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thedrifter
02-06-09, 08:35 AM
February 6, 2009
Pledges pour in to help Marines rename bridge

By KIM PREDHAM
FREEHOLD BUREAU

More than $900 in pledges have already poured in for signs that would rename a township bridge for a Freehold Marine killed in battle, just hours after an Asbury Park Press article was published detailing a local Marine Corps League detachment's efforts on his behalf.

"They (detachment members) are very happy with the way things are going," said Daniel Savino, 76, a member of the league who has been a spokesman for the issue.

Members of the Marine Corps League Cpl. Philip A. Reynolds Detachment have begun a fundraising campaign to pay for signs they hope will be installed on a Route 9 bridge spanning Throckmorton Street in Freehold Township.

Members of the detachment have been lobbying for the bridge to be renamed for Reynolds, a Freehold native who was killed on Nov. 29, 1950, during the Korean War. Reynolds, 20, stood up to cover a fellow fighter when his gun jammed and he was hit, his sister, Lucille Dill, 79, of Freehold, said.

Reynolds was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for his heroism.

Bills have been introduced in both the state Senate and Assembly calling for the bridge to be renamed the "Corporal Philip A. Reynolds Memorial Bridge."

The bill sponsored by state Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande states that public funds cannot be used to pay for signs on the bridge.

The Senate bill, sponsored by state Sen. Jennifer Beck, calls for a $2,500 appropriation from the state Department of Transportation for the signs. The bill will be amended to call for private funding, Beck said Wednesday.

In addition to the $920 already pledged by donors, Savino said several others also had promised to give an unspecified amount of money to the cause. One man also told Savino he would cover whatever additional funding the detachment needed, if they were not able to reach their goal, Savino said.

Ellie