Washington is taking action to rename two North Jersey post offices after fallen members of the military.

A bill President Obama signed Wednesday officially renames Westwood's post office to honor Marine Sgt. Christopher Hrbek, who was killed in Afghanistan in January.

The enactment came on the same day the House debated renaming Carlstadt's post office after Staff Sgt. Frank T. Carvill and Lance Cpl. Michael A. Schwarz, who were killed in Iraq two years apart.

Hrbek posthumously received a Bronze Star with valor for racing under hostile fire in December to save a fellow Marine who had stepped on an explosive device. Weeks later, Hrbek himself was killed by another improvised bomb.

He was 25 at the time, and had been a Marine since 18, serving three tours in Iraq before deploying to Afghanistan in November.

The stepson of Westwood fire captain JayMee Hodges, Hrbek had been a member of the borough's volunteer fire department since he was 16. His two brothers work in the New York City Fire Department, and Hrbek was making preparations to work there after his service in the Marines ended.

The Hrbek bill was sponsored by Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, and Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez, both D-N.J.

Carlstadt's post office would be named after two other fallen fighters under a bill sponsored by Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn.

A vote is scheduled for later today.

Carvill was a 20-year veteran of the New Jersey Army National Guard who had worked as a paralegal in the World Trade Center at the time of terrorist attacks in 1993 and 2001. He was killed in Baghdad in June 2004 during an attack with improvised explosives and rocket-propelled grenades. Carvill was 51, making him one of the oldest soldiers to die in Iraq.

Schwarz had joined the Marines out of high school, and his father said he wore camouflage fatigues under his cap and gown at graduation.

He was 20 when he was killed by a sniper in Anbar province in November 2006.

"These were great American heroes who lost their lives defending our country's interests," said Rothman. He said their names on the post office would "remind everyone, whether they knew these two heroes or not, of the price of liberty."

Carvill and Schwarz are already memorialized in plaques in Carlstadt Borough Hall as part of a stained glass memorial to the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Carlstadt also renamed part of Passaic Avenue after Carvill in October 2004.

E-mail: jackson@northjersey.com

Washington is taking action to rename two North Jersey post offices after fallen members of the military.


Hrbek, 25, was killed by an improvised bomb in Afghanistan.

A bill President Obama signed Wednesday officially renames Westwood's post office to honor Marine Sgt. Christopher Hrbek, who was killed in Afghanistan in January.

The enactment came on the same day the House debated renaming Carlstadt's post office after Staff Sgt. Frank T. Carvill and Lance Cpl. Michael A. Schwarz, who were killed in Iraq two years apart.

Hrbek posthumously received a Bronze Star with valor for racing under hostile fire in December to save a fellow Marine who had stepped on an explosive device. Weeks later, Hrbek himself was killed by another improvised bomb.

He was 25 at the time, and had been a Marine since 18, serving three tours in Iraq before deploying to Afghanistan in November.

The stepson of Westwood fire captain JayMee Hodges, Hrbek had been a member of the borough's volunteer fire department since he was 16. His two brothers work in the New York City Fire Department, and Hrbek was making preparations to work there after his service in the Marines ended.

The Hrbek bill was sponsored by Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, and Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez, both D-N.J.

Carlstadt's post office would be named after two other fallen fighters under a bill sponsored by Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn.

A vote is scheduled for later today.

Carvill was a 20-year veteran of the New Jersey Army National Guard who had worked as a paralegal in the World Trade Center at the time of terrorist attacks in 1993 and 2001. He was killed in Baghdad in June 2004 during an attack with improvised explosives and rocket-propelled grenades. Carvill was 51, making him one of the oldest soldiers to die in Iraq.

Schwarz had joined the Marines out of high school, and his father said he wore camouflage fatigues under his cap and gown at graduation.

He was 20 when he was killed by a sniper in Anbar province in November 2006.

"These were great American heroes who lost their lives defending our country's interests," said Rothman. He said their names on the post office would "remind everyone, whether they knew these two heroes or not, of the price of liberty."

Carvill and Schwarz are already memorialized in plaques in Carlstadt Borough Hall as part of a stained glass memorial to the World Trade Center attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Carlstadt also renamed part of Passaic Avenue after Carvill in October 2004.