A Voorhees veteran and former municipal clerk helped Berlin Borough find 26 vets for an honorary plaque on the White Horse Pike.
The semi-circle veterans memorial erected at the intersection of Taunton Avenue and the White Horse Pike will soon recognize Berlin Borough residents who risked their lives in the Vietnam War.
The memorial, which was dedicated by the Berlin Rotary Club in 1983, lists local military members who have served the United States dating back to World War I.
However, until recently, the dedicated Vietnam War portion on the colossal monument featured only an honorary quote — the only plaque to not include a series of veterans’ names.
While attending a local veterans meeting about five years ago, Councilman Ron Rocco, who served in Vietnam, met a fellow vet who expressed his thoughts about the barren plaque.
The encounter sparked a coalition of advocates, including Rocco, local residents, VFW members and Rotarians, who spent nearly five years researching veterans, both living and deceased, who once lived within the confines of this town.
“I wanted to narrow it down to people who served in Vietnam while living in Berlin Borough,” Rocco said.
Unearthing about 26 veterans just up until the past couple of months, the names will now be engraved on the war memorial’s Vietnam plaque, which was financed through a Rotary fundraiser last fall. The official unveiling of the monument, designed by Ravelli Memorials, is scheduled for Saturday, April 14, at 10 a.m.
Along with the names, which were finalized three months ago, blank spaces will be included on the tablet, leaving room for possible unfound veterans.
“This event has become a reality now,” Rocco said. “Five years later, with a lot of work from a lot of people, (the veterans) are gonna get their proper place for recognition that was overdue.”
The living veterans and the relatives of those deceased have been invited to the ceremony where Rotary president Ben Gindville, VFW commander Kevin Krasovetz and Rocco will give remarks set to the sight and sounds of the presentation of colors.
The ceremony’s guests will include men and women from the Berlin Fire Company №1 and Berlin Police Department.
“They’re in the community. These folks — they’re public service,” Rocco said. “They protect these communities, just like these gentlemen protected the county.”
Along with borough residents, the project also recruited a veteran expert from Voorhees, Jeanette Schelberg, who maintains the Voorhees Township Veterans Wall of Honor with her husband, Richard, a Vietnam veteran and retired Marine.
Schelberg, who is a U.S. Navy veteran and former municipal clerk of Voorhees, joined the team about a year ago. Delving through property tax records, she discovered veteran residents throughout the borough.
A skilled researcher, Schelberg knew how to recognize veteran-related codes, including tax deductions, property tax exemptions, permanent total disability and widows’ veterans tax.
“I am very interested and very much want to help veterans anyway I can at any time,” she said.
Her digging included reaching out to local organizations, including the Raws-Tait VFW in Somerdale and the American Legion in Gibbsboro, which also led Schelberg to borough veterans.
“I also looked for women veterans, because they are not forgotten,” Schelberg said. “Veterans are near and dear to my heart. What I do is to honor my brother.”
Schelberg’s brother was a soldier who went missing in action during the Korean War.
Since then, she has dedicated her life to serving the United States or honoring those who have served.
Even though she’s a neighbor to the borough, Schelberg says she was proud to have worked on the borough’s Vietnam memorial.
“I enjoy doing this. There’s a comradery among veterans that’s very tight knit,” Schulberg said. “I think (Berlin) waited a long time to get these names on the monuments.”
While the plaque acts as a long-awaited honor, it concurrently represents something much greater not only for Berlin but for the 26 individuals who fought in one of the deadliest wars in American history.
“People go there, and for some people, it may be closure,” Rocco said. “And the borough, where these gentlemen lived in, in the town that they lived in, they’re gonna be recognized by the townspeople.”
For more information, contact Rocco at (856)-298–0698.
