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USA TODAY

BEAUTIFUL MIND MATHEMATICIAN, WIFE DIE IN TURNPIKE CRASH PAGE 1B

MONDAY 05.25.15

THOMAS P. COSTELLO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

World War II veteran Arthur Weisleder served as a bomber pilot in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

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memorialday
YOUR WEEKEND GUIDE DOWN THE SHORE

Honor the fallen

Remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Complete list of Memorial Day parades and ceremonies inside.

On Memorial Day, the Greatest Generation reflects

They would come

JERRY CARINO CARINOS CORNER

over and ask, Are

All these years later, Arthur Weisleder still can hear the voices of the boys under his command.
They would come over and ask, Are
we going to be all right today? Am I going to come home alive? said Weisleder, a Lakewood resident who flew 32 missions in the Pacific as a bomber pilot during World War II. How can you answer
that? Youre hoping everyone would come home alive.
Today is Memorial Day. This holiday was established after the Civil War to honor those who died while
serving. In a larger sense, its a day to remember who
we are and how we got here.
Soon, recollections of World War II will be confined
to history books and documentaries. But not yet. Members of the Greatest Generation are still with us, and
they have stories to tell. Here are three of them, right in
our backyard.

we going to be all
right today? Am I
going to come home
alive?

Music in
Asbury
Park

ARTHUR WEISLEDER,
A LAKEWOOD RESIDENT WHO FLEW 32
MISSIONS IN THE PACIFIC AS A BOMBER
PILOT DURING WORLD WAR II

Listen to Stringbean and

the Boardwalk Social Club
at Langosta Lounge;
Underwater Sounds, Reese
Van Riper, Cranston Dean at
the Wonder Bar today.

For more stories and

scenes of Memorial

A plaque in Ohio
As a 21-year-old in 1944, Weisleder was responsible
for the 10-man crew of the Dottie D, which he named
for his first wife. They came out of training in Idaho as
the top crew among 100, and served with distinction in
the Pacific. Their closest brush with death came shortly after Japan had surrendered.
Not everyone knew you couldnt text them and
let them know the war was over, he said. We were fly-

Day observances and the Shore

Fleet
Week

areas busy holiday weekend,

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Meet sailors, Marines and

Coast Guardsmen and tour
the U.S. maritime fleet in
New York. A Memorial Day
commemoration ceremony
will include the unfurling of
a 100-foot American flag.

See STORIES, Page 5A

Shore merchants have high hopes

as crowds arrive, start spending
AMANDA OGLESBY @OGLESBYAPP
SEASIDE HEIGHTS Thousands walked the boardwalk here Sunday afternoon or lounged in the sunwarmed sand, where Shore business owners welcomed
the sight after years of disappointing summer sales.
Businesses hope this Memorial Day weekends dry,
sunny conditions will spark visitor spending at pre-superstorm Sandy levels in the region.
On the bustling Seaside Heights boardwalk, customers lined up outside Three Brothers From Italy. Staff in
the pizza shop furiously worked fryers and took orders.
Not a table (free) in the place, said Stephen Melvin,
one of the owners of the string of Three Brothers pizzerias that dot the borough.
Memorial Day can make up 7 percent of gross sales
for the pizza shops, Melvin said, so a too-quiet holiday
weekend can be costly for boardwalk businesses.
Taxes are very high here and the rent is very high,
Melvin said.
Hours after the lunchtime, crowds of people still
filled the boardwalk eatery or waited in line for slices of
pizza.
Its better than last year, said Melvin, who was
pleased by the turnout.

Thrills in Oceanport
Get ready for the Triple Crown by spending a day at the races
in Monmouth Park.

All this and more inside! 2A

A bright outlook
Tourism has been on the rebound in New Jersey in
recent years and grew 3.8 percent in 2014, according to
Tourism Economics, a company that analyzes economSee HOPES, Page 5A

ADVICE
BUSINESS
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COMICS
LOCAL

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LOTTERIES
OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS
WEATHER

BOB BIELK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Jack Peters (top) and Brian Kenny of Middletown brave

the oceans chill Sunday at Seaside Heights.

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VOLUME 136
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