Morris County leaders honored nine of their own during an annual Veterans Day ceremony , including a Civil War hero who survived the infamous Andersonville Prison before returning home to serve as mayor of Boonton, a fire chief, a county freeholder and a state assemblyman.

Along the way, Cpl. Charles Fern Hopkins, Sr., became known throughout the community as the “Grand Old Man of Boonton.”

In advance of the Veterans Day holiday on Tuesday, Nov. 11, local legislators joined the county Board of Commissioners on Nov. 5 to present Resolutions of Honor and Distinguished Military Service Medals to eight living veterans, including former members of the U.S. Navy, Army and Army Reserves.

Reaching further back into history, the Commissioners also bestowed their "Veteran of Valor" award on Hop

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