Somers Point, veterans organizations ACIT students bring project to fruition
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
SOMERS POINT — The city has found yet another way to honor those who have served their country in the military, this time naming its popular bike path in honor of the men and women who were injured or killed in battle.
On Veterans Day, Mayor Jack Glasser, four-time Purple Heart recipient Marco Polo Smigliani and other veterans advocates cut the ribbon on “Purple Heart Way,” the bike path’s new designation.
The path, which eventually will be lined by signs bearing the names and stories of medal recipients, passes by many of the other structures in the city that pay homage to service members past and present: Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2189, Clark-Eliason American Legion Post 352, the submarine veterans memorial and Patriots Park, where its services are held.
Glasser said the project came together over several years with the help of many people, including two teachers and their students from Atlantic County Institute of Technology, where he works as a security guard.
He said the idea came from Smigliani, the chairman of the Atlantic County Veterans Advisory Board who was wounded five times while serving as a corporal with the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, and others including Freeholder Frank Balles, who asked if there was a street in the city that could be named in honor of wounded warriors.
“At that time, we were also looking at what to do with the bike path,” Glasser said, noting it has been around for more than 40 years and was showing its age.
City Council adopted a resolution in 2017 naming the bike path “Purple Heart Way,” opening the door to federal grant money to help fund improvements, which included widening the path, replacing lighting, benches and other amenities.
Glasser said Drew Holmes, who teaches computer science and programming at the school in Mays Landing, asked him if there were any projects in which his students could participate and together they arranged to have the students create signage for the path.
“Drew and his students have worked for the last two years to put that signage together — to design it — they’re from the computer design classes at ACIT. This is the work of students,” Glasser said during the dedication.
Prior to the ribbon-cutting, Smigliani talked about what it means to honor those who were injured in battle.
“As an immigrant’s son, it is truly a great honor to be here today to participate in this patriotic dedication of Purple Heart Way,” Smigliani said, noting that nearly 2 million men and women have been wounded in battle or “made the ultimate sacrifice at the altar of freedom.”
Getting emotional, Smigliani continued.
“You see, my friends, freedom is not free. Somebody has to pay the price — your children, your brothers, your sisters — remember them. Don’t back down from these people who tell us we’re wrong, we’re not. We shed our blood for our country.
“In the words of Marcus Tullius Cicero, or Caesar as you say, ‘Poor is the nation that has no heroes, but poorer still is a nation that having heroes, fails to remember and honor them,’ as we honor the sacrifices made by these men and women who have so gallantly defended our great land.”
Smigliani also called for unity.
“We must come together as a people and as a nation. In the words of Abraham Lincoln, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ We are all on the same boat and we must work together. We must rise above the fray and learn to agree to disagree with dignity and respect for all Americans. We must show our children and our grandchildren that our veterans are not dying in vain.”
