When the motorcycles roared into Bayonne on June 4, they had already made stops throughout Northern New Jersey, visiting the grave sites of four Congressional Medal of Honor recipients as part of their tribute to veterans.
The ride by the national Nam Knights Motorcycle Club was a kind of a belated Memorial Day tribute, partly because the club had been in Washington, D.C. on Memorial Day.
Steve Mona, sometimes called “Slider,” serves as secretary of the club. He called it “a ride for respect,” made by a club whose membership includes veterans and police officers.
“Our last stop before coming to Bayonne was to visit the grave of Stephen Gregg in North Arlington.” – Steve Mona
____________
Gregg is one of two Bayonne residents to receive the nation’s highest military honor. The other, Nicholas Oresko, is still living and took part in this year’s Bayonne Memorial Day Parade.
In Bayonne, the riders stopped at several important military landmarks, which included the Elco boat launch crane in Rutkowski Park. It was the site that helped launch the historic PT-109 that was commanded by John F. Kennedy during World War II.
The motorcycles also took a trip out to the tip of the former Military Ocean Terminal. There, they paid their respects to those who died as a result of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 at the “To the Struggle Against World Terrorism” monument.
Then they made their way to Dennis Collins Park on First Street to the Vietnam veterans’ memorial.
The ride concluded at the V.F.W. Post 226, followed by a tour of the veterans’ museum there.
Back to Bayonne
Doug Kuenzle, a former Bayonne resident, wanted to bring the club to Bayonne to see the monuments and visit the museum.
“I’m a life member of the post,” he said. “I moved out of Bayonne 17 years ago, but I’m here all the time.”
The club – which currently has 45 chapters nationwide – was founded in the summer of 1989 by a small group of Harley-riding Vietnam veterans who happened to be police officers.
Mona said this has been modified over the years in order to encourage membership so that currently any veteran and police officer can join.
Jack Quigley, a retired undersheriff from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department and a platoon sergeant in the U.S. Marines during the Vietnam War, is the founder.
Over the years, the club has grown to 45 chapters in 10 states and two Canadian provinces, but the founding group still resides in Carlstadt, N.J.
The mission of the group is to honor the memory of American veterans and police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty, and to promote community awareness through sponsorship and participation in various events.
The club’s patch consists of a green dragon with red scales holding a Vietnam service ribbon, plus “Nam Knights” on the top “rocker” position and “America” on the bottom (a flanking “MC” denotes the patch as a motorcycle club symbol). For those club members who are police officers or veterans of later conflicts, the dragon holds an American flag.
One of the recruits for this event was Jimmy Hillcrest, who also thought up the idea for this run.
“It was something I had in my head for a few years,” he said.
The club currently has members from past and contemporary conflicts.
The Nam Knights were prominently featured in the Christopher North movie “Frame of Mind,” filmed mostly in Carlstadt. Quigley himself was the subject of a recent episode of the tattoo documentary series, “Marked,” on The History Channel.
The Orlando chapter of the club has a Medal of Honor recipient, Samuel L. Davis, whose story partly inspired the film “Forrest Gump.”
Post Commander Glen J. Flora said he was glad to have the group visit him and to help him promote the museum.
“We want people to come and visit us,” Flora said. “This place is part of Bayonne’s history and people should know who served and what sacrifices they made.”
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.
Sidebar
Memorial Day – a long standing tradition in Bayonne
Henry Sanchez, a veteran from WWII who took part in the D-Day invasion, is particularly proud of the extremely long tradition of the Bayonne Memorial Day Parade, the first of which took place in Bayonne in 1886, organized by local Civil War veterans.
After the War between the States, people began to place flowers on the graves of soldiers who died in the conflict.
Hiram Van Buskirk, a hero from the war who eventually became police chief of Bayonne, met with his Post 100, GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) group as well as with another Civil War group. They met in the Amelia and Peter Wulf’s Hall, where Hendrickson’s currently stands, and planned out the line of march for what was then called “Decoration Day.”
The leaders of the parade marched to various schools where they gave brief talks and received potted plants.
The first parade music was provided by a citizen drum and coronet band. Among those who marched were prominent city figures of the time: Henry Harris, George Atwater, and Dr. Noah Sanborn. The parade was received by then mayor David Oliver and the City Council, and after the ceremonies, all went to the Constable Hook Cemetery on East 22nd Street for another ceremony.
Not long afterwards, Van Buskirk was buried there as one of the notables, but was later moved to a cemetery in Staten Island when Constable Hook Cemetery was purchased by Standard Oil.