Thorne Middle School To Honor Local Veterans For Memorial Day

For Immediate Release:

5/19/15

To honor local veterans for Memorial Day, the staff and children of Thorne Middle School will gather at 9:00 AM on Thursday, May 21 for a traditional Memorial Day ceremony.

Following the ceremony, there will be a special performance tribute to the history of the USO inside and a screening of a touching video about Edith Thorne Lentz Nowels, who died in April.

Nowels was the sister of local World War II hero Corporal Horace “Buddy” Thorne, for whom the school was named in 1962.

“Edith was instrumental in the school receiving the Battle of the Bulge monument from Fort Monmouth. She was a driving force behind everything that Thorne has done to honor Veterans past and present,” says Thorne Middle School Principal Tom Olausen.

Before she died, Nowels was busy working on a new project, researching to find all Thorne alumni who lost their lives while serving in the military so a second monument to honor them could be placed at the school.

One such hero was Army First Lieutenant Dennis Zilinski, 101st Airborne Division – Thorne Class of 1996. Lieutenant Zilinski was killed during combat operations in Iraq in 2005.

The Zilinski family will be on hand this Thursday when the school announces the plan for a future monument.

Lt. Zilinski’s family is thankful to Nowels. “I know Dennis would be honored to be remembered alongside Corporal Thorne and other local heroes,” said his mother Marion Zilinski. “Dennis loved his country, and he loved his home town. We are very grateful to the Edith and the school for keeping his memory alive and making the sacrifice of our local veterans relevant for generations to come.”

Lt. Dennis Zilinski II grew up in Middletown, NJ.

All veterans are welcome to attend the event.

Military Shout Out May 24 at Thorne MIddle School

From Middletown's  website:
A Middletown 350 Event

The three Middletown middle schools, in conjunction with Middletown 350, will be honoring World War II veterans at Middletown Military Shout Out, on May 24, beginning at 10:00 a.m. The theme of this multi-faceted event is to “Remember, Educate, and Entertain,” culminating in an authentic World War II U.S.O. show performed by students from the Thorne, Bayshore, and Thompson middle schools.

Thorne Middle School, which houses the Battle of the Bulge Monument, will host the event. Special guests will include survivors of that battle and other World War II Veterans. The school is named for Corporal Horace Thorne, Middletown’s only Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. The medal was awarded posthumously for Corporal Thorne’s heroism during the Battle of the Bulge. The Middletown Military Shout Out event is part of a series commemorating Middletown’s 350th anniversary.

Middletown Military Shout Out will feature three events, beginning with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Battle of the Bulge monument in front of the school. The Battle of the Bulge monument, previously housed at Fort Monmouth, was relocated to Thorne in May of 2011, with a re-dedication ceremony that included over 90 survivors of the battle. Next, attendees will be welcome to visit inside the school to see a “Wall of Heroes” and showcases of World War II gear and uniforms. There will be a special presentation by Mr. Frank McGinley, an artist who captures history through painting. Several of Mr. McGinley’s original paintings depicting the battle will be on display. The program will conclude with the U.S.O. show, which will take place outside, behind the school.

Veterans who wish to attend Middletown Military Shout Out should contact the school, at (732) 787-1220. Families and the general public are welcome to attend any part of the program, and need not contact the school. For the U.S.O. show, seating will be available for veterans and their families. Other attendees are encouraged to bring chairs or blankets for seating. Thorne Middle School is located at 70 Murphy Road, in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown.