A crowd of more than 1,000 gathered at the Wall Township Police Headquarters on Veterans Day to honor Maj. Gen. Harry J. Rockafeller II, a resident of New Jersey for his entire life and a former commander of the 78th Division, United States Army Reserve.
The efforts of a dedicated group of supporters from the Wall Township PBA Civic Association led to the commissioning of a nine-foot bronze statue of Rockafeller, which commemorated his life of service. The statue depicts Rockafeller standing with clenched fists and an M1 helmet, field jacket, pistol belt, and muddy boots during the Battle of the Bulge, one of the most infamous battles of World War II.
Rockafeller graduated from Rutgers University, earning his commission through the university’s ROTC program. He was then assigned to the 4th Armored Division in 1941. Rockafeller retired from the U.S. Army Reserve in 1974 as the commander of the 78th Division.
Rockafeller’s friends and family members attended the dedication ceremony while a current Soldiers from the 78th Training Division presented the nations’ colors.
The 78th Training Division provides realistic sustainment and combined arms training, focused on developing leaders and unit combatant commands, in addition to planning, coordinating and executing pre-mobilization collective training for Reserve Component units up through brigade level.
| Date Taken: | 11.11.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 11.20.2018 21:00 |
| Story ID: | 300798 |
| Location: | WALL TOWNSHIP, NJ, US |
| Web Views: | 87 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Former commander honored with a statue dedication on Veterans Day, by SSG Nicole Dykstra, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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