Boro honors Gurbisz with memorial

Helen and Ken Gurbisz and Mayor Gerald Tarantolo admire the plaque that honors their son's efforts in Iraq.

EATONTOWN - Family and friends of Capt. James M. Gurbisz now have something to permanently honor the local slain soldier.

On Saturday, about one year to the day that the Eatontown native perished in Iraq, Ken and Helen Gurbisz unveiled a monument in Wampum Park dedicated to their son's memory as other family members, friends, neighbors and many others whose lives were touched by the Monmouth Regional High School graduate looked on.

The memorial, funded through donations from area businesses, civic groups and private individuals, is affixed permanently in the "Walk of Memories" located in the borough park's Veteran's Pavilion.

The younger Gurbisz, a graduate also of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., died in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device exploded near the Humvee he was riding in during a convoy operation, according to information released then by the U.S. Department of Defense.

SCOTT PILLING staff Helen and Ken Gurbisz listen as Maj. Gen. Michael Mazzucchi talks about their son Capt. James Gurbisz before his death in Iraq.

At the time of his death, Gurbisz was assigned to the 26th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Stewart, Ga.

The memorial ceremony in the park off Route 35 was hosted by Eatontown Mayor Gerald J. Tarantolo. The Rev. William Evans of St. Dorothea's Roman Catholic Church on Broad Street, the late soldier's home parish, gave the invocation.

Guest speakers included U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) and Maj. Gen. Michael Mazzucchi, the commanding general at Fort Monmouth.

Before graduating Monmouth Regional in 1998, Gurbisz was well-known among classmates and teachers as a scholar- athlete at the high school in Tinton Falls.

The Captain James M. Gurbisz Foundation, an organization designed to fund recreational and other programs geared toward children considered to be "at-risk," was set up last summer by the soldier's family members and friends.

- Sue Morgan