Names in Stone or Bronze Remind of Vets’ Sacrifices

To have one’s name enshrined in stone or bronze is humbling. To be recognized as having taken part in history for selflessly answering the nation’s call to serve is something to which few aspire. Those who have, and those who continue to serve, certainly do not look for grand rewards. To a man or woman, they are quiet folks who simply want to help where needed and return home when the job is done.
In June, while at Woodbine’s Festival of Friends, I happened to glance at an austere monument located on the corner of the borough firehouse. No doubt I’d passed it many times, but on that day I went to see whose names were on that monument.
Atop the stone where a plaque is located, containing names of 44 borough men who served in World War I, sits a black eagle with outstretched wings. The monument is eternally guarded by two guns, pointing skyward, greening with age.
That shrine to valiant hometown warriors could be a plaque in any town in the land. Placed by the people of Woodbine as a tribute to their fathers, sons and brothers, it is a mirror of the borough’s early ethnic citizenry. It is the “Roll of Honor, Borough of Woodbine, To The Men Of Woodbine Who Went to Camp and Overseas In The World War 1914-1918 Prepared to Give Their All.”
They were the ones who went to make the world safe and secure from further conflicts. It was, they were told by those who dispatched them, the “war to end all wars.”
Like their sons and grandsons, those gallant borough men did no less than the duty owed the land that sheltered them and their families from the tyranny of distant despots. They answered without hesitation, and did what generations after them have also done.
Who are those men, vaguely remembered by some, long-missed by others, cherished in the hearts of their relatives who, too, now are old?
They were: Michael V. Abramson, Simon B. Alexenberg, Harry Becker, Jacob Breslow, Edward Breslow, Michael Blume, Samuel Becker, Max Benzinowitz, Jacob M. Cytron, Samuel Collier, Morris Cohen, Harry Eisenberg, Eugene L. Feldman, Harry Glackman, Louis Goldberg, Louis Goldfarb, Nathan Greenstein, *David Hornstein, Benjamin Itzzkovitz, Abraham Kein, Isadore Kovnat, Louis Kovnat, Morris Kenin, Samuel Letwin, Norman S. Letwin, Joseph Levenson, Barnet Lieberman, Moses H. Mendelsohn, Edward Nappen, *Jacob Nappen, William Oxley, James G. Oxley, Eric Oxley, Abraham Potashnick, Harry Raff, Louis Stein, Herman Stein, Samuel Stein, Jacob Sherman, Nick Steelman, Max Weiss, Benjamin Wolfson.
Around this nation are countless monuments to brave men and women, just like the one in Woodbine. Some will, on Fri., Nov. 11, be the focal point of local observances of Veterans Day.
Others, tucked away in forgotten cemeteries and near shunned landmarks, will receive no honor, though they are owed the gratitude of legions who bask in the freedom they helped secure.
On Friday, in remembrance of the armistice that ended that first terrible worldwide conflict on Nov. 11, 1918 at 11 a.m., some veterans will again pay tribute to those they never knew, like those 44 from Woodbine. Others will pay homage later that day at other memorials in the county. A central observance will be held at the Cape May County Veterans’ Cemetery on Crest Haven Road, Court House at 2 p.m.
Once again, a speaker will rehearse the reality of selfless sacrifice, the bitterness of loss, the wounds, physical and mental, that never heal as man confronts man on the battlefield.
A contingent of fresh-faced Coast Guard recruits will perform the ritual of rendering a salute to the dead and another service member will perform “Taps” mournful notes.
Some in the crowd, veterans or those related to veterans, may be seen with a tear or two rolling down their cheek, and that’s to be expected. It happens quite often here in this tract of sacred ground where the mortal remains of Cape May County service members and their spouses are interred.
This being America, some will, of course, do nothing on Veterans Day. They may enjoy a day off from work, and may remember, in a fleeting way, “Oh yeah, it’s Veterans Day. I saw an ad for a sale, that’s why I remembered.” How tragic that so little is thought of those who gave so much, especially in light of the names of those 44 in Woodbine, and millions just like them from Maine to Florida, North Carolina to Hawaii who went away with no thoughts of glory or honor, and whose names we remember only on bronze plaques and stone monuments.