Firefighters prepare convoy to aid vets

Richard Tedesco

For the eighth consecutive year, three convoys of volunteer firefighters will be departing Floral Park next week to deliver gift bags, necessities and a message of thanks to wounded U.S. military veterans recuperating from their injuries at hospitals in North Carolina and Maryland.

“It’s very rewarding. You get to see the person face to face, which is great,” said Joseph O’Grady, a member of the Floral Park Fire Department and president of the Nassau County Firefighters Operation Wounded Warrior. “It very quickly brings into perspective how small some of our problems are in terms of the problems the families are experiencing because of their loved ones being injured.”

O’Grady said the veterans are pleased to know that others are thinking of them, and would travel so far just to let them know their service is appreciated.

“They’re very surprised that we’d take a trip all the way from New York just to say thanks and shake their hand,” he said.

The non-profit Nassau County Firefighters Operation Wounded Warrior grew from a simple idea that then Stewart Manor Fire Department Chief Dan O’Keefe had in 2004, to send Christmas gifts to a local resident serving with the U.S. Marines in Iraq. An outpouring of gifts led the Stewart Manor department to personally deliver some of them to veterans at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.

The following year, the gift-giving initiative continued with the Walter Read Army Hospital added to their itinerary. In 2005, the fire departments in Floral Park, New Hyde Park, Garden City Park, Garden City and Franklin Square joined in the effort as the initiative officially took shape as Operation Wounded Warrior and visits to Camp Lejeune and Fort Bragg in North Carolina were added in 2006.

Now 41 of 71 Nassau County fire departments participate, including the Williston Park, East Williston and Mineola Fire Departments, and approximately 60 volunteer firefighters will be departing in three convoys next week, O’Grady said.

On Wednesday, Dec. 5, the first convoy will leave for Fort Bragg, N.C. with a second convoy going to Camp Lejeune in N. C. on the following day. The two convoys join up for the return trip on Dec. 7. A third convoy will also depart on Friday to visit the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. 

O’Grady has made the trip three times himself and found the experience thoroughly satisfying each time.

In July, 50 Nassau County firefighters went to Fort Bragg as guests of the military base for an annual picnic with veterans and their families in appreciation of the firefighters’ efforts.

Along with gift bags – 150 on last year’s trips – the firefighters deliver clothing, toiletries, books and DVDs collected during the run-up to the annual December excursions. Collections are continuing this weekend on Dec. 1 and 2 at Centennial Hall at 29 Tulip Ave. in Floral Park. 

Monetary donations can also be made online at NCFF-OWW.com or by mail to Nassau County Firefighters-Operation Wounded Warrior Inc., 120 Covert Ave. Stewart Manor, N.Y.

O’Grady said T-shirts of New York sports teams, while not essential, are much appreciated by the veterans.

“They love New York sports teams T-shirts. They may not be necessary items but it does help them out emotionally,” he said.

This year’s fundraising events included a pancake breakfast at the Stewart Manor Fire Department and an oldies concert, “Roslyn Rocks for the Wounded Warriors,” with the Roslyn Fire Department as the host for the second consecutive year. The New Hyde Park Roadrunner’s Club also sponsored an 8K run to raise money in June. 

This year, O’Grady is anticipating that the convoys will probably not be delivering as many gift bags, clothing and necessities as they did last year. That’s simply because of the charity Long Islanders are showing for their neighbors who were adversely affected by the recent hurricane.

“The collections this year, naturally, are going to be less. It’ll be less because so many people here are donating to the needy on Long Island right now,” O’Grady said.

Operation Wounded Warrior has been doing double-duty in the storm aftermath as its members are also currently working to assist storm victims.

O’Grady said the fire departments involved with Operation Wounded Warrior are asking people to donate gift cards from local stores for storm victims in what he said will be an ongoing effort to give them assistance. He said the focus of that effort is to lend aid to active military duty members, veterans and their families, as well as others in need because of the hurricane.

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