Advisory
VETERAN STREET DEDICATION SATURDAY
Lawrence Cartolano was born in December 1922 in Staten Island, New York.
During World War 2, he registered at the age of 19 with the United States Army and received orders to active duty shortly thereafter.
At the time of his induction, Private Cartolano had already gained experience as a welder and worked at Bethlehem Steel Shipbuilding in Staten Island.
Private Cartolano, who ultimately achieved the rank of specialist, served with the 784th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company of the 84th Infantry Division, nicknamed the “Railsplitters.”
The 84th embarked for Europe on September 20, 1944. The division landed on Omaha Beach, November 1-4, 1944, and moved to the vicinity of Gulpen, the Netherlands, November 5-12, 1944.
The division entered combat on November 18, 1944 with an attack on Geilenkirchen, Germany, (Operation Clipper) as part of the larger offensive in the Roer Valley, north of Aachen. Taking Geilenkirchen on November 19th, the division pushed forward to take Beeck and Lindern in the face of heavy enemy resistance. After a short rest, the division returned to the fight, taking Würm & Mullendorf, on December 18, before moving to Belgium to help stem the German winter offensive (the Battle of the Bulge).
Battling in snow, sleet, and rain, the division threw off German attacks, recaptured Verdenne, December 24 - 28, took Beffe & Devantave (Rendeux), January 4 – 6, 1945, and seized La Roche, on January 11. By January 16, the Bulge had been reduced. After a 5-day respite, the 84th resumed the offensive, taking Gouvy and Beho. On February 7th, the division assumed responsibility for the Roer River zone, between Linnich and Himmerich (near Heinsberg), and trained for the river crossing.
On February 23, 1945, the second day of Operation Grenade, the division cut across the Roer, took Boisheim and Dülken, crossed the Niers, took Krefeld, and reached the Rhine by March 5th.
One day before, the Krefeld-Uerdinger Bridge was destroyed by the Wehrmacht. The division trained along the west bank of the river in March.
After crossing the Rhine on April 1st, the division drove from Lembeck toward Bielefeld in conjunction with the 5th Armored Division, crossing the Weser River to capture Hanover. By April 13th, it had reached the Elbe, and halted its advance, patrolling along the river. Soviet troops were contacted at Balow, on May 2, 1945. The division remained on occupation duty in Germany after VE-day, returning to the United States on January 19, 1946 for demobilization.
The 84th liberated two satellite camps of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp: Ahlem (a.k.a. Hannover-Ahlem), on April 10, 1945, and Salzwedel, on April 14, 1945. As such, the 84th is officially recognized as a "Liberating Unit" by both the U.S. Army's Center of Military History and the Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The Railsplitters experienced 1,284 killed in action. They also saw 5,098 wounded and 129 missing in action. A terrible price.
TEC-4 Cartolano and the 84th served in many European Campaigns: the Rhineland (from Paris to the Rhine), Ardennes-Alsace (the Battle of the Bulge), and Central Europe. (The Invasion of Germany)
At the end of the war, Specialist Cartolano, then 24, returned home. He was honorably discharged from the service in 1946.
Specialist Cartolano received the Bronze Star which is awarded in the name of the President of the United States for heroism in a combat zone
The citation, executed by Major General Alexander R. Bolling, reads in part:
“Technician Fourth Grade Lawrence Cartolano, 784th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company, United States Army. For meritorious service in connection with military operations against the enemy in Belgium, Holland and Germany during the period 18 November 1944 to 8 May 1945. … Technician Fourth Grade Cartolano’s ability, ingenuity, and devotion to duty reflect high credit upon himself and the armed forces.”
Mr. Cartolano is the son of Italian immigrants. One of 5 children, he grew up in Staten Island.
His boyhood home, 94 Harbor Road in the Mariners Harbor neighborhood, is up the street from FDNY Engine Company 158. That home still proudly displays our Nation’s flag.
He grew up with the hardships attendant with the Great Depression.
His wartime photograph shows him to be a handsome young man, with kind eyes and a deep chin dimple.
I cannot for a minute pretend to understand the things that TEC-4 Cartolano must have witnessed and endured.
But I do know that his service to our Nation and his Family and, by extension, to our Township and our Way of Life deserve our deepest Gratitude and Respect.
On June 6, 1944 while TEC-4 Cartolano was readying for combat, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led our Country in Prayer. It was D-Day. Very many men would be lost. The cost would be terrible. The President said:
‘Almighty God: Our Sons, Pride of Our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve Our Republic, Our Religion, Our Civilization, and to set free a suffering Humanity.
Lead them Straight and True; give Strength to their Arms, Stoutness to their Hearts, Steadfastness in their Faith.
They will need Your blessings. Their road will be long and hard. The enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come, but We shall return Again and Again; and We know that by Your grace, and by the righteousness of Our cause, Our Sons will triumph.
They will be sore tried until the Victory is won. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violence of War.
These Men are lately drawn from the ways of Peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to Liberate. They fight to let Justice arise, and Tolerance and Good Will among all Your People. They yearn for the end of Battle and for their return to the Haven of Home.
Some will never return. Embrace them, Father, and receive them, Your heroic Servants, into Your Kingdom.
And, Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in You; Faith in Our Sons; Faith in Each Other; Faith in Our United Crusade.
With Your blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our Country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure Peace; a Peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a Peace that will let all of Men live in Freedom ...’
Sometimes, we must be reminded of the seriousness of events. President Roosevelt’s invocation and General Dwight David Eisenhower’s draft of a letter of resignation in the event of not-unlikely failure of D-Day operations show that Victory in World War 2 was never a certainty. Our Victory over Nazi despotism was never assured.
It was a bloody and ugly struggle that cost hundreds of thousands of American mothers their Sons, who rest in cemeteries in South Brunswick, all around the United States, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Germany. God Bless and Hold Them All.
Men and women like Lawrence Cartolano forged that Victory. They rid the world of a deeply wicked scourge.
Lawrence Cartolano fought for human dignity. Against denigration and slavery. We are humbled and honored in his presence.
And after all that, he came home, first back to Staten Island to live his life in peace and raise a family, and then to live with his family in Kendall Park, New Jersey. He lived a full life, to the age of 97.
So, it is altogether fitting that the Township of South Brunswick gratefully recognizes Mr. Cartolano’s service to his Nation and devotion to his Family.
VETERAN STREET DEDICATION SATURDAY 
VETERAN STREET DEDICATION SATURDAY
On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 11AM the Township will dedicate the intersection of Holder Road with Kendall Road as Cartolano Way.Lawrence Cartolano was born in December 1922 in Staten Island, New York.
During World War 2, he registered at the age of 19 with the United States Army and received orders to active duty shortly thereafter.
At the time of his induction, Private Cartolano had already gained experience as a welder and worked at Bethlehem Steel Shipbuilding in Staten Island.
Private Cartolano, who ultimately achieved the rank of specialist, served with the 784th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company of the 84th Infantry Division, nicknamed the “Railsplitters.”
The 84th embarked for Europe on September 20, 1944. The division landed on Omaha Beach, November 1-4, 1944, and moved to the vicinity of Gulpen, the Netherlands, November 5-12, 1944.
The division entered combat on November 18, 1944 with an attack on Geilenkirchen, Germany, (Operation Clipper) as part of the larger offensive in the Roer Valley, north of Aachen. Taking Geilenkirchen on November 19th, the division pushed forward to take Beeck and Lindern in the face of heavy enemy resistance. After a short rest, the division returned to the fight, taking Würm & Mullendorf, on December 18, before moving to Belgium to help stem the German winter offensive (the Battle of the Bulge).
Battling in snow, sleet, and rain, the division threw off German attacks, recaptured Verdenne, December 24 - 28, took Beffe & Devantave (Rendeux), January 4 – 6, 1945, and seized La Roche, on January 11. By January 16, the Bulge had been reduced. After a 5-day respite, the 84th resumed the offensive, taking Gouvy and Beho. On February 7th, the division assumed responsibility for the Roer River zone, between Linnich and Himmerich (near Heinsberg), and trained for the river crossing.
On February 23, 1945, the second day of Operation Grenade, the division cut across the Roer, took Boisheim and Dülken, crossed the Niers, took Krefeld, and reached the Rhine by March 5th.
One day before, the Krefeld-Uerdinger Bridge was destroyed by the Wehrmacht. The division trained along the west bank of the river in March.
After crossing the Rhine on April 1st, the division drove from Lembeck toward Bielefeld in conjunction with the 5th Armored Division, crossing the Weser River to capture Hanover. By April 13th, it had reached the Elbe, and halted its advance, patrolling along the river. Soviet troops were contacted at Balow, on May 2, 1945. The division remained on occupation duty in Germany after VE-day, returning to the United States on January 19, 1946 for demobilization.
The 84th liberated two satellite camps of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp: Ahlem (a.k.a. Hannover-Ahlem), on April 10, 1945, and Salzwedel, on April 14, 1945. As such, the 84th is officially recognized as a "Liberating Unit" by both the U.S. Army's Center of Military History and the Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The Railsplitters experienced 1,284 killed in action. They also saw 5,098 wounded and 129 missing in action. A terrible price.
TEC-4 Cartolano and the 84th served in many European Campaigns: the Rhineland (from Paris to the Rhine), Ardennes-Alsace (the Battle of the Bulge), and Central Europe. (The Invasion of Germany)
At the end of the war, Specialist Cartolano, then 24, returned home. He was honorably discharged from the service in 1946.
Specialist Cartolano received the Bronze Star which is awarded in the name of the President of the United States for heroism in a combat zone
The citation, executed by Major General Alexander R. Bolling, reads in part:
“Technician Fourth Grade Lawrence Cartolano, 784th Ordnance Light Maintenance Company, United States Army. For meritorious service in connection with military operations against the enemy in Belgium, Holland and Germany during the period 18 November 1944 to 8 May 1945. … Technician Fourth Grade Cartolano’s ability, ingenuity, and devotion to duty reflect high credit upon himself and the armed forces.”
Mr. Cartolano is the son of Italian immigrants. One of 5 children, he grew up in Staten Island.
His boyhood home, 94 Harbor Road in the Mariners Harbor neighborhood, is up the street from FDNY Engine Company 158. That home still proudly displays our Nation’s flag.
He grew up with the hardships attendant with the Great Depression.
His wartime photograph shows him to be a handsome young man, with kind eyes and a deep chin dimple.
I cannot for a minute pretend to understand the things that TEC-4 Cartolano must have witnessed and endured.
But I do know that his service to our Nation and his Family and, by extension, to our Township and our Way of Life deserve our deepest Gratitude and Respect.
On June 6, 1944 while TEC-4 Cartolano was readying for combat, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt led our Country in Prayer. It was D-Day. Very many men would be lost. The cost would be terrible. The President said:
‘Almighty God: Our Sons, Pride of Our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve Our Republic, Our Religion, Our Civilization, and to set free a suffering Humanity.
Lead them Straight and True; give Strength to their Arms, Stoutness to their Hearts, Steadfastness in their Faith.
They will need Your blessings. Their road will be long and hard. The enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come, but We shall return Again and Again; and We know that by Your grace, and by the righteousness of Our cause, Our Sons will triumph.
They will be sore tried until the Victory is won. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violence of War.
These Men are lately drawn from the ways of Peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to Liberate. They fight to let Justice arise, and Tolerance and Good Will among all Your People. They yearn for the end of Battle and for their return to the Haven of Home.
Some will never return. Embrace them, Father, and receive them, Your heroic Servants, into Your Kingdom.
And, Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in You; Faith in Our Sons; Faith in Each Other; Faith in Our United Crusade.
With Your blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our Country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure Peace; a Peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a Peace that will let all of Men live in Freedom ...’
Sometimes, we must be reminded of the seriousness of events. President Roosevelt’s invocation and General Dwight David Eisenhower’s draft of a letter of resignation in the event of not-unlikely failure of D-Day operations show that Victory in World War 2 was never a certainty. Our Victory over Nazi despotism was never assured.
It was a bloody and ugly struggle that cost hundreds of thousands of American mothers their Sons, who rest in cemeteries in South Brunswick, all around the United States, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Germany. God Bless and Hold Them All.
Men and women like Lawrence Cartolano forged that Victory. They rid the world of a deeply wicked scourge.
Lawrence Cartolano fought for human dignity. Against denigration and slavery. We are humbled and honored in his presence.
And after all that, he came home, first back to Staten Island to live his life in peace and raise a family, and then to live with his family in Kendall Park, New Jersey. He lived a full life, to the age of 97.
So, it is altogether fitting that the Township of South Brunswick gratefully recognizes Mr. Cartolano’s service to his Nation and devotion to his Family.
Address/Location
South Brunswick Twp Police Department
540 Ridge Rd
South Brunswick Township, NJ 08852
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 732-329-4646