A service worth serving

On Monday, June 29, five veterans of Camden County were honored on the Battleship New Jersey.

Camden County Commissioner Colleen Bianco Bezich, who was leading the ceremony, said she didn’t meet either her grandfather or great-grandfather because of their military service. She learned about their lives from her grandmother and great-grandmother.

“It means so much to me with all of you today, particularly on this occasion, where we’re about to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation founding,” Bezich said. “This would not possible, our freedoms would not be possible, our protections as citizens of the United States would not be possible, without all of you and your family and those in our community who stood by you.”

Members of the Gloucester City High School Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps presented the colors before the medals were handed out, meaning they marched with a few select flags and held them out.

Medals included the Camden County Military Service Medal, Camden County Korean War Service Medal, Camden County Vietnam Service Medal and the Camden County War on Terrorism Medal.

Ted Gallagher, the director of the Camden County office of veteran affairs, presented the awards to each of the veterans.

Those veterans include, Kevin Cooper, a marine veteran from Cherry Hill; Karl Keppen, an army veteran from Gloucester Township; Joel Pagan; an army veteran from Camden; Kenneth Smith, an air force veteran from Pennsauken; and Michael Troiano, a navy veteran from Berlin.

Smith’s medal was awarded posthumously to his wife, Patricia Smith, while another winner, Pagan, was unable to attend.

Gallagher shared that Cooper, recipient of the Camden County Military Service Medal, served in active duty from August 1977 to March 1984 and worked as a radio operator in North Carolina.

“His position became vital in tactical communications,” Gallagher said. “He had a responsibility to establish, operate, and maintain critical radio equipment [with] primary responsibilities including the operations and set up of communications and operating a wide variety of tactical equipment.”

Immediately upon receiving his award, Cooper said it “feels good,” and later said that getting the award made his whole 4th of July better.

“I never expected to be honored after this time of being out of the military,” Cooper said. “For them to award me with a medal of being a Camden County veteran, it really touched my heart and my soul, and it made me feel like my service was worth serving. I just really feel happy and elated. I wished I could have invited more family and friends.”

This is the first commendation that Cooper said he’s receive, making him remember the day for “a long time,” but he still thinks of all the hardships that other veterans are going through.

“All I can say is I just hope all the veterans can come home and we can find peace,” Cooper said. “There’s a lot of veterans that haven’t been coming out for the ceremony because […] they’re [experiencing] life’s hardships. But there are a few that feel like their country has let them down. I just feel, as though, we have to believe in something to be a part of something. So I believe in the military, I believe in the government.

Victor Carstarphen, the mayor of Camden, said that it’s important to honor veterans for what they did for the country.

“I always say it’s important that we support and honor those who have served and dedicated themselves to our country,” Carstarphen said. “It’s important that we do that because we understand how meaningful those times were for our country. They’re part of a movement that has only a select amount of individuals who have been through what you all have been through in the service of our country. And I think that itself is very meaningful.”

This isn’t the first time the county has given out awards to veterans. Back on April 15, Bezich handed out medals to eight veterans in the county, including three from Blackwood, two from Cherry Hill, and one each from Atco, Collingswood and Gloucester Township.