Fanwood World War II Veterans
Borough of Fanwood
It is a club with a shrinking membership but Fanwood is proud of its World War II veterans and honored them during this year’s Memorial Day ceremony.
“Our town has a proud heritage of residents who have served in the military and, in many cases, given their lives,” said Mayor Colleen Mahr. “There are currently four vets we know of who served during World War II and still live here after serving their country and raising their families. I love what they represent to our town. We salute them and pay tribute to them.”
Both Fanwood and Scotch Plains honor local veterans on an ongoing basis with Hometown Heroes banners that hang along our main streets with each vet’s name, service record and photo. The project is sponsored by St. Bart’s and American Legion Post 209 including Master Sergeant Oshanda Erb, a Fanwood resident who has been on active duty with the U.S. Air Force for the past 23 years.
The four living World War II veterans known to currently live in Fanwood are:
Dante Mariani, 97
U.S. Army, Private First Class, 67th Signal Battalion
Dante served from 1942-45 in France. He and his wife Betty have been married for 67 years, the same amount of time they’ve lived in Fanwood. They have four children and a total of 18 grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Joe Nagy, 98,
U.S. Army, 78th Infantry Field Artillery Battalion, retired as a Major after serving 20 more years after the war.
Joe served in Japan and, as a 2nd Lieutenant, had the sad duty of visiting the city of Hiroshima after the atomic bomb was dropped to see if it could be rehabilitated. During that October 1945 assignment, he found a small saki jug in a pile of rubble which he still has today. Joe has been married to Claire for 72 years. They have three children, three grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Joe has been Fanwood’s unofficial historian and served on the board of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Scholarship Foundation and has been involved in many other volunteer pursuits.
Earl Phillips, 99
U.S. Navy, Petty Officer 2nd Class
Earl served on the USS Thomas Jefferson. But on D-Day, he was assigned to an ATR class rescue tug, possibly the USS ATR-2. Earl has been married to Peggy for many years. Earl became a Fanwood police officer after the war and is the last surviving founding member of the Fanwood Rescue Squad. He also served for many years on the Fanwood Shade Tree Commission.
Joe Schott, 99
U.S. Navy, Radio Technician
Joe enlisted in October 1942 and served in Londonderry, Northern Ireland for a year and a half, then shipped back to the U.S. He and wife Nancy moved to Fanwood in 1954. They have five children. Joe was active with the Boy Scouts for years in leadership roles and was an active volunteer at many Fanwood organizations including the Fanwood Environmental Commission, the Fanwood Recycling Association and restoring the Carriage House and three old horse-drawn sleighs.
Howard Ruden, 94
U.S. Navy Corpsman (Medic)
Howard Ruden of Fanwood enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he was 17 and served from 1945-1947 as a corpsman. After the war, he went on to attend Brooklyn College and worked as a purchasing agent at an automobile truck and bus company until his retirement at age 72.
Photos by Tom Kranz and Colleen Mahr
