Montville Veteran Honored At Memorial Day Ceremony

MONTVILLE, NJ — A Montville veteran was honored at the annual county Memorial Day Ceremony on Wednesday.

Victor Camaya was awarded the Morris County Distinguished Military Service Medal in recognition of his service in the Army. He was one of seven local veterans honored.

"We in Morris County honor those Americans, like Amery Vasso, who have served with honor in the armed forces, and we honor those Americans who have given their lives while serving to preserve our freedoms," Freeholder Director Doug Cabana said at today’s event. "As President Harry Truman said, ‘Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.'"

The County Distinguished Military Service Medal features the county seal and is unique to Morris County. Each medal has a striped ribbon with the specific color of the conflict during which the veteran served. Since the program began in 2000, almost 10,000 medals have been presented.

The county provided the following information on Camaya's service:

Victor E. Camaya grew up in Pompton Plains and attended Pequannock High School, playing soccer and basketball, and was chosen for the National Honor Society.

He was nominated by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen to attend West Point and graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in electrical engineering.

He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army and served from 2000-2005.

Mr. Camaya attended Officer Basic and Captain’s Career Courses at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo; was a 3rd Infantry Division combat engineer officer in Fort Stewart, GA, and served in the 555th Engineer Brigade in Fort Lewis, WA.

Specialty training included airborne school at Fort Benning, GA and sapper school for combat engineers at Fort Leonard Wood.

He deployed overseas twice, serving one tour in Kosovo in 2001 and one tour in Kuwait and Iraq in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom, in an area of imminent danger.

He received the Bronze Star, two Army Commendation medals, National Defense Service medal, Kosovo Campaign medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary medal, Army Service medal, NATO medal and Overseas Service Bar.

Mr. Camaya was honorably discharged as captain in 2005.

He became a Special Agent with the FBI in 2005, assigned to the New York Field Office, and now works in the Newark Field Office.

He was promoted to Supervisory Special Agent in 2011, working on counterterrorism and cyber security.

Victor received the FBI Director's Award for Excellence in International Operations in 2016 for his role in the investigation and prosecution of the murder of a U.S. diplomat in North Africa.
He received the Attorney General's Distinguished Service Award in 2018 for the investigation and prosecution of an individual involved in the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that resulted in the deaths of four Americans.

Mr. Camaya is married to his wonderful wife, Lori Anne Camaya, and has two amazing kids, daughter Cameron and son Christopher.

He enjoys playing basketball and soccer, as well as being involved in his children's sports and activities.

Although he is the son of immigrants from the Philippines, he says New Jersey has always been home to him.