A flag that flew over the White House is presented to Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander George Breslin by lawyer Louis Wallisch Jr. to be flown at the post, 196 Lincoln Ave., in the 1950s. From left are Charles Andrews, Nancy Mays, Breslin, Wallisch and Councilman Joe Bender, post founder. (File photo by Ann Genader)
After World War II and the Korean War, many veterans wanted to maintain the camaraderie forged in combat, even though their postwar circumstances varied a great deal.
Some people found that belonging to established veterans organizations helped them find their back to civilian life.
Members of the Bunting/Richards/Bender family were leaders in making this happen in West Milford. Sam Bunting and his son-in-law Gene Richards founded the Frank M. Sell American Legion Post 289, honoring a sailor who died in the Pacific on the destroyer Juneau when it was sunk by a Japanese torpedo.
Joe Bender founded Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7198. He was in Korea before war was declared there. His March 1948 honorable discharge document identified him as a “Technician Fifth Grade U.S. Army.”
The post recently moved into the former ambulance building in Upper Greenwood Lake, its third substantial home with several additional temporary meeting places used along the way.
The post’s first location was the former St. Catherine Church building at 196 Lincoln Ave. That building now houses Treasures Thrift Store, which supports victims of domestic violence.
It was built as a mission church for the St. Catherine congregation, established by the Franciscan Religious Order of the Roman Catholic faith in 1945. The congregation outgrew the little church and in 1950 the building now known as Our Lady Queen of Peace Church was built at a cost of $90,000.
The Rev. Thomas Burke, OFM, officiated at the first service there Dec. 17, 1950. In 1951, the name of the congregation was changed from St. Catherine to Our Lady Queen of Peace.
With the Lincoln Avenue building no longer needed, it was sold and became the headquarters of VFW Post 7198.
Bender’s memories
One of the people still around from that time is Brad Bender, a native and former Awosting resident who moved to Vermont, where he said he has lived “peacefully” since population increases changed the country type West Milford community he knew.
There is no one living today who can better tell relate the history of VFW Post 7198 than Brad, whose father was Post Commander Joseph “Joe” Bender. His wife, Sam Bunting’s daughter Marilyn, was active in the Ladies Auxiliary.
Joe also was an elected member of the West Milford Township Committee.
“The post and Ladies Auxiliary were very active when they had the old Catholic Church building on Lincoln Avenue,” Brad said. “There was Mathilda Gomm, Marjorie Parr and Tess DuBose, who served as treasurer for the ladies’ group of VFW Post 7198. Nancy Mays and her husband, Earle, come to mind; also, Frank and Helen Mallero who lived on Tintle Avenue.
“Major Andrews, short in stature, was a daily visitor at Bunting’s Sunoco, the gas station at the corner of Union Valley, Lakeside Road and Greenwood Lake Turnpike. The station was a local hangout, much like the general stores of days gone by.”
Brad was the grandson of Sam Bunting, who owned the station. He recalled that Andrews was constantly jiggling the coins in his pocket - presumably a nervous habit.
Walter Schneider and John Wallisch were post members as was Ed Shinol, who operated Sleepy Hollow Tavern on Greenwood Lake Turnpike and served as commander of VFW Post 7198 for many years.
“There was a man whose nickname was Hip Hip because he suffered from a military service-related injury to his hips.”
Richie Gomm and Patrick Watson, who had recently returned from Vietnam, were members of VFW Post 7198 as well as Sam Bunting (Brad’s grandfather), who served in the U.S. Army in France during World War I.
“Commander George Breslin, always proud and outstanding at town-wide memorial events cannot be forgotten.“
Veterans events
Not only were there Memorial Day Parades, which happened after ceremonies at the monument next to the town hall, but services on Nov. 11, when the day was still known as Armistice Day, Brad recalled.
“Before the existing monument at Veterans Park was built, there was a large stone pillar with bronze plaques on the sides which stood in front of the old town hall (now the West Milford Museum). I am not sure if those plaques were relocated to the new monument. (They may be in the hall behind the meeting room at town hall.)
“The maple trees surrounding the monument were planted by the veterans to honor the men who fell in battle. I remember when they were planted, and today, they are very tall trees. Each had a plaque at the base with the name of the person remembered.”
Several trees were removed because of age or other problems.
Brad remembers that the Ladies Auxiliary organized dances. “I particularly remember Valentine’s Day being a very special event. I remember cousin Mark Richards and myself being paid a small amount of money to clean the hall the following day - emptying ashtrays and half-empty beer glasses and washing them as well as sweeping and scrubbing the floor and cleaning the bathrooms.
“My favorite thing as a child was the annual Halloween Party that they held. Tess DuBoise was at the door selling tickets and wearing one of those little black masquerade masks saying, Boo. She would take off the mask and giggle, but we would laugh even harder because we knew who she was by the sound of her voice, ample figure and bowed legs.
“There was a maze-like configuration of tables draped with cloth on the floor down the center of the room and the children would line up. The lights dimmed and we children had to crawl through while adults on the outside scared us with things like skeletons on sticks that slid through the seams in the cloths as they shined flashlights covered with cellophane though the openings. There were also fake spider webs on the cave-like tunnel and adults wound bang the tabletops, so it sounded like thunder.
“Another game was blindfolding us children and seating us in a circle while bowls of various concoctions were passed around for us to put our hands in and touch. We were told that the peeled grapes were eyeballs, cold spaghetti was brains, Jello was someone’s liver and so forth. Of course, there was plenty of candy, so the kids were all hyped up on a sugar high.”
The old church building was expensive to maintain and VFW membership fell in the late 1960s so the post moved into an empty storefront on Greenwood Lake Turnpike next to Sleepy Hollow Tavern for a few years.
When BPO Elks Lodge 2236 purchased the Nick Kenny estate, the VFW post members more or less merged with the Elks and met in the old Kenny house until it was razed and the current Elks building was constructed, Brad said.
“My father organized various events for the disabled veterans in the veterans hospitals down in Orange. He brought in bands, speakers, dinners and more and sometimes arranged short bus trips for the veterans to visit nearby historic places. Dick Nobis was also active with these activities.
“I am sure that I am not remembering all the fine patriotic men and women who made these events possible, and I apologize for any omissions.”
Daniel Garceau was a member of VFW Post 7198 in the late 1980s. He now lives in Danby, Vt., the same town as Brad.
To contact Ann Genader, send email to anngenader@gmail.com