Donna Phelps
By Laura D.C. Kolnoski
OCEANPORT – Bringing the past into the present to honor local military heroes, Oceanport Borough Administrator Donna Phelps, with help from volunteers, salvaged over 250 photographs of local veterans and restored them to create a new display for all to experience.
The Wall of Honor tableau, located in the lobby of Borough Hall in Oceanport’s new municipal complex on Oceanport Way on Fort Monmouth, was formally introduced during the borough’s Veterans Day ceremonies Nov. 11.
“It’s a fantastic, permanent living tribute to Oceanport’s veterans, both alive and deceased,” Mayor Jay Coffey told The Two River Times in a phone call from Germany where he was vacationing. “Our borough administrator, the administrative staff and the various citizen volunteers who contributed to this project have created something that connects the past with the present, the living with the dead and the present with the future. We are forever in their debt.”
The memorial’s backstory also solves a mystery.
A temporary Wall of Honor was constructed in 1945 to honor the borough’s World War II veterans and a “Welcome Home” dinner was held for returning military at the time. In 2004, a new Wall of Honor was created featuring 250 pictures arranged in a 12-by-6-foot framed collage with the photos color-coded to matching dots for identification. In 2012, Super Storm Sandy severely damaged the borough hall at Myrtle Avenue and Monmouth Boulevard.
“The 2004 memorial was ‘lost’ when we moved out of Borough Hall and into the Old Wharf House,” Phelps explained, revealing that earlier this year, the collage was found at Maple Place School during renovations. It’s unclear how the tribute ended up at the school, but Phelps noted municipal employees “came and went” during that time.
“I’d say it was displaced, although we were constantly looking for it,” Phelps said.
“Miraculously, it was in great condition and had Plexiglas over it.”
Oceanport Borough Administrator Donna Phelps stood amid the veterans’ Wall of Honor tribute she created with the help of volunteers in the vestibule of the new municipal building. Donna Phelps
In 2004, the photographs were glued to poster board. Over the past 10 months, Phelps carefully peeled the photos from the board and digitized them, adding updated biographical information with help from local resident, Vietnam veteran and planning board member Rusty Kleiberg, his son Brian and wife Nancy. Phelps scanned and uploaded the photos using the municipal copy machine, coming in early so as not to monopolize it during business hours.
“It was hard, but I was shocked it went as well as it did,” said Phelps, who has served as Oceanport’s administrator since 2018. The project was personal to Phelps as her husband is a veteran.
“This digitized Wall of Honor won’t be damaged in a hurricane, can’t be lost in storage and, thanks to the interweb, will be available for viewing all over the world with a few keystrokes,” the mayor wrote.
The previous Borough Hall was demolished in December 2017 while Oceanport worked with the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) to secure a parcel on the former U.S. Army base within Oceanport’s borders to build a new complex. Municipal operations relocated there in early 2021.
Every component of the display is symbolic. The table is set with a single place setting remembering those who are absent because of their POW or MIA status. The white tablecloth symbolizes the purity of their motives in answering the call to service. The single red rose represents those who seek answers, while a red ribbon stands for hope for their return and determination to account for them. A slice of lemon is for the bitterness of fate, salt represents tears and a glass inverted until it can accept a toast rounds out the scene, accented by the empty chair beside it.
On the wall above the tableau, a 50-inch screen continually scrolls photos of the veterans with identifying information, surrounded by medallions depicting the branches of the military – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Space Force. A book where visitors may write revisions is nearby.
The unveiling on Saturday “was a smashing success,” Phelps said. Council President Richard A. Gallo delivered Coffey’s remarks in his absence. The public may view the display during regular municipal business hours.
This article originally appeared in the November 16 – 22, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
