FERGUSON PRESENTS SERVICE MEDALS TO MOUNTAINSIDE WORLD WAR II VETERAN
120 Deerfield Elementary School Students Participate in Special Ceremony

MOUNTAINSIDE – Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-N.J., Mountainside Mayor Robert Viglianti, and more than 120 elementary school children from Deerfield Elementary School honored 89-year-old Martin Hochadel of Mountainside for his service to America during World War II.

Ferguson’s office, who secured the long-overdue military service medals for Hochadel, arranged for the special ceremony at the school because the students are studying World War II as part of their American History course work.

“Martin Hochadel is a patriot and a hero, and I’m honored to present him with these medals on behalf of a grateful nation,” Ferguson said during the ceremony. “The freedom every American enjoys today is because of the service and sacrifice of veterans like Martin Hochadel.

“Today’s celebration and ceremony is also a terrific civics lesson for the children and a good opportunity for them to honor a true American hero firsthand. It really makes the history they are reading in textbooks come to life in a very personal way.”

Hochadel first contacted Ferguson’s office about obtaining the overdue medals in July. Ferguson secured the medals within six weeks from the National Personnel Records Center, which is the repository of millions of military personnel, health and medical records of discharged and deceased veterans during the 20th century.

“I’m so pleased that Congressman Ferguson was able to help secure my service medals,” Hochadel said at the ceremony. “Like so many Americans who served our nation during World War II, I just did my part. Hopefully, if there are other veterans who haven’t received their medals, they can also receive their long-overdue medals, too.”

Ferguson presented Hochadel with the World War II Victory Medal, the Honorable Service Lapel Button, the Good Conduct medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the Marksman Badge with Carbine Bar.

Hochadel was a 23 year-old Army sergeant serving as a medic at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia when the World War II broke out and the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Hochadel, who volunteered for service four months earlier, chose a career as an Army medic.

Before being honorably discharged in 1945, Hochadel served at Langley Air Force Base, Ft. Dix in New Jersey and on Adak Island in the Western Alucian Islands, where he served as a medic treating troops injured in the Pacific theater. One of Hochadel’s patients was Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals who played in the 1942 and 1943 World Series.

Hochadel has lived in Mountainside for 22 years and worked in real estate for 53 years before retiring. He has previously served as the past president of the Union Realtors, the Union Chamber of Commerce and has been involved in scores of local charities. His wife of 61 years, Kathleen, passed away earlier this year, and he has three children and three grandchildren.