LVFD Delivers Gifts To Wounded Warriors
On Thursday evening Dec. 3rd a small contingent of Locust Valley firefighters received a blessing from Deacon Ted Kolakowski as they then proceeded to Floral Park to pick up the last of the two 26 ft. U-Haul trucks, both donated vehicles having been previously loaded with multiple boxes of food, clothing, gifts, cards and good wishes from the hearts of the people throughout Nassau County.
The volunteer fire departments through the coordination of the Operation Wounded Warrior project had independently raised funds, including Locust Valley Fire Department's highly successful spaghetti dinner last October, to effectuate the provision of these gifts for the benefit and spirit of the injured veterans returning from the hostilities of Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior contingents had left earlier in the day and the previous day, bound for Fort Bragg, Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Medical Center. LVFD members embarked for the Marine base at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. After a few hours of rest at Quantico, Virginia, LVFD would rendezvous with the Fort Bragg contingent from the Stewart Manor, Floral Park, Garden City Park, and Port Washington Fire Departments among others, for the final convoy into Camp Lejeune. The gifts were then distributed and gratefully received by these young veterans, many of whom still bore the scars and guarded movements from post-operative care. The visiting firefighters were later quartered at the base, and following a departure breakfast in conjunction with the Hope for the Warriors organization, the firefighters headed back home, some returning to Bethesda and Walter Reed, others making a special detour east to visit with the family of Sgt. Eric Edmundson, a critically wounded veteran from the U.S.Army's 14th Calvary.
The anticipation and appreciation as expressed by these recipient Marines and soldiers was equally mirrored by the thirty men and women of the Nassau fire departments bearing these care packages. Co-Chairman Paul Marecki summed it up by saying, "The trip itself is a very humbling experience. There is no other greater feeling in the world than helping a U.S. servicemember who has been wounded in combat. It is the strangest thing when shake your hand and say "Thank You". You say to yourself wait a minute, aren't I hear to thank them? It is a privilege and an honor to attend this trip and to meet these brave men and women who defend our freedom. To help them in any way possible is the least that I can do. It's wonderful to see that all the hard work we put into our spaghetti dinner and the money we raised actually going to such an amazing cause. And to be a part of group of people who goes down to Camp Lejeune and see what the money we raised has done, well it's just an overwhelming and amazing feeling, something I can't describe fully with words."
LVFD Chief Jeffrey Baker and the Operation Wounded Warrior Co-Chairs Paul Long, Paul Marecki and Brian Plumb are especially grateful to our local and neighboring communities for enabling us to raise $21,056 from our spaghetti dinner this past October, all of which went to Operation Wounded Warrior. Locust Valley FD is proud to have been the largest contributor to OWW this year, out of all of the participating Nassau County Fire Departments.
