Freehold Honors Wounded Warriors with 138th Memorial Day Parade

The 138th held on May 28 will honor wounded warriors. 

“The Freehold Memorial Day Parade is the state's longest running parade of its kind and Monmouth County's largest such parade with an average of over 70 units participating each year,” explained Freehold Borough Councilman George Schnurr.

This annual parade features 5 local veteran organizations from the Freehold area including American Legion Post #54, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #4374, Marine Corps League Cpl. Philip A. Reynolds Detachment #203, Jewish War Veterans Post #539, and Disabled American Veterans Chapter #74.

Each year one of the local organizations is the lead veteran group for the Freehold Memorial Day Parade. That veteran organization determines the theme of the parade and is given the honor of selecting a member from its ranks who will be the parade Grand Marshall.

The lead veteran organization for this year’s Memorial Day Parade is the Disabled American Veterans (DAV). The theme of this year’s parade is “Honoring our Wounded Warriors”.

The Grand Marshall of the 2012 Freehold Memorial Day Parade as selected by the DAV is Emanuel (Manny) Handleman, age 92 of Freehold Township.

Councilman Schnurr sat down with the vet to learn more about him. Schnurr shared the following information;

- Handleman was born January 15, 1920 in Brooklyn, NY and went to Samuel J. Tilden High School.

- Handleman is a World War II veteran who served with the U.S. Army 99th Infantry Division

- Handleman was a Private First Class in the U.S. Army and served from December 1942 to November 1945

-Private Handleman served in Iceland and England and was in combat against the Germans in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Czechoslovakia.

-The 99th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War II that played a role in the Battle of the Bulge.

- Handleman was awarded the Purple Heart, the American Theater Ribbon, the Bronze Star and the Good Conduct Ribbon.

- Handleman was injured in Linz, Germany while his unit captured The Ludendorff Bridge, which is also known as the Bridge at Remagen. According to Handleman, this was a railway bridge across the Rhine River into Germany.  It was a strategic event in WW2 because it was the only remaining bridge over the Rhine River into Germany and was also strong enough that the Allies could cross immediately with tanks and trucks full of supplies. Once it was captured, the German troops began desperate efforts at artillery and air bombardment and that is how Private Handleman was injured. He is hard of hearing because of an air attack on his position.

- Handleman has been a member of the American Legion, the VFW, the Jewish War Veterans, the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Battle of the Bulge Society.

-After the war he worked selling appliances and later as a Teamster driving trucks for dairy companies until he retired and moved to Florida. He lived in Florida for 27 years and moved to Freehold Township 3 years ago to live with his daughter.

If you would like to honor Handleman and all of the local veterans, attend the Freehold Memorial Day Service and Parade on Monday, May 28.

The morning begins with the traditional “Elks Point Service of Reflection” in memory of all American service men and women who lost their lives defending their nation. This ceremony begins at Elks Point at 8:30 a.m.

The parade will officially commence at 9:45 a.m. at Brinckerhoff Avenue and Main Street by a flag-draped casket accompanied by active military from various branches of service. This casket will be pulled down the parade route to remind us why we are all there. At 10:00 am, the veterans groups will begin to march down Main Street followed by the rest of the parade.

“We also are honored to have a flyover from Gerald Norkus, the owner of the Freehold Foodtown, with two vintage aircraft this year that will go over the parade route,” said Schnurr.

In addition to the service and the parade, the borough will honor veterans by renaming 3 streets in town. The re-named streets are as follows:

• McLean St to be renamed Cpl. John A. Felton St. - USMC
• Hull Ave to be renamed Cpl. Edmond M. Rohan Ave. - USAF
• Murray St to be renamed Cpl. Philip A. Reynolds Dr. - USMC