Five Ridgewood residents from same neighborhood serve in the military
FEBRUARY 25, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015, 6:25 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
FOR THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
When Sam Combs, Pat Kiernan, Ryan Mansbach and Ben Rogers were small-yet-rough-and-tough neighbors growing up on South Irving Street and Arden Court, they played together a lot: riding scooters in the street, playing manhunt and street hockey, and doing bike jumps in the nearby woods.
It was a fun time, and a good time for bonding for four Ridgewood kids living on a dead end block, with each other’s houses in sight.
But years later, the four friends, plus Masbach’s older sister Melanie, have given up the kid stuff in favor of more strenuous activities – manning submarines, surveying the Pacific Ocean for mines, or piloting Army and Navy aircrafts.
Grown up and scattered around the country, the five neighbors now also have U.S. military service in common.
Melanie Mansbach, now 29, was the first on the block to express a military interest, attending West Point several years ago and becoming an officer. She was later deployed to Afghanistan.
The four neighborhood “boys” are now all either officers or soon-to-be officers in the U.S. Army or U.S. Navy.
Subtle neighborhood inspiration might have a little to do with this, but there was no consensus on that among the four young men, since they all took different paths into the military and had several influences. (Melanie, who is in training, was unavailable for an interview.)
Impressive, but they were not the first…others at or near that intersection served in the Army and Navy in the 80’s (e.g., cold war antisubmarine aircraft navigation officer) and in the 90’s (surface combatant ship during first gulf war). So either these kids had no other options in life (as most anti-military nutcase tend to claim), or, more likely, there is an ample sense of duty to country being impressed upon them from a young age.
Shelby and Jacob Taylor, a sister and brother from Ridgewood also currently serving in the Marines
I’m trying to find in this article where it says they are the first. Maybe I’m missing it. How about a simple thank you or something positive like that.
An ample sense of duty to country comes shining through to those inclined to believe such a thing is possible in a rational mind. A love of country, also, that would be easy to perceive in the way they express and conduct themselves on a daily basis. Meaning every one of these five neighbors would easily pass the Giuliani test with flying colors, reflecting great credit on their parents and neighbors.
In other words-thank you.
I respect and thank them for their service.
Much thanks and respect to all who chose to serve in the Armed Services.
Many of my Air Force member friends moved to Ridgewood in 1948 right in the Ridgewood Lawns district.
Well over a hundred — and still maintain contact. Great bunch of guys.
Live in Convent Station NJ (so no where near the intersection) and I agree with the third anonymous; they didn’t write this or ask for it, so a simple thank you should have sufficed. What a strange comment. God bless them all. By the way Ridgewood, whats with the anonymous?
Live in Convent Station NJ (so no where near the intersection) and I agree with the third anonymous; they didn’t write this or ask for it, so a simple thank you should have sufficed. What a strange comment. God bless them all. By the way Ridgewood, whats with the anonymous?