Brick Man's Route 70 4th Of July March Honors A Grandfather, Vets

BRICK, NJ — Joshua Yajcaji wanted to do something to more than barbecue to commemorate the Fourth of July.

"My wife's grandfather passed away a few weeks ago," said Yajcaji, who has served in the U.S. Army National Guard for six years. In addition, two friends had recently lost their fathers. All were veterans. So about 4 p.m. on Friday, he hatched a plan: to march along Route 70 on Saturday to honor their service.

"I just wanted to do something special," he said. "It was one last walk with my wife's grandfather."

What started as a simple tribute turned into a horn-honking, traffic-stopping show of support that left Yajcaji and his family and friends teary and grateful for the patriotic display.

"It was a lot more than it was supposed to be," said Yajcaji, who was joined by fellow Guardsman De'Jon Farrell-Francis on the march, which started at the Home Depot just east of Route 88 in Brick and traveled to the Wawa on Route 70 near Massachusetts Avenue in Lakewood and back, covering nearly 14 miles total. Farrell-Francis, Yajcaji, and his wife, Dana, all shared video of the march on Facebook. You can see those below.

"When I was 17, I used to watch a man walk up and down Route 9 in a full kit, and I haven't see that since," said Yajcaji, 31, of Brick. So, like that man he watched years ago, Yajcaji donned a 35-pound rucksack and his 30-pound armored vest to march. In addition to carrying a flag on a pole, he strapped another flag to his rucksack: the one presented to his in-laws following the death of David Forman, his wife's grandfather, who had been a close part of their lives for the last nine years.

Forman served in World War II, and was a train operator for some time in Germany, Yajcaji said.

"He didn't talk about it a lot," Yajcaji said, adding that Forman would talk about the funny things that happened but didn't say much about the bad things he saw as a Jewish soldier. Yajcaji got permission to carry the flag honoring Forman's service from his father-in-law — "It's a respect thing among service members," he said — and also sought permission from his friends to carry the names of their fathers, who had just died as well.

The response they received was overwhelming, Yajcaji said, from people honking along the route to the help of the Lakewood Township police, who were called by someone who misinterpreted what they were doing.

"Someone thought we were protesting," he said with a laugh.

Lakewood police then escorted the two the remainder of the walk back to the Home Depot east of Route 88.

"It was great," Yajcaji said, expressing gratitude to the Lakewood police supervisor who helped them, even allowing his three children to ride in his truck.

It was the response at the Route 70-Route 88 intersection that struck a chord, however.

"Once everyone got out of their cars and started beeping, I started to tear up a bit," Yajcaji said. "In a world where we're forced to see such chaos, to know that some people are still in it with you is still incredible.

"Out of everything bad there's still people who believe in you," he said.

"I was honored to go with him," Farrell-Francis said. "I'm just glad we were able to get out there today to celebrate and honor our country. All the support is really appreciated, more importantly."

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