Vietnam War vet is parade grand marshal

Vietnam War veteran Carmen Turrisi Jr. was named the grand marshal of the Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 27 in Newton.

However, the parade was canceled because of rain.

It also was scheduled to honor World War II veteran Cornelius ‘Neal’ Faber, 99, who was unable to attend because of his health.

A flag that was flown over the Capitol in Washington on May 18 will be presented to Faber during a ceremony at Bristol Glen in Newton, where he lives.

Turrisi was born March 29, 1947, in Newark and raised in Passaic. He graduated from Passaic High School in 1965 and was drafted a year later, when he was 19. He is the third generation of his family to serve in the military.

Turrisi served in the 9th Infantry Division of the Army’s 47th Infantry Regiment. The division was formed during World War I but was never deployed. It became an important unit of the Army during World War II and the Vietnam War and was nicknamed “Old Reliables.”

After Turrisi completed his basic and infantry training at Fort Riley in Kansas, he was given a 30-day leave. After his leave, he reported to the Oakland Army Base in California, then was sent to Vietnam on a WWII troop carrier. The trip took 30 days.

The 9th Infantry was the second major division to be deployed to Vietnam. The living quarters on the carrier were very cramped, Turrisi recalled.

Once they arrived in South Vietnam, the soldiers had to climb down from the carrier on rope ladders, as the soldiers did during WWII. The base camp for the 9th Infantry was near Saigon.

On March 19, 1967, Turrisi’s unit was near the village of Bau Bang when it came under heavy mortar fire. He was wounded in the neck by shrapnel and was airlifted to a hospital. After surgery, he was sent back to his unit.

He was a track driver who drove on top of armored personnel carriers. He was second in line of a convoy when the lead track hit a land mine and the driver was seriously wounded. A sergeant who was in the turret was killed.

Turrisi spent 11 months in Vietnam. He was discharged June 1968 and was flown to Oakland Army Base. He then took a red-eye flight home to New York.

He hadn’t told anyone he was coming home. “I just wanted to get home,” he said.

He remembers his mother hugging and squeezing him when he arrived home. Within hours, the house was filled with family members welcoming him home.

After his service, Turrisi was hired by UPS as a driver.

He married his wife, Catherine, on Oct. 30, 1971. They have been married for 53 years.

The East Hanover residents have three children and three grandchildren.

Turrisi retired after 32 years as a UPS driver.

After his father-in-law died, the funeral director, whom he knew, asked him to work as a pallbearer, then as a funeral assistant. He worked there for 20 years until last October.

Turrisi enjoys collecting Lionel trains and Department 56 Christmas in the City houses, which he puts up every year.

Suffering from PTSD

It was many years before he was able to talk about his experiences during the Vietnam War. He did not tell his children that he was a combat soldier until many years later.

Turrisi has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because of his time in combat. He recently was awarded 100 percent permanent disability for PTSD from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Vietnam veterans were not properly recognized for their service when they got home, Turrisi said. He would like people to say “Welcome home, son” if they see a Vietnam veteran.

His granddaughter lives in Green Township and he attends the Veterans Day program at her school every year. At that event last year, he met Harry Kaplan, past commander of American Legion Lt. Charles A. Meyer Post 86.

Kaplan learned that Turrisi was awarded a Purple Heart for his service during the Vietnam War, then asked him to be the grand marshal of Newton’s Memorial Day Parade.

On Tuesday, May 21, Turrisi said he would be happy to do it. “This is the first time I have ever thought of doing something like this; I usually keep it to myself,” he said.

Kaplan said Turrisi deserves the honor.

Kaplan also is a veteran, and he helped revive the Memorial Day Parade in Newton after it was not held for a few years. For the past 20 years, he has been in charge of finding a grand marshal and helping run the parade.

“I do it for the youth so they can see the reason to have a parade,” he explained.

WWII veteran

Cornelius ‘Neal’ Faber was born Aug. 11, 1924, in Clifton.

When he was 10, he visited his grandparents’ farm in Sussex County. He liked it so much that with his parents’ permission, he stayed at the farm. He learned to tend the cows and horses, then worked in the field with a team of horses.

At age 17, Faber moved to Paterson and worked as a truck driver, among other jobs.

He enjoyed roller skating at the Paterson Recreation Center, which is where he met his wife, Norma Woodward.

Faber enlisted in the Navy at the beginning of World War II when he was 18 years old. After boot camp, he became a gunner’s mate third class on multiple Liberty ships. The ship’s crew sank a German U-boat.

When Faber was on leave, he married Woodward on Oct. 20, 1943. The couple had five children, 12 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

After 70 years of marriage, she passed away Jan. 23, 2021.

Faber was honorably discharged Dec. 17, 1945, and began a career as an apprentice carpenter with his uncle. He then started his own construction company.

He always wanted to own a roller-skating rink so he built the Hampton Roller Rink when he was 50 years old. Along with taking part in national and state roller-skating competitions, Faber enjoys hunting, boating, fishing and camping.

He has been a member of the Sussex United Methodist Church for more than 50 years. He is also a member of the Sussex American Legion Lt. Charles Auberger Post 213.