Carol Redlund, a northern Jersey friend of Phillips for years, was at the hall to do makeup. “I’ve known Tom since we were 18 years old,” she said. “Lately I’ve been collaborating with him on script copy, editing and makeup. I also helped fund and was credited as the executive producer of ‘Vietnam Aftermath.’ ”
Just in the past several months since its release, the intense “Vietnam Aftermath,” about the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder on veterans of that conflict, has won or been nominated for 38 separate domestic and international film festival awards. It was shown at the Hoboken International Film Festival in May and again at the New Hope Film Festival July 19-28.
When the Phillips team shot two scenes, one from 1951 and one from 1978, Middletown’s Daniel Kroeper, an Air Force veteran, was the actor who portrayed Sutton. Asked if he was a professional actor, Kroeper smiled and said, “That would be the dream. Right now, I do plumbing and I’m also a bartender.” Hazlet VFW members filled in as extras during the film shoot.
This recreation at the Hazlet VFW of Sutton’s story is a continuation of veteran stories inspired by the laudatory work of the New Jersey Shore Area Chapter 12 of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA). Several years ago, Chapter 12 members Ernie Diorio of Manalapan and Rich Gough of Port Monmouth, and also Kroeper’s grandfather, began to conduct an inventory of unclaimed cremains in local funeral homes. They’ve worked tirelessly with other members of their group to identify the cremains, contact any living relatives and bury forgotten veterans with full military honors. So far Chapter 12 has buried 70 local vets from both World Wars, Korea and Vietnam. He noted, “Besides families, we’ve had local sheriff departments and bikers come to these ceremonies which always turn out nice. We’re always looking for more cooperation from funeral parlors.” Diorio estimates there are 38,000 unclaimed cremains nationwide.
Before Sutton deployed to Korea in 1951, he stopped by the Hazlet VFW for a good-luck sendoff from friends. After his time as a mechanic in the Army, Sutton lived in Keansburg and Highlands and frequented the friendly bar at the VFW, including on his last night there in 1978. Hazlet police found him face down in the two feet of snow dumped by the February blizzard. The Korean War vet was taken to Riverview Hospital where it was determined he died of a massive stroke and subsequent exposure.
Inexplicably, Sutton’s cremains were left at the John F. Pfleger Funeral Home in Middletown. His family thought his girlfriend was taking care of the burial. She thought they would bury him. The cremains stayed at the Tindall Road funeral home for more than four decades until Diorio and Gough showed up looking for forgotten veterans. Chapter 12 members, including honorary chaplain Bob Hopkins of West Allenhurst, eventually buried Sutton with military honors at the Arneytown Veteran Cemetery in Wrightstown. Several family members, who were surprised to hear about Sutton from Chapter 12 members, attended the memorial service as well.
Tom Phillips plans to release the film about Donald Sutton’s life, death and burial at next year’s Tribeca Film Festival. The New Jersey Shore Area Chapter 12 of the Vietnam Veterans of America can be reached at P.O. Box 276, Allenhurst, NJ 07711 or via the email: lite-trop67@aol.com.
