Dan Grote

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP — Officials on Saturday held a dedication ceremony for the Rio Grande post office, now known as the Carlton H. Hand Post Office Building.

Local officials, U.S. Postal Service representatives and members of the Hand family were in attendance.

Hand, a lifelong resident of the Rio Grande section of the township, was born Oct. 14, 1917, and served during World War II in the Army's 88th Infantry Division.

On Oct. 4, 1944, near Campo Di Vanino, Italy, then-Technical Sgt. Hand assaulted German positions under heavy fire, according to biographical information provided by the Postal Service. With snipers shooting at him from the windows of one of the buildings and grenades being hurled at him, Hand abandoned his radio, secured grenades from one of his comrades, ran to

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