By Gerry J. Gilmore American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, April 16, 2008 – Retired Army reservist Joseph L. Bowser was 9 years old when he first experienced the thrill of skating and using his hockey stick to whack a rubber puck across the ice on a frozen pond in his birthplace of Toledo, Ohio. Retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph L. Bowser plays competitive ice hockey despite the loss of his lower right leg due to an injury suffered from an exploding enemy rocket April 12, 2004, in Balad, Iraq. Courtesy photo (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Today, the 48-year-old Iraq veteran still plays ice hockey, despite the loss of the lower portion of his right leg four years ago during a rocket attack on Camp Anaconda, in Balad, Iraq. Bowser, then a truck driver with 283rd Transportation Company based in Fairfield, Conn., recalled that the enemy attack occurred on April 12, 2004, soon after he returned to Camp Anaconda after delivering a 5,000-gallon load of jet fuel. Bowser credits Connecticut Army National Guard Maj. Michael McMahon, a physician assistant, for saving his life. McMahon, he said, used his fingers to slow the bleeding from a gashed artery on Bowser\’s injured right leg. \”He reached up on my leg to clamp off my artery so I wouldn\’t \’bleed out,\’\” Bowser recalled. McMahon, now 45, recalled during a recent phone interview from his home in Hamden, Conn., that his military training kicked in when he saw the stricken Bowser bleeding profusely. \”You just react,\” McMahon said. \”We took care of him and got him stabilized. There was a combat surgical hospital in Balad. \”Once we got the bleeding controlled, … I thought he was going to make it,\” McMahon recalled. Bowser and McMahon keep in touch; they met up in February when Bowser was in Connecticut to play a hockey game. Wearing body armor probably also saved his life, Bowser said, noting his armored vest was riddled with shrapnel damage. The then-staff sergeant also suffered shrapnel injuries to his left hand. Bowser said he arrived at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here about a week after being wounded. The doctors thought he would have more mobility with a prosthetic leg, he recalled, rather than by keeping his mangled limb. \”The first thing that I thought of was that I wanted to play hockey again,\” Bowser said. \”So, I said I wanted to have it amputated.\” Bowser spent more than two years of inpatient and outpatient recovery at Walter Reed, and he was medically retired from the Army as a sergeant first class in July 2006. He rates the medical care he received at Walter Reed as \”awesome.\” \”You couldn\’t ask for a better place,\” Bowser said of Walter Reed. Bowser now works at the Pentagon as an administrator for Army Secretary Pete Geren. In his spare time he plays pickup hockey games at Maryland rinks near his present-day home near Baltimore. He also occasionally travels to play in hockey tournaments. Bowser plays right wing, one of the three forwards on an ice hockey team. The center and left winger make up the other two-thirds of the forward line, and their job is to harass the opposing team and score goals. Two defensive players are positioned rearward to protect the goalie. Bowser said his artificial leg can be adjusted to accommodate his skating style, and that having a prosthetic limb actually has its advantages during a rough-and-tumble game of hockey. \”You don\’t have to worry about getting a puck slapped on your foot,\” Bowser said, noting he enjoys ice hockey\’s speed of play and physical aspects. Bowser completed as a member of the U.S. National Amputee Hockey Team during the 2008 Standing Amputee Hockey World Championships that were held April 2-6 in Marlborough, Mass. Team USA won the silver medal at that four-team tournament, beating out teams from Latvia and Finland. Canada won the gold medal, and Finland took the bronze. Before he got his job in the secretary of the Army\’s office, Bowser had volunteered to work with injured military veterans as part of an initiative administered through Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon R. England\’s office. Bowser met with a number of Washington Capitals professional ice hockey team players and coaches when they paid an April 6 visit to the Pentagon last year. Later, he got to skate with some Capitals players during a team practice. The Capitals hockey club has sponsored several Military Appreciation Nights at the Verizon Center here for servicemembers and their families, Bowser noted. \”I\’ve gone there several times with wounded warrior guys from Walter Reed,\” Bowser said. \”They\’ve just opened their doors to us. They totally support us.\” Bowser, who got married April 12, said God gave him a second chance at life after being severely wounded in Iraq. Grateful for each day of existence, he strives to help his fellow wounded warriors. \”I treat each day like my last … (while) helping my fellow soldiers,\” Bowser said.

Injured Army veteran Joseph L. Bowser, left, and physician assistant Michael McMahon meet up at an ice hockey tournament in Connecticut in February. McMahon was the military medical person who first treated Bowser after he was wounded by an exploding enemy rocket in Balad, Iraq, on April 12, 2004. Courtesy photo Download screen-resolution Download high-resolution

ERVIN
Toni Lynn

On April 18, 2008. (nee Piergross) Age 45. Of Marlton. formerly of Cherry Hill. In the loving and devoted care of her husband, John J. Ervin. Cherished mother of Ashley Piergross and Joseph Ervin, both at home. Devoted daughter of Frances Piergross (nee Miceli) and the late Anthony J. Piergross. Beloved Sister of Lisa Piergross of Cherry Hill and Kim Harper of Marlton. Beloved niece of Conni Simon and Joseph Miceli. Loving Aunt to Kristen and Robert Harper. She is survived by her lifelong friend, Dawn Watson.

Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend her visitation on Monday evening from 5:30 to 7:30 pm and Tuesday morning from 9:30 to 10:15 am at Saint Mary’s R.C. Church (CHAPEL) : 2001 Springdale Road, Cherry Hill. Memorial Mass 10:30 am in the Church. Cremation is private at the request of the family.

Family strongly requests no flowers at all. Memorial donations are preferred to the Ervin Children’s Education Fund: c/o John Ervin: P.O. Box 358, Gloucester City, NJ 08030.
Expressions of sympathy can be e-mailed to the family through our funeral home website www.mccannhealey.com under online obituaries of Toni Lynn Ervin. Funeral arrangements and inquiries may be made through the McCann-Healey Funeral Home, 851 Monmouth Street, Gloucester City, 456-1142.

Photo taken on Johnson Blvd., looking towards the Jogging Track

(Atlantic City, NJ) – Richard Stockton (19-10, 7-6) opened up a 10-2 lead and held on to upset seventh-ranked College of New Jersey (23-6, 9-4 NJAC) 10-9 in an NJAC baseball game today. Jeff Lundell (Henderson, NV/Kentridge (WA)) went 3-4 with a double and two RBI while Scott Fisher (Toms River, NJ/TR East) was 3-4 with two runs and two RBI for the Ospreys. Stockton completed a sweep of the two-game season series that included a 6-3 win on April 7.

Winning pitcher Joe Mihalyi (Hamilton, NJ/Nottingham) improved to 5-0 on the season, allowing six runs (three unearned) on eight hits with three strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched. Jeff Toth (Parlin, NJ/War Memorial) went 4-5 including a two-run home run and Matt Barrett (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) was 2-4 with a two-run homer for College of New Jersey. Chris Esperon (Union, NJ/Union Catholic) also blasted a three-run home run for TCNJ.

Stockton scored three runs in the first inning, including a two-run double by Lundell, and the Ospreys added a two-run single by Fisher in the second frame for a 5-0 lead. TCNJ got on the board when Barrett hit a two-run homer to left field in the top of the third for a 5-2 score. Joe Sacerdote (Deptford, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) ripped a three-RBI double to cap a five-run outburst in the fourth inning that increased Stockton’s lead to 10-2.

TCNJ roared back with seven runs, five unearned due to two Stockton errors, in the seventh frame to pull within 10-9. Toth slammed a two-run homer and Esperon slugged a three-run blast off the scoreboard in the inning. Stockton closer John O’Hara (Clayton, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) then pitched 2.1 scoreless innings and allowed just one hit to preserve the one-run lead and collect his school-record fifth save of the season in the 10-9 Stockton triumph.

Richard Stockton will travel to Montclair State for an NJAC doubleheader tomorrow at noon. The College of New Jersey will visit William Paterson tomorrow for an NJAC twinbill at noon.

McGARRIGLE

Gertrude

On April 16, 2008. Age 94. At Compassionate Care Hospice at St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton, NJ. Of Maple Shade. Survived by her loving and devoted caregivers at the Sterling Manor Nursing Center in Maple Shade.

Graveside Burial will be private at the Land of Canaan Cemetery in Elk Township. There will be no viewing or services. Expressions of sympathy can be e-mailed to the family through our funeral home website www.mccannhealey.com under online obituaries of Gertrude McGarrigle.

Funeral Arrangements and Inquiries may be made through: McCANN-HEALEY FUNERAL HOME: 851 Monmouth Street, Gloucester City. Phone: 856-456-1142

 

 

Commentary By Hank F. Miller Jr. 

 

Some people collect rocks. Others stamps . 

Still others beer cans.My own collection, however, is a you see, I collect bloopers-more specifically, language bloopers. 

Not those of flick chicks flubbing their lines, nor those of the print media gumming up spellings. Nor even those of Japanese English learners bungling their \”L\’s\” and \”R\’s\”to announce they at\”clam school, insread of\”cram school\”and so on. 

 

Nope. My collection is much more personal then those mentioned. For I Package together the boo-boos we foreigners make in Japanese. 

As shch, I am intimately involved.I am both collector and collectee, observer and observed, cameraman and model, hunter and not -so-elusive quarry. 

 

Let me shamelessly say my collection,-\”Japanese made funny\”- has really become interesting and even some of my friends here are starting to collect and trade their findings when we get together occasionally and it certainly is a real panic !  

 

The girl in the countryside who entered an outdoor\”onesn= hot spring spa\”,only to find a fat cow in the water with her. This, understandably , vexed her to no end. So she shooed it out and then clubbed it to death with a wooden stool. 

Or so she explained to a Japanese friend,not knowing she had goofed the key word.  

For rather than \”ushi,\”which means \”cow,\” she had meant to say \” mushi,\”which means \”Bug.\” \”Wow,\” her friend thought.\”This is one tough women,I gotta watch her.\” 

Then there is the story of a girl who could not get her closet door to close. With guests due at any minute, she phoned her landlord to see if he might run up stairs to help her wiggle the darned thing shut.Except she mistook the word for closet, \”oshi-ire,\” with the word \”oshiri.\” 

That\’s right. She told her landlord that she couldn\’t get her butt closed. And that she needed his help because she didn\’t want her guests to peek inside. 

 

Women aren\’t the only ones who trip up badely in the Japanese language. Take the case of a guy who showed up at his boss\’s house one night with some papers to be signed. 

He rang the bell and momentarily the door was opened by a petite young girl in a T-shirt and tight jeans, his boss\’s teenage daughter. 

The man eyed her up and down and then asked, \”Sumimasen. Ochichi wa?\”He had assumed he was using the polite form for \”father\”and that his question was thus,\”Excuse me.Where is your honorable dad?\”But\”\”ochichi\” means something very different. And what the trimfigured girl heard was:\”Excuse me. Where are your breasts?\” 

 

Next we have the tale of a good friend who drove off in search of a well-known temple. 

When he got lost, he asked a women along the road if she could tell him the way.When the women replied that she had no idea, my friend shot back that she must know because the temple was very famous and quite popular with tourists.Yet the women stuck to her words and there was no such place nearby. However, she did have a \”regular\” temple at her house at which my friend was very welcome. He sped away,thinking the women to be somewhat odd nut.  

Only later did he realize that instead of the word for temple,\”otera,\” he had mistakenly said \”otearai.\”Which means toilet.  

Another friend, on a holiday at the seashore, shouted frantically to prevent a group of school girls from entering the waves. 

\”Don\’t go in, girls ! The water\’s full of jellyfish!\” Only he mixed the words\”kurage\” and \”karaage.\” Which resulted in the girls hearing: Don\’t go in, girls! The water\’s full of fried chicken!\” 

 

The same good-hearted friend also tried to protect a pair of female hikers in the mountains near here.\”Don\’t go down that path, girls ! I saw a huge snake there. \”He stretched his arms wide. \”It was this long ! Maybe longer!\”Except in place of \”hebi,\” which means \”snake,\” he instead used \”ebi\”which means \”shrimp.\”The girls avoided the path. They also avoided my friend,probably thinking he\’s some kind on nut case. 

 

Of course, more than just a few of the bloopers in \”Japanese Made Funny\”are pearls from my very own lips.  

Isn\’t that amazing just when you thought that you have excelled in the Japanese language. Wow ! What next.  

 

Of these,the one that is usually told first in our Miller family folklore, is the day that my wife caughed up a small amount of blood-\”chi\” in Japanese. I immediately phoned a doctor friend and explained what happened. 

The doctor kept calm,but my wife and children did not.They began to hoot like loons. 

For I had told the doctor my wife had vomited \”hi\”… which means \”fire.\”  

The doctor began to laugh, and I then realized I had made another a boo-boo. 

But my wife survived.And so did my pride just barely. 

 

Warm Regards from Kitakyushu City, Japan 

 

Hank F. Miller Jr. 

A reader submitted these photos along with her remarks about a recent visit to Fort Nassau Park, on Johnson Blvd., across from Martins Lake.

\”The other day I took my children to Fort Nassau Park and was astonished to find such deplorable conditions. Besides trash all over and no trash cans, crossing the tracks there was a drain with rusty colored water (didn\’t look very healthy).

More disturbing was the graffiti all over the equipment.

Inside the tube was spray painted Die N$%%er and a swastika along with many curse words just not a nice experience. When the new council members were elected two years ago they promised to keep after the City Highway Department to maintain this site.

They also promised to increase police patrols in the area to stop the vandalism. I am sure they are trying but if anything the Park looks no different than it did before they were elected.\”

Mark your calendar for June 10 and TCNJ\’s 17th Annual Lions\’ Club Golf Outing

TCNJ\’s athletic department will hold their 17th Annual Lions\’ Club Golf Outing on Tuesday, June 10 at nearby Mercer Oaks East Course. To learn more…

Media Release April 17

Ewing, NJ – The Lions of the seventh-ranked Lions of The College of New Jersey hosted Rowan University on Thursday at George Ackerman Park in a key New Jersey Athletic Conference contest. Rowan needed 10 innings but came away with the 9-5 win over the Lions to improve to 23-8 overall and 8-4 in the NJAC. TCNJ drops to 23-9 overall and 9-3 in the conference.

The game saw four lead changes and two ties before Rowan tacked on four runs in the top of the tenth to triumph, marking a split for the two teams on the season.

In the top of the sixth, junior John MCMullin (Woodbury, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) gave Rowan a 4-3 lead after collecting a three-run home run to left center field, his fourth of the year. The lead marked the Profs’ second lead of the game after opening with a 1-0 lead after the top of the second inning.

TCNJ would tie the action at 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning with a pair of unearned runs as senior Matt Barrett (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley) was hit by a pitch to reach and would score before pinch runner Elliot Stein (Middletown, DE/Middletown) scored on a throwing error by the short stop.

In the tenth, senior Joe Franceschini (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) reached after being hit by TCNJ’s junior Eric Gertie (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) and moved to second on a ground out. Senior Paul Urbanovich (Rutherford, NJ/St. Peter’s Prep) doubled to left center field driving in Franceschini. McMullin would reach on a strikeout passed ball and a wild pitch moved Urbanovich over. A Lion error allowed another Prof baserunner before junior Garrett Mull (Chatsworth, NJ/Lenape) would triple to drive in two runs and put Rowan up for good.

Rowan’s senior starting pitcher Ryan Kulik (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) worked six innings and gave five runs, all unearned and struck out six, while walking three in the no decision. Rookie Todd Burdette (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) worked three innings in earning his first collegiate victory and stands at 1-0 after three scoreless innings with no hits and three strikeouts. Junior reliever Kevin O’Hara (Clayton, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) earned his fifth save after an inning of work with a hit and a strikeout.

TCNJ’s senior Nick Amabile (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel) worked 5.2 innings for the Lions before senior Brad Kittle (Millville, NJ/Millville) entered the contest and worked 2.2 innings with just two hits and a pair of walks and strikeouts before junior Eric Gertie came in the contest and suffered the loss (3-2) after 1.2 innings of work allowing four runs of which only one was earned with a pair of hits and three strikeouts for the game.

At the plate, TCNJ’s senior catcher Rich Gawlak (Plainsboro, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro-South) was 1-5 but drove in a pair of runs for the Lions while senior Bill Kropp (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) and sophomore Chris Esperon (Union, NJ/Union Catholic) were each 2-5.

Rowan’s McMullin finished the day with a 205 effort with two runs scored and three RBIs, while Mull added a 2-3 effort with a pair of runs driven in.