veteran’s memorial was ignited after September 11, 2001, right at the “front end of the Global War on Terror,” explains Uhrmann. By January 2004, her concept was being planned.

At the same time, her son, Mt. Olive High School student Eric Wood, was working on his Eagle Scout project to build a flag-burning unit with a vault for ashes and a 30 ft. flagpole.

For years prior, the community would gather for Memorial Day on busy Route 46, at the town beach, where the 1968 Mt. Olive War Monument stood in front of the Casino building that served as the former municipal building/ police station for 60+ years, according to Mt. Olive Twp. Historian Cecelia Thea Dunkle. But after the building was leveled and the Memorial Day parade route and ceremony—planned annually by Bill and Linda Sohl— changed, police protection for residents crossing the busy highway became concerning.

AVM & Rolling Thunder Partner To Honor POW’s and MIA Soldiers