Matt Piscopo, a freshman at County Prep High School in Jersey City and aspiring Eagle Scout, is collaborating with Mayor James Davis to install thousands of veteran photographs at City Hall in a project Piscopo dubbed, “Hall of Heroes.” The goal is to honor Bayonne veterans by installing a photograph of every veteran from Bayonne lining the first-floor hallway of City Hall.
“We knew we wanted to do something special for veterans in Bayonne,” said Piscopo, who met the mayor at the 9/11 anniversary ceremony at the Teardrop Memorial when Piscopo brought up the idea. “We collaborated on key points, and hopefully we can get this [dedication] up.”
“Anybody who ever lived in Bayonne at any point in their life that served, if you send us your photo with your name, years you served, and what branch, we’re going to start putting everybody’s photos on the walls of Bayonne City Hall,” said Mayor James Davis after pointing to a photograph on the wall of his office of his father, who will be included in the collection.Service people interested in submitting must have been honorably discharged to qualify.
Eagle path
The project is part of Piscopo’s “Service Project” merit badge, which is one of a larger group of 21 merit badges, including 11 sub-badges, required to achieve the status of Eagle Scout. Piscopo, who’s been in Boy Scouts since 6th grade as a Tiger Scout with iron-on patches, has four uncles, a cousin, grandfather, and great-grandfather who served in the armed forces, three of whom are from Bayonne.
“It’s a big stage for him,” said his Scout leader, Robert W. Archibald.“Only three to four percent of boys who join scouting obtain the rank of Eagle.”
Service Project merits come with strict guidelines. He is actively involved in his troop’s Boy Scout council, which grants approvals for one another’s projects.
Piscopo will also have to pursue merit badges in areas like swimming, environmental science, physical fitness, and emergency preparation in order to become an Eagle Scout, in about 3 or 4 years. His “Hall of Heroes” project will be part of the “citizenship in the community, nation, and world” portion of his merit requirements.
Piscopo hopes his photo collection will pay homage to Bayonne veterans in a new way. “Vets can see their own picture at City Hall, and it will be there forever,” he said.
Photographs of service members can be sent to City Hall at 630 Avenue C, Bayonne, NJ 07002. For more information, call (201) 858-6000.
Rory Pasquariello may be reached at roryp@hudsonreporter.com
