[0:28] And I welcome everyone here.
[0:29] First of all, before I start,
[0:30] I want to wish everyone
a Happy New Year.
[0:32] On behalf of all of our fellow
Commissioners,
[0:35] our administration,
and all of our County employees
[0:37] here in Monmouth County.
[0:39] Welcome. What a great night.
[0:40] What a great crowd.
[0:41] Again, bringing anoter great
year here in Monmouth County.
[0:45] This is a special day
where we continue to swear
[0:49] in elected officials
[0:51] that truly care
and want to do the right thing
[0:54] for the people here
in Monmouth County.
[0:56] And hopefully it shows
[0:57] in the quality of life
[0:58] that we all enjoy here
in Monmouth County.
[1:01] Here today I'm joined
with my fellow Commissioners
[1:04] here, and I'm also joined
[1:06] by our County
Clerk, Christine Hanlon,
[1:08] our sheriff, Sean Golden,
[1:10] our Prosecutor,
Raymond Santiago,
[1:12] and our Constitutional Officer
Surrogate, Maureen
[1:16] Raisch right there.
[1:18] We also have many, many, many
elected officials here today.
[1:22] I will now read the statement
[1:23] of certification of election
of Christine Gordon O'Hanlon
[1:26] as Monmouth County Clerk.
[1:28] The following is a statement
[1:29] of determination of the Board
of County Canvassers.
[1:32] Relative to an election
held in the County of Monmouth
[1:36] on the fourth day of November,
in the year of the Lord, 2025
[1:41] for the election
[1:42] of a county clerk for
a full term according to law.
[1:46] The results are as follows
Christina
[1:48] Christine
Giordano Hanlon, Republican,
[1:52] 156,121 votes.
[1:57] Alison DeNoia, Democrat,
113,840 votes
[2:03] Joshua Lyons, for 4893 votes.
[2:10] The said board does determine
that at the said election.
[2:13] Christine Gordon
O'Hanlon was duly elected.
[2:17] County clerk of Monmouth County.
[2:20] Ms. Hanlon,
[2:20] please come forward and be sworn
in office by the honorable
[2:24] Mark Lemieux, assignment
judge of the Superior Court.
[2:28] I Christine Giordano Hanlon.
[2:30] I Christine Giordano Hanlon,
do solemnly swear.
[2:33] Do solemnly swear
that I will support
[2:35] the Constitution
of the United States,
[2:37] that I will support
the Constitution
[2:39] of the United States
[2:40] and the Constitution
of the State of New Jersey
[2:42] and the Constitution
of the State of New Jersey.
[2:45] That I will bear true faith,
[2:47] that I will bear true faith
and allegiance to the same,
[2:49] and allegiance to the same,
and to the government
[2:52] and to the government
established
[2:53] in the United States,
established in the United States
[2:56] and in this state
[2:57] and in this state
[2:58] under the authority
of the people,
[2:59] under
the authority of the people.
[3:01] And that I will faithfully
[3:02] and I will faithfully,
impartially,
[3:04] impartially, and justly perform
and justly perform
[3:07] all the duties of the duties
of the office of the Office of
[3:11] County Clerk, County Clerk,
[3:13] according
to the best of my ability,
[3:15] according
to the best of my ability.
[3:16] So help me God,
so help me God. Congratulations.
[3:21] I'm very proud
of the work that we have done
[3:24] over my last term
in the county clerk's office,
[3:27] from protecting residents with
our property fraud alert service
[3:32] to bringing our mobile
County Connection Initiative
[3:35] to Monmouth communities to make
our services more accessible,
[3:39] to providing the state's only
enhanced ballot tracking system.
[3:44] We have continued to provide
innovative
[3:47] and top tier services
to the public.
[3:50] None of this would be possible
[3:53] without the support of a truly
[3:55] dedicated and hardworking staff,
including my Deputy Clerk,
[4:00] Felicia Santaniello, Chief Clerk
Veronica Dwyer,
[4:06] Director of Outreach and
Communication Rochelle Miller.
[4:09] My dedicated front office staff,
including Lori Abernathy
[4:14] and all of the wonderful
[4:15] supervisors and employees
of the County Clerk's office.
[4:19] The following is a statement
of the determination
[4:22] of the board
of County Canvassers
[4:24] relative to an election
held in the County of Monmouth,
[4:27] on the fourth day of November,
in the year of our Lord 2025.
[4:32] For the election of Sheriff for
a full term according to law.
[4:37] Sean Golden, Republican,
[4:39] 156,286 votes.
[4:44] Michael Warren,
Democrat, 119,050 votes.
[4:49] The said board does determine
that at said election.
[4:52] Sean Golden was duly elected
sheriff of Monmouth County.
[4:57] Sheriff Golden, please come
in, come up and be sworn
[5:00] into office by the honorable
Mark Lemieux.
[5:03] I Sean Golden I, Sean Golden
do solemnly swear.
[5:07] Do solemnly swear
[5:08] that I will support
the Constitution
[5:09] of the United States,
[5:10] that I will support
the Constitution
[5:12] of the United States
[5:13] and the Constitution
of the State of New Jersey
[5:14] and the Constitution
of the State of New Jersey.
[5:17] That I will bear true faith,
[5:18] that I will bear true faith
[5:19] and allegiance to the same,
and allegiance to the same,
[5:22] and to the government
and to the governments
[5:24] established
in the United States,
[5:25] established
in the United States,
[5:27] and in this state
and in this state
[5:29] under the authority
of the people,
[5:30] under
the authority of the people.
[5:31] And that I will faithfully
[5:33] and that I will faithfully,
[5:34] impartially, impartially,
and justly perform, perform
[5:37] all the duties
[5:38] of all the duties of county
sheriff, county sheriff,
[5:40] according
to the best of my ability,
[5:42] according
to the best of my ability.
[5:43] So help me God.
So help me God. Congratulations.
[5:46] All I can think
[5:47] about is, the entrust
that the public has placed
[5:51] in us as elected officials,
but myself as sheriff,
[5:54] because when it comes to public
safety,
[5:56] as the prosecutor
and our team know,
[5:58] there is no further
calling than protecting,
[6:02] those that particularly can't
protect themselves.
[6:05] And so for the public
to entrust that into myself
[6:09] and our office,
[6:11] in the sheriff's office,
I do want to thank our residents
[6:14] of Monmouth County again
for that great honor.
[6:17] And it is a debt of gratitude
that I serve another term
[6:20] as sheriff.
[6:21] Now, I saved the last
or EMS division.
[6:24] Tim Sidley,
[6:25] who has done a remarkable job
as our director of MedStar EMS.
[6:30] When you think about in just our
two year anniversary coming up
[6:34] just two years ago,
commissioners,
[6:36] we launched
and with your support
[6:38] and your recognition in the fact
[6:40] that we need to serve our better
or better
[6:43] our service of our EMS
response in the county,
[6:47] along with our volunteers,
to assist them and fill gaps
[6:51] where they are needed.
[6:52] When we had a response time
[6:53] countywide of over 18 minutes
and 10s statewide,
[6:58] 19 out of 21 counties,
we have driven that down
[7:02] to under 15 now in 21 counties,
and we will continue to do so.
[7:07] The stat this year is telling
over 10,000 calls for service,
[7:13] five minute
and 22 second response time.
[7:16] There is no better.
[7:21] To me,
there is no better investment
[7:24] that the county could have made
than into what I'll say 911,
[7:28] but into our MedStar program
for our EMS.
[7:32] They are saving lives
week in and week out,
[7:35] and we have the response times
and the data to prove it.
[7:38] So we are really proud
and more to come on that.
[7:41] We are looking at the expansion
of MedStar
[7:44] into 2026 and 2027.
[7:47] We will continue, to equip
our first responders
[7:50] with the best communication
systems, radios and technology.
[7:55] The following is a statement
[7:56] of determination of the Board
of County Canvassers
[8:00] relative to an election
held in the County of Monmouth
[8:03] on the fourth day of November
in the year of our Lord 2025.
[8:08] For the election
of a Commissioner
[8:10] of the Monmouth County Board
of County Commissioners
[8:13] for a full term
according to law.
[8:16] Dominic “Nick” DiRocco,
Republican,
[8:19] 150,430 votes.
[8:23] Jacqueline Wenzel, Democrat,
[8:25] 121,625 votes.
[8:30] The said board does determine
that at said election.
[8:34] Dominic “Nick” DiRocco
was duly elected as Commissioner
[8:38] of the Monmouth County
Board of County Canvassers. Mr.
[8:41] DiRocco, Commissioner
[8:42] DiRocco, please come forward
to be sworn into office.
[8:47] I Dominic “Nick” DiRocco,
I Dominic “Nick” DiRocco
[8:50] do solemnly swear.
[8:51] Do solemnly swear
that I will support
[8:53] the Constitution
of the United States,
[8:55] that I will support
the Constitution
[8:56] of the United States
[8:57] and the Constitution
of the State of New Jersey
[8:59] and the Constitution
of the State of New Jersey.
[9:01] That I will bear true faith,
[9:03] that I will bear true faith
and allegiance to the same,
[9:05] and allegiance to the same,
and to the government
[9:08] and to the governments
[9:09] established
in the United States,
[9:10] established
in the United States,
[9:12] and in this state
[9:13] and in the state
[9:14] under the authority
of the people,
[9:15] under
the authority of the people.
[9:17] And that I will faithfully
[9:18] and that I will faithfully,
impartially,
[9:19] impartially, and justly perform
and justly perform
[9:22] all the duties of all the duties
of the office of the office
[9:26] of County
[9:27] Commissioner, County
Commissioner,
[9:28] according
to the best of my ability,
[9:29] according
to the best of my ability.
[9:31] So help me God,
so help me God. Congratulations!
[9:34] I am truly honored and grateful
[9:36] to take the oath of office today
for another term
[9:38] on the Monmouth
County Board of Commissioners,
[9:40] and I know that I speak
for my fellow
[9:42] elected officials were assembled
here today on the dais.
[9:44] When I tell you
that we do not take
[9:46] our responsibilities
as public servants lightly,
[9:48] we are keenly aware of the trust
that our fellow citizens
[9:51] have placed in us
to manage their tax dollars
[9:54] and control
the levers of county government,
[9:57] and we also have a very deep
appreciation for the fact that
[10:00] the decisions we make as public
officials have a direct impact
[10:05] on the daily lives of our nearly
[10:06] 650,000 residents
across our great county.
[10:10] And it is for this reason
that we reorganize
[10:12] our government today
in a very public
[10:14] and formal proceeding,
because, in truth,
[10:16] we could simply sign our oaths
privately
[10:19] and dispense
with any formalities.
[10:20] But it's important we believe,
that we appear before you today
[10:24] and publicly, publicly commit
to everyone assembled
[10:26] and all the residents
across our county
[10:28] that the oath we take today
[10:30] have a meaning
and are of great importance.
[10:34] So today, as a
member of the elected, Monmouth
[10:36] County Board of Commissioners,
[10:38] I reaffirm my commitment
to serving each
[10:40] and every resident
of this county
[10:41] with fairness and compassion.
[10:44] And today, I rededicate myself
to continuing
[10:46] to build a government
for our over 600,000 residents.
[10:49] That is ethical, just,
and principled.
[10:53] And most importantly,
[10:54] today, I take this opportunity
to recommit myself
[10:58] to promoting and effectuating
all the values that we hold dear
[11:01] in Monmouth County responsible
and responsive government,
[11:05] prudent fiscal management,
[11:08] the delivery of high quality
services in a cost
[11:10] effective manner,
safe streets and neighborhoods,
[11:14] and respect for law enforcement.
[11:15] Our first responders
and our veterans.
[11:18] The following is a statement
of the determination
[11:20] of the Board
of County Canvassers
[11:22] relative to an election
held in the County of Monmouth,
[11:26] on the fourth day of November,
in the year of our Lord 2025
[11:30] for the election of a member.
[11:33] Excuse me for the election of
a Commissioner of the Monmouth
[11:36] County Board of County
Commissioners for a full term.
[11:40] According to law.
[11:41] Thomas A.
[11:42] Arnone
Republican, 154,697 votes.
[11:49] Vincent Colasurdo Democrat,
[11:51] 118,305 votes.
[11:56] The said board does determine
that at said election, Thomas A.
[12:00] Arnone, was duly elected as
a commissioner of the Monmouth
[12:04] County Board of County
Commissioners.
[12:07] Commissioner
Arnone please come forward
[12:09] to be sworn into office.
[12:11] I Thomas A. Arnone, I Thomas A.
[12:14] Arnone do solemnly swear.
[12:15] Do solemnly swear
that I will support
[12:17] the Constitution
of the United States, that
[12:19] I will support the Constitution
of the United States
[12:21] and the Constitution
of the State of New Jersey,
[12:23] and the Constitution
of the State of New Jersey.
[12:25] That I will bear true faith,
[12:27] that I will bear
true faith and allegiance
[12:29] to the same,
and allegiance to the same,
[12:30] and to the government
and to the government
[12:32] established
in the United States,
[12:34] established in the United States
[12:35] and in
this state and in this state.
[12:41] Under
the authority of the people,
[12:42] under
the authority of the people.
[12:44] And that I will faithfully
and that I will faithfully,
[12:47] impartially, impartially,
and justly perform
[12:50] and justly perform
all the duties of all the duties
[12:53] of office, of office of county
[12:55] commissioner, County
commissioner,
[12:56] according
to the best of my ability,
[12:58] according
to the best of my ability.
[12:59] So help me God,
so help me God. Congratulations.
[13:01] With that being said, we
[13:02] we implemented something
new the last few years,
[13:06] and what that was
was a state of the county
[13:09] because we have
so much information to convey.
[13:13] And we were on February 5th
at 8:30 in the morning
[13:16] at Harmony Hill.
[13:17] We will have a state
of the county
[13:19] where we detail everything
the Sheriff, our County Clerk,
[13:22] our Commissioners,
our Prosecutor, our Surrogate
[13:25] and all our department
heads will be able to.
[13:28] We can convey to everybody
in detail all the great things.
[13:33] We have to make sure
we grow smartly.
[13:35] Here in Monmouth
County. Growth is great.
[13:38] Growth is good.
[13:39] We're continuing to grow
our values are rising,
[13:43] but we got to make sure
we have smart growth.
[13:45] As we're doing
that, we're going to continue
[13:47] our infrastructure
improvements. Roads and bridges.
[13:52] But we're not going to do that
on the backs of the taxpayers.
[13:55] We're going to do that
[13:56] reaching out to get that funding
from other sources
[14:00] in the state of new Jersey,
whether it's the Dot,
[14:02] whether it's the new Jersey
Transportation Authority,
[14:06] we're going to work with our
our workforce.
[14:08] I know we got representatives
from our union trades here.
[14:11] I want to thank you for working
with us on a daily basis,
[14:14] making sure that you give us
a good workmanship,
[14:18] the reliable workmanship,
[14:20] and make sure that we can count
on a finished product.
[14:22] Thank you.
[14:24] I want to thank the residents
for Monmouth County
[14:27] for voting the Open Space Tax.
[14:31] Nobody wants to hear about a
tax, but this is a smart tax.
[14:36] And our
[14:37] towns voted
yes to continue to do that.
[14:41] So as the five of us sit there,
we make sure that we're going
[14:45] to preserve
the land of how Monmouth
[14:48] County was created
and we'll move forward.
[14:51] Over 800 acres were secured
[14:54] this past year,
with more to come.
[14:57] Now. Therefore, be it resolved
[14:59] by the Board of County
Commissioners
[15:01] of the County of Monmouth,
that Commissioner Thomas A.
[15:05] Arnone be and he is hereby
chosen and elected
[15:08] director of the Board of County
Commissioners
[15:11] of the County of Monmouth
for the year 2026.
[15:14] May I have a motion?
[15:16] I'll make a motion.
[15:18] I'll second.
[15:20] Commissioner Licitra.
[15:21] Absolutely. Commissioner. Kiley.
[15:24] Yes, Commissioner.
[15:25] DiRocco. Yes,
[15:27] Commissioner Anderson. Yes,
[15:30] Commissioner Arnone. Yes.
[15:33] Please come forward
and be sworn in as director.
[15:36] Whereas pursuant to N.J.S.A.
[15:39] 40:71, at each annual meeting,
the Board of County Commissioner
[15:43] shell select
one of its members to preside
[15:46] at any meeting
in case of the absence
[15:48] or temporary disability
of the director.
[15:51] And whereas the commissioners do
hereby elect Commissioner
[15:55] Dominic “Nick” DiRocco
to serve as Deputy Director
[15:58] for 2026, and now, therefore,
be it resolved
[16:03] by the Board of County
Commissioners
[16:04] of the County of Monmouth, that
Commissioner Dominic DiRocco
[16:08] be and is hereby
chosen and elected
[16:12] Deputy Director
of the Board of County
[16:14] Commissioners of Monmouth
County for the year 2026.
[16:17] May I have a motion?
[16:19] I offer that motion second.
[16:26] Commissioner.
[16:26] Licitra. Yes,
Commissioner. Kiley.
[16:30] Yes, Commissioner.
[16:31] DiRocco. Abstain.
[16:34] Really? Abstain.
[16:36] Come on. Tom voted for himself.
[16:38] Yes, I did, and,
[16:40] did you not vote for yourself
in the election?
[16:42] I wouldn't vote for me.
[16:46] Commissioner Anderson.
[16:47] No, no, I'm just joking.
[16:49] Yes, yes, yes,
[16:51] director or no?
[16:52] Absolutely.
[16:54] Please come forward
and be sworn in as deputy.
[16:58] And in closing, on
behalf of myself and the fellow,
[17:01] my fellow commissioners,
I want to thank everyone.
[17:04] I want to thank you for all that
you give us.
[17:07] The faith that you give us
in the course of the year.
[17:09] I want to thank Pastor
Vidal, Judge Lemieux
[17:13] and all the other team members
that come in to help us in this.
[17:17] Thank you. Tammy. Job well done.
[17:19] And for the rest of the staff,
[17:20] buildings and grounds
and everybody else
[17:22] that had a big,
vital part of this.
[17:24] I want to thank everyone.
[17:26] In today's workforce,
competition is fierce.
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earn a credential that sets you
[17:32] apart and brings you closer to
your goals at Brookdale,
[17:35] we offer a variety of short
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in a wide range of fields
[17:39] from social media
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[17:44] We help you get trained,
get certified, and get ahead.
[17:48] This is Brookdale.
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[18:24] Welcome to the
[18:25] Veterans Corner
segment of Monmouth in Focus,
[18:28] a program about the services
and functions of Monmouth
[18:32] County government.
[18:33] I'm Sue Kiley, Deputy Director
of the Monmouth County Board
[18:37] of County Commissioners
and liaison to the Division
[18:41] of Aging, Disabilities
and Veterans Services.
[18:45] Today, we will meet U.S.
[18:47] Army Vietnam War veteran
Joe Casey.
[18:51] Welcome, Joe.
[18:53] I'm anxious to talk to you
and thank you for your service.
[18:56] Good to see you.
I have lots of questions.
[18:58] You were in West Point? Yes.
[19:01] And that's how you got involved
in the military.
[19:04] For sure.
[19:04] Tell me. Tell me a little bit
about that experience.
[19:06] What was it like at West Point?
[19:08] Well, you know,
I was a 17.5 year old boy.
[19:12] Yeah.
[19:13] And then four years later,
I became a man and an officer
[19:18] and, a soldier,
with a lot of maturity.
[19:23] And I was fortunate
at West Point
[19:24] to build a cadre of friends
that I've maintained throughout
[19:28] life. That's great.
[19:29] Did you feel like you were ready
when you graduated?
[19:32] Oh, absolutely.
[19:33] Did you really?
[19:34] Absolutely. So I'm guessing...
[19:35] Four years at West Point's
plenty.
[19:37] I was just gonna say
they must have put you
[19:39] through
some pretty rigorous training.
[19:40] The first month was crazy.
[19:43] They call it beast barracks
for a good reason.
[19:46] They treat you like a beast.
[19:47] Oh, and they wanted me
out of the Corps Cadets.
[19:50] And they did their best
to get me to quit.
[19:52] But I wouldn't quit.
Good for you.
[19:54] You remind me of that movie.
[19:55] Which movie is that?
[19:57] It's the one where, Tom cruise
says he's, he's not going to,
[20:00] you know...Tom
[20:01] Cruise and I have very little
other than that in common.
[20:06] So you
[20:06] reported
for duty in Alaska first
[20:09] and then volunteered
to serve in the Vietnam War?
[20:13] Yeah, it's
kind of a strange situation.
[20:16] I graduated June 7th, 1967,
[20:20] and after Ranger school
and, infantry officers basic,
[20:25] I went up to Fairbanks, Alaska,
[20:27] which is in northern
interior of Alaska,
[20:30] and it's the northern Warfare
School up there.
[20:35] And we were, commissioned
to make sure
[20:38] the Russians weren’t coming
across the Bering Strait.
[20:41] They didn't do it
when I was there.
[20:43] But it gets to be about 70
below zero.
[20:46] So extreme cold.
[20:48] But as I was there,
you read the Army Times
[20:50] and you see your classmates
being wounded
[20:52] or killed in action.
[20:54] And I knew my day would come
soon.
[20:56] And I had just been married.
[20:59] The woman I am still married
to, 56 years
[21:01] later, three children later,
seven grandchildren later.
[21:04] We have a great legacy.
[21:06] And, she understood I needed
to serve and move that forward.
[21:11] And I was fortunate
[21:12] to have a General on post
who got me into Special Forces.
[21:16] Wow. So.
[21:17] That's,
it's frightening to think about
[21:20] just because that going to war
is frightening
[21:23] to think about in and of itself.
[21:25] Yeah, but you're prepared,
through West Point and Ranger
[21:29] School and Airborne school.
[21:32] Okay.
[21:32] They set your mind right. Great.
[21:35] So, what, did you have specific
[21:38] responsibilities over the time
you were, in Vietnam? Yes.
[21:42] When I landed in Vietnam,
in Tan Son Nhut Air Base.
[21:47] It was the day
they were landing on the moon.
[21:50] So that was July 20th, 1969.
[21:54] And as Apollo 11 was landing,
I was landing in Vietnam.
[22:00] They had a little,
[22:01] more important mission
[22:02] than my end, but
[22:03] when I got on the ground there
and they had me take over
[22:06] what's called a mobile advisory
team, okay,
[22:09] which was a five man team
that worked with the regional,
[22:13] popular force
units of the Vietnam militia.
[22:16] And, so I worked directly
with the Vietnamese.
[22:20] Wow. I just,
what an amazing experience.
[22:23] You know, it's, I don't know if
amazing is the right word, but.
[22:26] Well,
I felt my service was very,
[22:30] resource resourceful
and useful in the sense
[22:34] that I worked
with the Vietnamese on medical
[22:37] situations, providing
medical needs, agriculture,
[22:43] local economy,
and everybody just thinks that
[22:47] everybody who served in Vietnam
was in combat all the time.
[22:51] Combat was probably 5%.
[22:55] Really? Yeah.
[22:56] It's rare
[22:56] that you get into a firefight
and those type of things,
[23:00] at least in the units
that I was with the Vietnamese
[23:03] at that point, the popular force
and regional force units
[23:07] were to defend the hamlets
and villages, some local people.
[23:12] And that was part
of the pacification project
[23:15] that, was evolving
at that point in Vietnam.
[23:21] Great.
[23:22] I want to move to
a different subject.
[23:24] I want to ask you about,
[23:26] whether or not
you have any experience
[23:28] with Monmouth County’s
services for veterans,
[23:32] and if so, you know,
what's your feedback?
[23:34] What do you think?
Are we doing a good job?
[23:37] Is there such a thing
as a five star rating?
[23:40] Like a michelin rating like
you would give a restaurant?
[23:44] I would give it five stars,
plus I'd give it two thumbs up.
[23:47] Wow. I was fortunate that,
in October of 2023,
[23:54] I had tried -
[23:55] and I'm relatively intelligent,
but not technically sound
[23:58] - to try to do my VA disability
compensation online.
[24:04] Okay.
[24:04] And I don't have much hair
now, but I had a little
[24:08] more hair back then
because I was pulling it out
[24:11] and I called the offices there
and they assigned me.
[24:16] And can I mention
his name? Sure.
[24:18] His name is Kenneth Frenzel,
[24:21] and he has been so valuable
to me and my family because
[24:26] he's taken me step by step
through the application process.
[24:30] And he's been what's called
a Veteran Service Officer.
[24:34] Right.
[24:35] And if there's veterans out
there
[24:36] that don't have a VSO,
get yourself a VSO
[24:40] if you're interested in claiming
[24:42] some kind of disability
benefits.
[24:44] We get, great feedback on Ken.
[24:47] You know, he's amazing.
He loves his job.
[24:49] So it's thrilling to hear
somebody
[24:51] that received the service agree.
[24:53] He's a professional.
[24:55] Yeah. He's he's
just a great guy right there.
[24:59] Just another question
[25:00] about, going forward
when you got home,
[25:03] what was your initial experience
about being home
[25:07] and I want to ask you
about advice that you would give
[25:10] to other some young men
that are getting in the military
[25:13] today, based on your experience.
[25:15] Getting in the military?
[25:16] Yeah. Well,
you know, being in the military.
[25:18] Yes.
[25:20] I grew up in Trenton,
New Jersey,
[25:21] and I know a lot of people
when they came home
[25:25] from Vietnam, they were,
[25:28] not not appreciated.
[25:33] Right.
[25:34] And some even had, words
[25:37] and, items thrown at them
and all the rest.
[25:40] So that was never my situation.
[25:43] Thank God.
[25:44] I came home to people
in a working class,
[25:48] blue collar neighborhood
that considered me a hero.
[25:52] Actually, not that I was a hero,
but I was glad to come home.
[25:57] And I had done my service
for my country
[26:00] and for these people
that like myself, like
[26:02] the fellow, fellows
that you had on here,
[26:06] you put your life on the line
for your country
[26:08] because you believe
in your country
[26:10] and you believe in the things
that you can do here
[26:15] freedom of religion,
freedom of choice of the person
[26:19] you want to live
the rest of your life with,
[26:21] freedom of education, freedom of
religion, so on, so forth.
[26:25] So all those freedoms you fight
for and they don't come easily.
[26:29] God that's great.
[26:30] I don't know who you think you
are, but I think you're a hero.
[26:35] Well, I appreciate that.
[26:37] I really do.
[26:38] I mean, I,
I think it's a huge commitment
[26:41] to want to serve your country
that way.
[26:43] You know, it's
not an easy thought.
[26:45] And,
[26:47] I just
[26:47] I really think you're a true
[26:48] hero for being willing to do it
in the first place.
[26:51] It's really terrific.
I appreciate it.
[26:53] I came home,
so I was one of the lucky ones,
[26:55] 30 of my classmates
did not come home.
[26:57] Oh, that's a shame.
[26:59] Oh that's sad.
[26:59] Yeah, out of the class of 580,
30 did not come home.
[27:03] Oh, man.
[27:04] Young,
young wives, young children.
[27:07] And didn’t enjoy
the things that I'm enjoying.
[27:10] Being married,
raising a family, having a job.
[27:13] Watching your grandchildren.
[27:15] Yeah. It's
the ultimate sacrifice.
[27:18] Absolutely.
[27:18] I thank you so much
for being here.
[27:21] I really appreciated
talking to you.
[27:23] Unfortunately, I think that's
all the time we have for today.
[27:26] So we will be on next time.
[27:28] And I really appreciate
you giving us your information.
[27:31] Very nice being with you.
Nice to meet you too.
[27:32] Thank you for
inviting me. Oh my pleasure.