Post office to be named for local hero Brian Parrello

| 28 Sep 2011 | 02:47

    WASHINGTON, DC — Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) introduced a bill which would name the West Milford Post Office the "Brian P. Parrello Post Office Building." Lance Corporal Parrello was killed on January 1, 2005, in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, as a result of hostile fire. "Lance Cpl. Brian Parrello was an honorable defender of liberty who served with dignity and honor as a soldier in Iraq, and he deserves our gratitude and respect," said the congressman. "His loss causes us to reflect on the bravery demonstrated by our men and women in uniform as they carry out their obligations in the face of danger. I believe that renaming this U.S. Post Office in his honor is something on which the Congress can surely agree." Parrello graduated from West Milford High School in 2003, where he had been a member of both the football and hockey teams. Having been intensely distressed by the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center, Parello chose to join U.S. Marine Corps after graduation. His teachers, coaches, and peers have called him a real leader and a role model, someone who always gave 150 percent, a person who led by example and with a big heart. Parello's father, Nino, is a rural carrier for the post office. But it was Post Master Joe Inserra who went before the town council — as a resident, not a post master — and proposed honoring the marine in this manner. "It's like a family here at the post office and we were all deeply affected by Brian's sacrifice," said Inserra. "I believe it's the right thing to do." Rep. Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02) signed on as an original cosponsor of the bill. According to the Congressional Research Service, before a resolution to rename a U.S. Post Office in honor of an individual is allowed to be considered by the House of Representatives, all members of that state's delegation must sign on as cosponsors of the bill.