Street signs recognize those lost in combat
Signs being posted on streets named for each veteran
BY MICHAEL ACKER
Staff Writer

SAYREVILLE - Local veterans killed in combat going back to World War I have streets named after them in the borough.

And now, their sacrifices will be further recognized with signs printed in their memory on each respective street.

The project is the work of the Veterans Alliance, which is made up of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4699 and the American Legion Post 211. The organizations have been working on the project for the past two years.

Vietnam veteran and Sayreville Police Detective Kenneth Kelly, who is a past commander of the VFW post, and Richard Kosmoski, past commander of the American Legion, spearheaded the effort.

"I worked with him on many projects," Kelly said. "He is why lots of things have gotten done in town, because of his efforts."

Kosmoski, also a Vietnam veteran, graduated high school with Kelly and served in the Navy. While Kelly went on to become a police officer, Kosmoski joined the fire department.

"The guys that were killed in action were being recognized with streets named after them, but no one knew why. All of them guys were killed in action," Kosmoski said.

Kelly noted that the borough's governing body supported he and Kosmoski in this project.

"We have been working on this project for approximately two years," Kelly said. "We received funding from the mayor and council for the cost of the signs. They have always been very receptive to the needs of the veterans in the community."

Public works employees have been installing the signs on borough streets that are named after the respective veterans, and the job is anticipated to be completed this week, Kelly said.

All veterans from Sayreville who were killed in action have streets named after them, Kelly said, adding that the signs will be formally dedicated at 10 a.m. on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

Adorned with the colors of the flag, each 2-foot-by-8-inch sign has the veteran's name and the conflict in which the soldier was killed. The signs are being installed at the ends of each street.

"The borough has gotten some favorable comments," Kelly said. "People are asking about the signs, and we are getting positive feedback. It is a good thing for the people who made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our country."

There are roughly 60 veterans being honored, Kelly said, adding that he knew several of them personally, including four members of his high school class from the late 1960s.

"At that time, if you were not going to college, you were going in," Kelly said. "Unless you were going to Canada or college, if you did not enlist, you were going to get drafted."

Kelly, who served as an Air Force staff sergeant from 1967-71 and was assigned to the air medical evacuation unit in Da Nang, Vietnam, said the idea for this tribute goes back many years.

"This started several years ago under the old business administrator, Joseph D'Arco, who did something like this up in Bloomfield," he said.

For a time, however, not every veteran had a borough street named after them.

"Lots of veterans had very long Polish names with complicated spellings and they were never given streets [named after them]," Kelly said. "Kosmoski and I, through the Veterans Alliance, petitioned the mayor and council to include everyone killed in action, so that they could get a street named after them. Now, at least their names are out there. It is a little remembrance, so that they are never forgotten."