By William Sokolic
Atlantic County ranks 9th out of 21 New Jersey counties in the percentage of residents who are veterans. According to Stacker.com, 5.5 percent of the county population, or 11,470, are veterans, many with service in one of the last five conflicts beginning with World War II. Considering the county is 15th in overall population, Atlantic County should be proud of its record. The county is also one of the few in New Jersey with a military museum devoted to veterans of all wars.
The Atlantic County Veterans Museum opened in 2017 in Mays Landing, adjacent to the Atlantic County Veterans Cemetery.
The museum is a first in Atlantic County, said Michael Fedorko, Atlantic County Veterans Museum Foundation President. “The museum covers all military battles starting with the revolution up to and including the conflicts in the middle east in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is important to honor our veterans. It is said that 1 percent of the citizens in America join the military. As it is said, ‘all gave some, some gave all.’. Our military is what has kept this country safe.”
The museum will be open for self-guided tours on Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The museum is also open every Saturday, along with Thursday and Friday during the same hours. “If Veterans Day fell on any other day, we would have opened on that day, as well,” said Kimberly Brown, Administrator for the Atlantic County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, which oversees the museum.
In 2013, County Executive Dennis Levinson appointed former County Executive Richard E. Squires to serve as chairman of the Veterans Museum Committee that included veterans, historians and community members to assist with gathering, researching and accessioning artifacts and materials for the museum. The committee received cooperation from the Atlantic County Veterans Museum Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, to provide fund-raising to support the creation of exhibits, displays and the preservation of museum items.
“The Atlantic County Veterans Museum is intended to serve as a lasting tribute to our veterans and their families,” Levinson said. “Through the collection of military artifacts and personal memorabilia we will share the contributions of Atlantic County residents to our nation’s history. We welcome those from near and far to take advantage of this historic and educational resource.”
Fedorko, who served during Vietnam as part of six years in the service, said the museum is not just about history, as important as it is.
“At this time, the world is in a very difficult and tense situation, with China looking to take back Taiwan, the war in the Ukraine with Russia and now the Israel War. We are inching closer every day to the beginning of World War III. I often think of 1914, when Europe was in a very tense situation as the world is now and the assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary started World War I. Militants from the mideast countries are here now and have crossed at the southern borders so that we could have another 9/11 event. This is a wake-up call to America.”
The building that houses the museum was constructed in the early 1830s by Joseph West as a wedding gift for his sister Maria Inglis West. She married Daniel Estell, a wealthy glass factory owner. Maria passed away in 1834, and Estell married Rebecca S. Smith. They had two daughters, Martha and Anna. As Estell’s empire grew, the town of Stephen’s Creek was renamed Estellville. Anna married Thomas Anderson Bourgeois and they had one child, Rebecca Estell Bourgeois Winston, the last descendant to occupy the home.
Active in local politics, Rebecca Estell Bourgeois Winston convinced the state legislature to create Estell Manor as its own municipality in 1924. Rebecca became its first mayor of Estell Manor – and the first female mayor in New Jersey.
Fast forward to 1993 when Atlantic County purchased and restored the dwelling now listed in the National Historic Registry and included in the New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail Guide.
According to the self-guided tour booklet provided by Brown, the museum flows in chronological order beginning with the American Revolution. Most of the artifacts on display are donations or items on loan from local veterans and their families. The revolution room features a reproduction of a mural of the Battle of Chestnut Neck painted by John Wanamaker for Fred & Ethel Noyes of Atlantic County. The room also features letters from soldiers, a reproduction musket and uniform of the Continental Army soldier. The same room includes a Civil War era reproduction of an A-Frame tent, as well as several photographs of Atlantic County residents who were in battle. Also, on display in this room: a 1914 U.S. Navy uniform and a letter from the front during the Spanish-American War.
The World War II display includes many photographs, along with a reproduction of a Marine Infantryman with gear manning a .30 caliber machine gun.
The World War II room splits into two separate rooms, and features a Pearl Harbor display, with captured enemy artifacts. Another unique aspect is the Stained Glass Room, which has on display stained glass windows by artist and veteran, Robert Exler, a former resident of Cologne. He designed and created them for the American Legion Post 430 in Galloway.
The Korean War exhibit highlights a reproduction of full daily uniform and gear of a Marine infantryman/Navy Corpsman in battle at Chosin Reservoir. Upstairs, in the Vietnam War Room, there is a full uniform and gear worn by a U.S. Marine rifleman belonging to Charles Kurtz, who was killed in action.
A newly featured item on loan to the Veterans Museum is the bullet-ridden helmet that belonged to Sgt. Harry W. Carrelli, a resident of Absecon. Artifacts from the Cold War are also on display. Desert Storm/Desert Shield objects include various styles of camouflage uniforms and the Global War on Terror features a flame-resistant camouflage blouse, as well as a 9/11 Remembrance Flag.
The meeting room includes both Navy and Aviation artifacts and memorabilia. In the upstairs hallway, there are several exhibits. The Women’s Wall is dedicated to Atlantic County women who served, among them Lt. Col. Barbara Stern, the first female to serve in the 177th Fighter Wing. On the opposite side of the hallway find the Flag Wall, with an outline of the history of the American Flag, which includes a 13-star flag from the USS Florida.
Atlantic County Veterans Museum is located at 189 Blvd Route 50 South, Mays Landing, NJ 08330. The museum is open Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. For more information, call 609-909-7309 Group tours can be scheduled during other times by calling 609-909-7305, or emailing culturalaffairs@aclsys.org.
William Sokolic is a veteran journalist who has written for daily, weekly and monthly publications. He’s covered a wide range of news, features and entertainment stories. Much of his work concerns tourism, Atlantic City, and the gaming industry.
