Office of Public Relations

Pomona, NJ 08240

 

 

Stockton College Student Trustee Andrew Klimkowski Receives States Top Military Award for Service

 

New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal Awarded to Sea Bright Resident

 

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Contact: Tim Kelly

Stockton Public Relations

(609) 652-4950

 

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, NJ Richard Stockton College of New Jersey Student Trustee Andrew D. Klimkowski, a resident of Sea Bright, has received the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal, the states highest military award.

 

Klimkowski is currently serving in his first term on the Board as Student Trustee Alternate. He won an election of student body voters to win the seat on the Board of Trustees, Stocktons governing board. Next term, Klimkowski will be the Student Trustee voting member on the Board. A junior majoring in political science with a minor in history, he is considering a career in politics or possibly graduate studies.

 

Klimkowski is a military veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, having served in Southwest Asia in the global war on Terrorism.

 

Im proud to have served our great nation and the state of New Jersey, he said, and my prayers and wishes are with those brave men and women currently serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the world. I salute them, Klimkowski added.

 

According to the New Jersey Department of Military and Veteran Affairs:

 

The New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal was originally issued in 1858 for those who had distinguished themselves in the New Jersey Militia, but it was infrequently used until re-authorized by then Governor Tom Kean in 1988. After the Spanish American War, The Mexican Border Expedition and again after World War I, the State of New Jersey minted special medals for returning New Jersey veterans to honor their service. After World War II, Korea, Vietnam and subsequent combat actions no such medal was available. New Jersey government officials were looking for an appropriate way to

 

honor these returning combat veterans and to acknowledge the debt the state owed them for their service. The New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal was then authorized for that purpose. It is New Jerseys highest military award. Since its re-authorization in 1988, more than 10,000 of the medals have been awarded to combat vets from around the state.

 

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