Driscoll friends, family to gather for annual walk
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer

MANALAPAN - On Sept. 9 at 10 a.m., members of the Yorktowne Club will host the fifth annual Walk With Joe at Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Route 33.

The event honors Patrick "Joe" Driscoll, a longtime resident of Manalapan and member of the Yorktowne Club who was among the more than 3,000 Americans who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.

Driscoll was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania as the passengers fought back against hijackers. Government officials believe the terrorists' target was the White House or the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

Ben Nachsin, 47, of Tinton Falls, will return for his fourth year of participation in the Walk With Joe. Nachsin will be accompanied by his 15-year-old son, who has been attending the event with Nachsin for the past three years, as have several others of Nachsin's friends and relatives.

Nachsin said his son has come to anticipate the event as much as he does.He said they share a commitment to the event and the idea that it honors the spirit of all who lost their lives that day. He said that by taking part in the walk they are helping to ensure that Americans never forget what happened on 9/11.

"Those 3,000 people should never be forgotten," Nachsin said.

Nachsin underwent a heart transplant seven years ago and said, not unexpectedly, that the operation made him look at life differently.

"Such an experience can't help but do that for you," he joked, responding to a question about his reason for taking part in the Walk With Joe.

Nachsin said he can't think of anything that gives him such a complete sense of involvement and accomplishment as sharing the annual event with his son and the close friends he starting bringing with him to the walk a few years ago.

"You come out of it with such a good feeling. I don't know how else to describe it. It's as simple as that," he said.

Betty Ann O'Malley is one of the coordinators of the event and works in the same office as Nachsin.

Nachsin says credit and thanks go from him to O'Malley for making him aware of and wanting to get involved in the Walk With Joe.

O'Malley, of Little Egg Harbor, said Nachsin is not alone in his need to continue to participate in the annual event. She said many of the participants have been involved in the walk since it began in 2002 and their enthusiasm for the event grows with each passing year.

Nachsin said he can relate and explain why he and the other participants return each year.

"We get more out of it than we put into it. Given that it's the least we can do and a great way to honor those lost, of course we come back," he said.

Those wishing to participate in the event pay $15 to register. Proceeds this year will benefit the Samaritan Center, Englishtown; the Flight 93 national memorial fund; and other agencies.

Since the Walk With Joe began, about $75,000 has been raised for nonprofit and charitable organizations. For more information visit www.walkwithjoe.com.