Photo by Chris Sykes From left, Camptown VFW Post 1941 Commander Shawn Johnson, honorary post member Charles Jeter and former post Sr. Vice Commander Coley Stratford Jr. stand together on Monday, Sept. 26, at Sr. Vice Commander Franklin L. Prather's funeral at Macedonia Christian Church in Vauxhall.
From left, Camptown VFW Post 1941 Commander Shawn Johnson, honorary post member Charles Jeter and former post Sr. Vice Commander Coley Stratford Jr. stand together on Monday, Sept. 26, at Sr. Vice Commander Franklin L. Prather’s funeral at Macedonia Christian Church in Vauxhall.
IRVINGTON, NJ — Mayor Tony Vauss and the Irvington Chamber of Commerce, along with FirsTeam Management and the Irvington Springfield Avenue Business Improvement District, unveiled the new Veterans Row memorial banners hanging along Springfield Avenue during a special ceremony Friday, Sept. 23, at Camptown Commons Park on Springfield Avenue, where the town’s war memorials are located.
“It’s an honor for the township to recognize the veterans,” said ICOC President Cassandra Ferguson on Friday, Sept. 23. “I have veterans in my family as well. I have my third oldest son, who is now serving in the Navy (for) 13 years, so I appreciate the work and the time that these veterans put into serving our country. It’s an honor to honor them for that.”
Ferguson said it was also an honor to see veterans and their families gathered at Camptown Commons Park across the street from the old Servicemen’s Clubhouse on Springfield Avenue. She said that when David Biagini, of FirsTeam Management, suggested honoring Irvington veterans, she “jumped right on it.”
Vauss said he, too, embraced the idea of honoring Irvington’s veterans, once Ferguson, Biagini and Luz Carday-Kitsch, also of FirsTeam Management, invited the township to collaborate.
“This hour and this day and this week and this month is always all about the veterans and I can never talk enough about the sacrifice that they put in for this country,” said Vauss on Friday, Sept. 23. “This is the least we can do for the service that they have provided to this country. I’m just honored to be here.”
Jim Ivers, an Irvington native, Army veteran and former ICOC member, said “home is where the heart is,” meaning Irvington will always be his home away from home, so he was therefore present at the unveiling and dedication ceremony.
“War is no fun, because you lose a lot of nice people,” said Ivers on Friday, Sept. 23. “I’m a former president of the Chamber of Commerce and I’d rather spend my time doing things for the chamber, because I’m so vested, having been with the chamber for so many years. I’m very flattered, as far as what we’re doing for the veterans, but … I think it’s important that we do this sort of thing. You have to recognize people who do things and don’t necessarily look for recognition. The best type of reward that you can do is something like this.”
“The mayor is right; it would be a wonderful thing if we could get a whole row of all veterans,” continued Ivers, adding there wouldn’t be any shortage of worthy candidates.
Two men died prior to the unveiling and dedication ceremony of the banners: World War II veterans Army Pfc. Walter Mitchell and Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Ralph H. Latta, who died at age 101 and 90, respectively.
“He lived a good life and was the kind of guy that everybody knew,” said Mitchell’s son, Charles Mitchell, who was at the ceremony Friday, Sept. 23. “He worked at Supremo after he retired. He left a good mark. Most of the ladies in this area know him and I was happy to be his son.”
Former Irvington Senior Citizens Center Director Marilyn Thomas was also at the ceremony and agreed Walter Mitchell would have been proud to know that his son and relatives had his banner created and displayed along Springfield Avenue.
“My father and Mitchell were very good friends; my father passed away when he was 90 and he came to the funeral. … He treated everybody nice. We honored him at the Senior Center and he was so proud. He was a good man.”
Irvington Camptown VFW Post 1941 Sr. Vice Commander Franklin Prather died Monday, Sept. 19, and his funeral was Monday, Sept. 26, at Macedonia Christian Church in Vauxhall. Though Prather’s friends and relatives were unable to honor him with a banner along Springfield Avenue, his comrades at the VFW Post 1941 said they will speak to Biagini and the ICOC about making one for him.
“We were talking and we’re going to look into that,” said the new post Commander Shawn Johnson on Friday, Sept. 23. “We’re going to find out more about it.”
Latta’s nephew, Coley Stratford Jr., a former senior vice commander at VFW Post 1940, was also at the ceremony and said, “I think he would have liked it,” of Prather at the former commander’s funeral Monday, Sept. 26. “I’m glad that the family decided to do this for him.”
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