Air Force Chaplain is Grand Marshal For Monday's New Brunswick-Highland Park Memorial Day Parade
By Chuck O'Donnell,
2024-05-24
Air Force chaplain Lt. Louis A. Mattina is the grand marshal for Monday's Memorial Day Parade in New Brunswick and Highland Park. He is the 514 Air Mobility Wing Chaplain at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, where he provides counseling, unit visitation, invocations and advises leadership on all areas of morale, ethics, religious accommodations and spiritual well-being. Credits: TAPinto New Brunswick
NEW BRUNSWICK and HIGHLAND PARK – The grand marshal of Monday’s annual Memorial Day Parade is an Air Force chaplain who serves the spiritual needs of military personnel in many ways.
Lt. Louis A. Mattina is the 514 Air Mobility Wing Chaplain at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, where he provides counseling, unit visitation, invocations and advises leadership on all areas of morale, ethics, religious accommodations and spiritual well-being.
He also celebrates baptisms, weddings, funerals and presides at liturgical services.
This year’s annual Veterans Day event will begin in New Brunswick, with the laying of a wreath at the grave of the unknown soldier in Willow Grove Cemetery.
After a short program in Monument Square Park, the parade route will move across the Albany Street Bridge. In Highland Park, a short ceremony will be held at the Doughboy statue.
Mattina was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1995 by the Diocese of Metuchen. He is endorsed by the Archdiocese for Military Services, USA, to serve as a chaplain.
He was commissioned in the U.S. Air Force Reserves in 2010 as an individual mobilization augmentee (reservist), and was assigned to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
In 2013, Mattina was activated for a 35-day backfill tour at Dover Air Force Base, where he served as the 436 th Airflift Wing Maintenance Group chaplain. The following year, he served a 58-day active-duty assignment at Dover Air Force Base as chaplain to the 436 th Airlift Wing Mission Suppport Group and served at the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations.
Starting in 2015, he performed a 256-day active-duty contingency tour in support of Operation Enduring Freedom at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst as the primary chaplain to the Expeditionary Center, and Catholic priest for the joint base Catholic community.
In 2017, he was activated for a 125-day tour at Hurlburt Field in Florida as the individual mobilization augmentee (reservist) to the deputy wing chaplain and unit chaplain for the special operations maintenance group.
He was activated again in 2019, serving a 94-day backfill tour at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, as the individual mobilization augmentee (reservist) to the deputy wing chaplain.
He was deployed in 2021 for 31 days in support of Operations Allies Welcome at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
In 2023, Mattina was deployed for 185 days 378 th Air Expeditionary Wing at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
Prior to his current position, he served 29 years in parish, Hispanic ministry, prison and hospital ministries.
He is fluent in Spanish and previously served in civilian pastoral ministries in Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Peru and Cuba.
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