It is with great sadness that I report the death of Edith Thorne Nowels.
Edith was tireless, passionate and loving advocate who dedicated herself completely to causes she believed in. Edith T. Nowels was a patriot who loved America, and loved the men and women who fought for our freedom in our military.
Edith was a member of the Monmouth County Republican Committee for 41 years. For many of those years she was the Municipal Chairwoman of Brielle.
Edith spent much of her last years making sure that the Veterans of World War II were honored as those who survived the war aged and met their natural deaths.
She was forever promoting the memory of her brother, Cpl. Horace “Bud” Thorne, who sacrificed his life in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge.
Below the fold, please view the videos of Edith parachuting last November with The All Veterans Group and the video tribute to her brother Bud’s life and sacrifice.
Having lost the legislative map battle, Governor Christie made a deal with Senate President Stephen Sweeney over Supreme Court Justice nominees’ confirmation hearing. In making the deal, six months before the general election, Christie implicitly conceded that the Democrats would retain control of the State Senate and the Sweeney would remain Senate President.
Howard Birdsall resigned as chairman of the Brookdale College board of trustees.
The State Supreme Court reaffirmed the Abbott decision, assuring that New Jersey’s educational system would remain raciallysegregated and funded by the highest property taxes in the nation.
The Neptune Board of Education made a deal with the ACLU that prevented litigation and kept the high school graduation at the Ocean Grove Great Auditorium.
86 veterans of the Battle of the Bulge and their families attended a Survivors Reunion and Monument Rededication Ceremony at Thorne Middle School in Middletown.
Rutgers paid Snooki $32,000 to bestow her wisdom upon the student body. They paid retiring University president Richard McCormick $550,000 to take a year off and will pay him $335,000 per year to teach history when he returns.
….from your holiday weekend, be sure to check out the video biography of Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Cpl Bud Thorne.
The video, An American Hero, was first produced for the 50th anniversary of the Thorne Middle School in Middletown. It was shown again last Thursday as part of the Battle of the Bulge Survivors Reunion and Monument Rededication which took place at the school.
For me, and I hope the many others who have never experienced war first hand nor lost a loved one to battle, viewing the video deepened my gratitude for all veterans as well as for the men and women who are currently serving in the military.
Thank you to Edith Nowels, Thorne’s sister, for providing the video for MMM readers.
Nowels is a hero too.
She has done a tremendous job reuniting WWII vets and making sure we have an opportunity to express our gratitude before they pass. But Edith never stops to take a breath, even after such a successful event like the reunion on Thursday. When I reached her over the weekend while I was writing the story on the reunion, Edith was on the road delivering Thank You cards to veterans in nursing homes and at VFW posts.
This Memorial Day has a special meaning to me, and the hundreds of participants at the Battle of the Bulge Survivor Reunion and Monmument Rededication Ceremony that took place last Thursday at the Thorne Middle School in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown.
The event, which included a general assembly of the student body at Thorne and over 86 veterans of the Battle of the Bulge was organized by Edith Nowles of Brielle. Nowles is the sister of Cpl. Horace Marvin “Bud” Thorne, namesake of the school, who was post-humanously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroism in the battle that cost him his life.
There was so much to be impressed with and moved by at this event. From the pride and happiness of the veterans present to the attentiveness and enthusiasm of the students, staff and faculty. From the courage of the eigth grade nominee for the Corporal Thorne Award who got out of her wheel chair and walked with assistance to accept her citation from Freehold John Curley and to join her fellow nominees on stage to the ovation her fellow students gave her when she did so.
Hopefully this slideshow will give a sense of how special the event was:
One of the most moving elements of the Reunion and Rededication was that all present got to “meet” Cpl. Bud Thorne. A video biography of Thorne, his life, heroic death and legacy,narrated by his sister Anita, that was originally produced for the 50th anniversary of the Thorne Middle School was shown to the assembly.
By virtue of the generousity of Edith Nowels, MMM is able to share the video with you. I encourage you to take the 12 and 1/2 minutes it takes to view it. It will make Memorial Day personal. It will give you an even greater sense of who the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom were and are:
It is with great sadness that I report the death of Edith Thorne Nowels.
