Brendan's Eagle Scout project will honor military veterans

HOWELL – Eagle candidate Brendan Mueller of Troop 300 has a wonderful Eagle Scout project, and he could use some support from the community.

Brendan, a high school junior, has organized a fundraiser to finance his project, which entails safely relocating three monuments that honor veterans of several wars to a local park and building a paver patio around a flag pole that is located there. He also wants to add benches too.

Brendan will be moving the monuments from the township's former municipal complex on Preventorium Road to the appropriately named Soldier Memorial Park on Lakewood-Farmingdale Road.

The three monuments honor the veterans of World Wars I and II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars and will be much more visible at the new location.

Brendan was recently given permission by the Howell Township Council to proceed with his project.

He told CentralJersey.com:

“When I first thought of the project, I thought I would do something to help veterans. My first thought was to build a monument, but while doing some further research I discovered there already were monuments in front of the old abandoned town hall.

“After talking with my family and my Boy Scout troop, I decided I would be able to move the monuments from the old town hall to Soldier Memorial Park, which already has a little bit of a memorial, but it could be a lot better.

“For my fundraising, the New Jersey Monument Company is going to help me make memorial bricks which could have somebody’s name, years and military rank."

Brendan will be selling memorial bricks to fund his project, and they can be personalized with a loved one's name, military rank and years of service.

“I am also going to have memorial benches which can have a name and a message. That will help with seating, as well as the aesthetic of the project," he said.

The cost of safely moving the monuments, building a patio and constructing benches will cost between $7,500 and $10,000, he said.

Brendan originally wanted to also add monuments to honor veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the expenses exceeded his budget.

The pandemic has made fundraising extremely difficult for scouts the past year, so they need to rely on the community more than ever to help them achieve their goals to improve the local community.

If you would like to help honor veterans and assist Brendan with his Eagle Scout project, please consider purchasing a memorial brick by visiting his GoFundMe fundraiser.

Your support of a scout today improves your local community and creates the civic-minded leaders of tomorrow.