By Daniel Nee
August 6, 2025

The Veterans Administration outpatient clinic in Toms River is one step closer to being named in honor of World War II hero, and Toms River resident, Leonard “Bud” Lomell following vote by the U.S. Senate to adopt a resolution ordering the naming.

The Senate approved the naming bill via unanimous consent in a rare Sunday session over the weekend. The House of Representatives previously passed the same resolution, and the legislation now requires a president signature, which is expected imminently.

“It is especially fitting that Bud’s wife, Charlotte, who will turn 104 in September, his daughter, Renee, and his other family members and friends will get to witness their beloved Bud being honored with the naming of this clinic, a medical facility which is already providing quality medical care to veterans from his hometown of Toms River, as well as the fourth congressional district at large,” said U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4) who sponsored the House version of the resolution.

The new, state-of-the-art VA facility that will soon bear Lomell’s name first opened last October. It has already served more than 8,000 veterans, providing primary and specialty care to the growing and aging veterans community in Ocean County, Smtih’s office said in a statement. This new facility replaced the now-shuttered Brick VA outpatient clinic, for which Smith originally secured funding in 1991.

The Toms River VA Outpatient Clinic. (File Photo)

Lomell, an Army Ranger, is best known for playing a heroic role in the D-Day invasion in the war’s European theater.

On D-Day, as the first sergeant of the newly-formed D Company, Lomell was tasked with leading his fellow Rangers in the “nearly impossible mission” of scaling the 100-foot cliffs at Pointe du Hoc and destroying a battery of German 155mm artillery guns, which had a range of 10-15 miles and could fire on multiple allied landing points, jeopardizing the entire invasion.

Despite sustaining a bullet wound in his side during the landing, Lomell was one of the first Rangers to climb up the cliffs. With fellow Ranger Sgt. Jack Kuhn providing cover, Lomell used thermite grenades to destroy the guns, breaking the sights with the butt of his rifle. Historian Stephen Ambrose once described Lomell as the single individual besides Allied Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower who was most responsible for the success of the D-Day invasion.

“We owe our enduring gratitude to Bud and all of the other servicemen who fearlessly scaled those cliffs on D-Day,” said Smith, who recounted Lomell’s heroism in a speech he gave on the floor of the House of Representatives before the legislation’s passage. “As President Reagan famously put it in his speech at Pointe du Hoc, the men who invaded Normandy, including and most especially Bud Lomell, were ‘the heroes who helped end the war.’”

Lomell received the Distinguished Service Cross — the second highest military decoration bestowed by the U.S. Army — as well as a rare battlefield promotion to Second Lieutenant. Lomell later received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart with two Oak Leaf Clusters, and the French Legion of Honor medals for his service on D-Day, as well as his likewise-heroic participation in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge.

Lomell returned to Toms River after his service in the Army came to an end in December 1945, and married his long-term girlfriend and public health nurse, Charlotte Ewart. In addition to their three daughters — Georgine, Pauline, and Renee — the Lomells also raised as their own Elizabeth “Buffy” and Jay Bergson, the children of Charlotte’s sister who had passed away unexpectedly.

He served as the first director of the newly organized Ocean County Veterans Service Bureau to assist veterans with their transition to civilian life. Lomell also remained close with his fellow Rangers, who Renee refers to as her “uncles,” and was elected President of the Ranger Battalion Association of World War II in 1965.

After stepping down from the Veterans Service Bureau, Lomell went to law school on the GI Bill and later founded one of Ocean County’s largest law firms. He also served as president of the Ocean County Bar Association, a director of the First National Bank of Toms River, a member of the Dover Township Board of Education, and a co-founder of the Garden State Philharmonic Symphony Society.

This article was published online on August 6, 2025 and can be found at
https://shorebeat.com/tomsriver/2025/08/u-s-senate-passes-resolution-naming-toms-river-va-clinic-for-wwii-hero-bud-lomell/