NORTHFIELD — Residents will soon see new signs in their neighborhood and around town, posted in honor of native military members who lost their lives serving in wars throughout history.
Mark Given, adjutant of the Northfield Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9874, has been leading the project to honor Northfield residents who were killed in action while serving in the United States armed forces.
“We proposed the idea of the street sign project about a year ago,” Given said. “We then started researching the residents from town who had been killed in different wars.”
Given, a Northfield native himself, served in Desert Storm and earned the rank of sergeant during his seven-year military career. He joined the local VFW four years ago after he returned home in 2011 following 20 years as a New Jersey resident.
After joining Post 9874, Given said he and fellow member Larry Parker started brainstorming ways to memorialize local military members who were killed in action.
Each sign will feature the name of the honored individual, their rank, branch of service, date of passing and war(s) they served in. The signs will be posted on the streets where the veterans lived prior to their service. Given said the first two posts will be installed in the coming weeks, and there will be accompanying ceremonies on the days of their placement.
“The project has a dual meaning for me,” Given said, as the first sign will be in honor of his brother, Warrant Officer Martin G. Given. That sign will be posted on Thursday at 10 a.m., on the corner of Carleton Street and Woodruff Way.
“Marty was the first resident from Northfield to be killed in the Vietnam War,” Given said, noting that his brother was a helicopter pilot with the Army.
Given’s brother was killed at age 20, when his helicopter, Gator 297, was brought down by the enemy, killing all on board — four crewmen and two passengers.
A second memorial sign ceremony will be held on Oct. 8, at 10 a.m., at the corner of Meadow and Main streets, honoring another Vietnam veteran, this time Spc. Frederick G. Parker of the U.S. Army — Larry Parker’s brother.
Frederick G. Parker died on Dec. 24, 1968, just one month after Martin Given, also at age 20. He was the last resident of Northfield to be killed in Vietnam.
Throughout the winter, Given and the local VFW will verify information about other fallen soldiers and schedule dedication ceremonies. While verifying information for certain Northfield military members — like their siblings — was simple, Given said others may not have living relatives to contact, making it harder to confirm aspects of their lives.
“We try to confirm all the information about their residency, military history and their passing,” Given said. “It was easier to do with the Vietnam War as there is more documentation, but going back it gets harder to verify it all.”
Northfield residents can keep an eye out for more posts in the coming year. Given said he and VFW Post 9874 are working on a handful of memorials for native military members dating back as far as World War II.
This project has been privately funded, but Given said anyone interested in making a donation to keep the project moving forward can reach out to Northfield VFW Post 9874.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.