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Two separate ceremonies held in Asbury Park on Monday paid tribute to the city’s firefighters and those who served in the United States Armed Forces.

In Fireman’s Memorial Park, at a service that recognized those that put their lives on the line to combat fires that break out in the city, Fire Chief Kevin Keddy read the names of now-deceased Asbury Park Fighters, two of which died in the the line of duty, Irving H. Schein on Dec. 29, 1952 and Natale T. Bruno on Oct. 13, 1977. A bell tolled after each of the names read during the roll call.

“Just by your presence here,” Keddy said to the crowd of about 100 people, “the families of our deceased members truly thank you for that, because it truly is an honor to serve this city.”

There are currently 47 career firefighters that serve the city, Keddy said.

At the firefighter’s memorial ceremony, Mayor Myra Campbell read aloud “In Flanders Field,” a poem penned in 1915 by First World War veteran and Canadien poet Lt. Col. John McCrae. The poem references the fields of red poppies that grew over soldiers’ graves. Campbell would again reference the flower at the veteran’s service as it relates to the “Buddy Poppy,” the VFW’s official memorial flower. Disabled veterans assemble the paper flowers, which are then shipped to local VFW’s and Ladies Auxiliaries and exchanged for donations.

Also at the firefighter’s service, Campbell and Deputy Mayor Sue Henderson, along with representatives from the Asbury Park Fire Department, presented flowers donated each year by the Asbury Park’s Vaccaro family.

“I’m sure it is very difficult for many of us to really understand and appreciate the fear and the courage these men face every time their fire truck pulls out of the fire house,” said Lou Parisi, a World War II veteran Marine and past commander of the Harold Daley VFW Post 1333 in Asbury Park, at the firefighter’s service. “I think, perhaps, we veterans can better understand that fear and that courage.”

Parisi [shown above, wearing white] would later serve as the master of ceremony at the service held in Veteran’s Park, located just two blocks east of Fireman’s Park along Sunset Lake.

Veteran’s Park was originally built in the 1960s, then featuring a small walkway, railroad ties, and an eternal flame that had extinguished by the time a committee was formed to raise funds to update the park, according to Councilman John Loffredo, who was a member of the committee and president of the city’s homeowner’s association at the time.

The group successfully raised enough funds to replace the monument, install new eternal light and redesigned the walkway with pavers and an emblem at center that depicts an American Eagle and reads, “Proud to be an American.”

“It was a simple way to say ‘thank you’ to our veterans,” said Loffredo, who hopes to eventually have the names of the city’s veterans engraved in the monument.

“We take advantage of the fact that we can get up in the morning and go where we want to go, and do what we want to do, but we don’t think about very often, except for Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day, those who actually fought for our freedom and lost their lives for our freedom — I really believe that we need to think of them more than just two days,” said Councilwoman Sue Henderson.

The Asbury Park High School Band played patriotic selections for both services, which were held back-to-back at 9 and 10 a.m.

Below is a list of the firefighters that once served the city but have since passed away, provided by Chief Kevin Keddy.

Gustave C. Agreen, FF                          Quirino C. Apicelli, FF                        Ernest Applegate, FF

Charles E. Bailey, FF                              Raymond C. Bailey, FF                       Edward E Baxter, Capt.

Fred Bernocco, FF                                 Natale T. Bruno, FF                              Natale (Sonny) Bruno, FF

James Burgess, FF                                  Robert E. Busch, FF                            Robert J. Busch, Sr., FF

James Camoosa, FF                               Carroll N. Carver, FF                          Richard M, Casler, FF

John Colangelo, Sr., FF                        Edward M. Comer, FF                        Randell W. Conklin, Chaplin

Jesse Conover, FF                                  William E. Cook, FF                             Charles J. Crammer, DC

Charles J. Crammer, Capt.                  Edward Daley, FF                                Edward J. Dalton, Chaplin

Joseph C. D’Auria, Chief                      Anthony D’Esposito, FF                   Matio D’Esposito, FF

Michael De Sarno, Sr., Chief               Nicholas De Sarno, FF                      Louis de Wysocki, FF

Curwin M. Dodd, FF                              Willian Dolan, FF                                James Edmonds, FF

Fred Elener, FF                                       John C. Farrell, Chaplin                   John Faulhaber, Jr., FF

William Faulhaber, FF                         Austin D. Flindt, FF                           Raymond C, Flanagan, FF

John D. Flynn, FF                                 Dominick L. Franchino, FF             William P. Gatta, Capt.

John Gorman, FF                                  Wynne Graham, Sr., Capt.               Robert E. Grant, Capt.

John B. Gubitosa, Chief                      William H. Harrington, Capt.         Clifford W. Heller, Capt.

Francis Hendrickson, FF                   Joseph Hice, Capt.                              Ira Howland, FF

Edward C. Hutchinson, Chief         John Hutchinson, FF                          Ario S. Hymans, Chaplin

Lester B. Johnson, DC                      Russell Johnson, FF                            William Johntry, FF

Courtland Kane, FF                           Thomas Kennedy, FF                         Raymond King, DC

Earl Laing, Capt.                                 Frank Lanning, FF                               Horace Lanning, FF

Earl Lawlor, FF                                   Irving H. Schein, FF                          Christopher Schwartz, FF

Ernest Scutellaro, Chief                 Edward Selleck, Jr., FF                     Warren Selleck, Capt.

Williams J. Simms, FF                    Francis Smith, FF                                Harold A. Smith, FF

Joseph P. Smith, Capt.                   David Solomon, Honorary Member

William Stahley, FF                         Frank Sullivan, FF                               John N. Swain, FF

Cleveland G. Taggart, Capt.         Harold Taggart, FF                             William L. Taggart, Capt.

William S. Taggart, Chief              Edward Thomas, FF                            William. J Tighe, DC

James C. Tilton, Fire Inspector  Emil Travers, FF            Dr. Sebastian Vaccaro, Honorary Member

Reed VanLuvanee, FF                  Walter G. Voll, Capt.                         George Ward, Capt.

Robert V. Ward, FF                       William Westlake, FF                        William H. White, FF

Maxwell Williams, FF                  Charles Wines, FF                               Howard Zegas, FF

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