Bo Foley served in Vietnam as a first lieutenant with a five-man counterinsurgency team in 1970 and 1971.
Foley, now 77, of Montclair, has been attending the township’s Veterans Day Tribute held at Edgemont Memorial Park on Monday for the past 15 years. He entered the military through the ROTC program.
“I signed an oath upon graduation that I would serve and protect the United States of America,” Foley told Montclair Local. “I had an obligation to honor that contract and did so.”
Military service has been a tradition in his family. His father fought in World War II and his brother-in-law was a Coast Guard Veteran. Since his return home from war, Foley said, he has seen improved service to those who served.
Improved Support
“Generally, the communities and the U.S. have tried to become more supportive of their veterans, and their efforts,” he said. “The V.A., which wasn’t so strong back in the early 70s, over the last 10 years, has stepped up.”
At the annual ceremony, support for veterans came in the form of speeches, music and prayer at Edgemont Park, where several dozen residents gathered. While the nation and world seem more divided than ever, Mayor Renee Baskerville said, the military stands in contrast.
‘Best of Montclair’
“The United States Armed Services stands as a reminder and a model of how shared values, like democracy, freedom, justice patriotism, the constitution of these United States of America, civic virtue and service can bring disparate people together, Baskerville told attendees.
“Veterans represent the best of Montclair and the best of America. They are talented, unflappable with courage, selfless and unshakably devoted.”
Crawford Crews American Legion Post 251 Chaplain John Taylor, a lifelong Montclair resident, served in the Marine Corp from 1976 to 1980 as a military police officer. Taylor recalled he was tasked with arresting deserters just after the Vietnam War.
“I had to lock up a lot of people and they would say, ‘Oh, you didn’t fight in the war. How you going to bring us back?’” Taylor said at the ceremony.
“Our government, we fought for a place and then we gave it back, and a lot of them lost their lives doing these things and I thought it was not right,” he said.
Taylor did his duty, even as he sympathized with soldiers, who told of their losses during the fighting.
The event at Edgemont Park included the firing of the salute from the Montclair Police Honor Guard, the retiring of Colors from the Montclair Community Band and entertainment by Downtown Montclair at the World War I memorial, which includes an obelisk with bronze sculptures of Winged Victory.
Honoring a Hero
For Allison Sargent, a lifelong township resident, the ceremony held personal significance. Sargent’s father, Robert F. Hague, earned two Purple Hearts serving in World War II.
A bombardier with the 15th Air Force, Hague survived being shot down over Yugoslavia and again after being shot down over Italy. Hague died in 2014. Sargent recent recently retraced her father’s steps in Yugoslavia.
“It brings a whole new meaning to Veterans Day and the people that served,” Sargent said. “It was really lifechanging to do that, to do that walk into the mountains.”
Email reporter Matt Kadosh at matt@montclairlocal.news
Note: This article was updated to correct a quote by Mayor Renee Baskerville.
