News
Red Bank Reg. Remembers Student Who Died In Iraq
By John Burton
LITTLE SILVER - Brian Connelly from Union Beach was just 26 when, in February while serving in the United States Army, he paid the highest price those on the frontlines can pay.
The Red Bank Regional High School graduate was killed last February as a result of wounds he suffered while serving in Iraq.
On Memorial Day, members of the RBR community gathered to honor his sacrifice and that of others from the Red Bank area who died in the service of their country.
Three years ago, the school erected a monument engraved with the names of former students who lost their lives while serving in the military.
"There are no words to describe how we feel about the names on that monument," said James Stefankiewicz, the school's principal.
The current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are hitting home for the student population, he said. It "is not something read about in [a] history book," but is seen on TV daily and is often brought home by friends and family members in the military, Stefankiewicz noted. That became even more relevant with the death of Connelly this past winter. "Brian walked these halls," Stefankiewicz said. "And for our students that's a powerful reminder that life is precious."
Connelly graduated from the high school in 2000, as a student with the school's technology academy, and went on to attend Brookdale Community College. In 2006 he enlisted in the Army and in Jan. 2007 he joined the 40th Engineer Battalion, headquartered in Germany.
According to the U.S. Department of Defense, while deployed as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Connelly was killed in Adhamiya, from wounds he suffered when his vehicle was struck by an explosive device.
At the time, Connelly was assigned to his battalion's Task Force 1-6, 2nd Brigade Team, 1st Armored Division.
Starting this June, Red Bank Regional will award an annual scholarship to the outstanding student in the technology academy in memory of Connelly. "He took that passion for technology with him in service to his country," Stefankiewicz said.
"Brian didn't just serve honorably, but above and beyond the call of duty," offered Paul Sniffen, who is a member of the Red Bank Veterans organization, as Union Beach Mayor Paul J. Smith Jr. and members of Connelly's family, including his mother, Jean Dammann, looked on silently.
Kevin Henry, Toms River, never met Connelly, and knew about him only from a newspaper article. But Henry and his wife, Priscilla, traveled to Little Silver for Monday's ceremony.
The Henrys also are donating $1,000 as seed money to establish a scholarship fund to be named in honor of Connelly.
Kevin Henry was serving as a machine gunner in Vietnam in 1967 when he was wounded. It was Medic Joe Minor Thomas who ran across the rice paddies to rescue and treat Henry, the veteran remembered.
Some months later Thomas was killed. Henry said he later sought out Thomas's hometown and high school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Henry helped established a scholarship there in Thomas's memory.
In Feb. 2007, the Henrys did the same thing for Corporal Thomas Saba, Toms River, the son of family friends who was killed in action in Iraq.
"I just worry that over the years, when family are gone, that these people will be forgotten," Henry explained.
"This will keep their names alive," and maybe, he continued, the students who get the small amount of scholarship money, will be able to, "make the country better, make New Jersey better."
