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3 years ago · by · 0 comments

Neighbors Raise Money For WWII Vet After House Fire

A New Jersey community raised $157,000 for a former Marine and retired mailman who lost everything in a house fire. World War II veteran Paul Roberts’s house caught on fire on March 14th and while the 94 year old escaped to safety at his neighbor’s house, the only items to survive the blaze were a collection of his photo albums. Roberts, who went to Nagasaki with the Marines after the United States dropped the atomic bomb there, has received a lot of support to help put his life back together.

His neighbor, retired firefighter Rich Obermayer, shares a bond with Roberts. Rich’s daughter, Erin, also became close with the veteran when they got to spend more time together during the pandemic. The fire isn’t the only tragedy Roberts has experienced. He lost his daughter, Joan, to a rare disease, as well as his son, Mark. His home was also flooded in 2007 during Hurricane Sandy, but was eventually restored. Erin and her father decided to help Roberts by creating a GoFundMe page to help him recover.

The GoFundMe explains “At 94, Paul knows he only has a short time left with us. He was hoping he could stay in his home until his death, as he has been a staple here in Ship Bottom for over 50 years. With the rising cost of Property taxes, he was barely able to pay his tax bill with his pension. He survived Covid in March 2021, probably because of all the walking he did as a mailman. Paul would like to be able to end his time here on earth in his favorite place. He had insurance, but because the house was so old, most of the construction was out of code. Within three days the town notified him that he must have the house torn down. We are hoping with crowd source funding, we can give him the resources to help him in rebuilding a new house.”

The organizers of the GoFundMe say most of the donations came from people they don’t know as Marines from all over the country have given donations. Roberts’ neighbors are now hoping to raise enough money to provide him with financial support. Neighbor Richard Obermayer said
“He’s the whole neighborhood, he’s like the mayor and has always had such a positive outlook.” Roberts is grateful for everything his community and the many people online have done for him.
“There’s a lot of good people in this world, I found out. I don’t know what I would have done without them. I appreciate everything. God bless you all” Roberts said.

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