News-Info-Alerts

Re: Monument to POW-MIA

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: November 22, 2003

"Monument to hero planned in Chester
By CLAIRE KNAPP , Staff Writer

CHESTER - Larry Maysey was only 20 on Nov. 9, 1967, when he died after his Army helicopter crashed in a Laotion jungle while trying to rescue a team of special forces troops.

Now, 36 years later, Maysey's Chester childhood friends hope to build a monument to their fallen friend and other people from Chester who died during war.

In April 2002, Marc Dean, a 1965 graduate of West Morris Central High School, visited with his longtime friend Terry Arentowicz, who had graduated in 1966. While reminiscing about old times, the name of their mutual childhood buddy, Maysey, came up and they wondered why the hero's name had not been memorialized.

"We decided it was something we should do," Dean said on Nov. 14.

Putting together a group of West Morris Central High School graduates from the years 1963 to 1975, Dean took charge and led the effort to memorialize all of Chester's war veterans, past and present.

Memorial Park

They hope the veterans' monument will be built on a small island of land known as Memorial Park next to the fire house on Main Street. It will include a 15 foot, slightly curved, block wall that will be faced with black granite inscribed with the names of war veterans who called Chester home throughout most, if not all, of their childhood.

Centered in front of the curved wall and elevated on a two to three foot tall granite stand, will be a seven-foot tall soldier made of bronze, portrayed in a uniform similar to one Maysey would have worn. The statue will have one hand outstretched to passersby.

The existing smaller veteran memorial on the site will be relocated next to the new memorial.

The driving force behind the veterans' memorial are the memories still held by friends of a young Air Force man who died in one of the nation's most controversial conflicts.

Maysey was only 20 when his "Jolly Green Giant" Combat Rescue Helicopter, known as Jolly Green 26, was brought down by heavy ground fire while on a mission to rescue five members of a Special Forces road-watch reconnaissance team along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos.

"You know all the guys that went to Viet Nam are heroes," said Dean. "But what made Larry so special is he volunteered to go and to do a job from which he would probably not come back."

Maysey enlisted in the Air Force after graduating from high school in 1965 and worked hard to become a member of the 37th Aerospace Search and Recovery Squadron (ARRS).

"It was an elite rescue unit," said Dean. "The members were trained as medics, infantry, parachuting, machine guns, and a multitude of other skills. Larry's main job was as a rescue specialist."

When Maysey's helicopter was shot down, he and four other rescue team members were lost. Only the pilot, Gerald O. Young, and three indigenous personnel with the Special Forces team were rescued. Young was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

For his part, Maysey was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the Air Force Cross, National Defense, and Republic of Vietnam Service. His parents, Charles and Charlotte Massey, were also given the POW/MIA Commemorative Medal at a special ceremony at McGuire Air Force Base shortly after his death.

Maysey was an only child and his parents have since died. His aunt and uncle, Fritz and Julie Robinson, who still live in Chester, still cherish the medals and memorabilia of their nephew who was a homegrown hero.

Maysey's friends are now compiling a list of veterans whose names will be inscribed on the memorial. Anyone schooled in Chester, or who departed for military service while a Chester resident, is eligible to have his or her name inscribed. They do not have to reside in Chester now.

"We would appreciate any research someone may have available," said Dean.

Dean can be reached at (908) 835-0623, and Arentowicz, who is serving as secretary of the memorial group, can be reached by calling (973) 584-2903.

To fund construction of the memorial, Maysey's friends have begun seeking contributions to meet the estimated cost of $200,000.

Tax-exempt donations can be mailed to the Larry Massey Veterans' Memorial at P. O. Box 823, Chester, N.J.07930.

©Recorder Newspapers 2003 "