PRESS RELEASE FROM THE VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS
DEPARTMENT OF NEW JERSEY
Ken Hagemann State Adjutant

August 22, 2022
The Veterans of Foreign Wars vividly remembers the needless and tragic deaths of our veterans and family members residing in the Menlo Park and Paramus Memorial Homes. We still mourn the loss of our comrades in arms and as we have from the beginning, continue to fight for them and those who survived.

While we hope that the $84.9 million dollar settlements will bring some closure to the families, no amount of money can erase the evidence presented by the U.S. Department of Health report which concluded our veterans under state care were “denied a dignified existence”.

The frontline employees also endured death, illness, and hardships, and we thank them for doing their best under difficult circumstances to care for our veterans.

We would like to thank those who supported the families and the VFW fight in the removal of the leadership responsible for the tragedy, and the enactment of legislation that will ensure the health and well-being of our veterans is never an afterthought.

Jay Boxwell
State Commander

About the VFW: The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is the nation’s largest and oldest major war veterans organization. Founded in 1899, the congressionally chartered VFW is comprised entirely of eligible veterans and military service members from the active, Guard and Reserve forces. With more than 1.5 million VFW and Auxiliary members located in over 6,000 Posts worldwide, the nonprofit veterans service organization is proud to proclaim “NO ONE DOES MORE FOR VETERANS” than the VFW, which is dedicated to veterans’ service, legislative advocacy, and military and community service programs. For more information or to join, visit our website at vfw.org