Community Corner

Mineola Unveils New Plaque for Residents Lost in Vietnam

Names of five soldiers from village unveiled at Veteran's Day ceremony.

The Village of Mineola along with the VFW and American Legion unveiled a ceremonial plaquestone at Friday for Veteran’s Day to honor five servicemen from the village who lost their lives during the Vietnam War.

The unveiling of the plaque took place during the village’s annual Veteran’s Day ceremonies with the five servicemen’s names on the plaque, including Peter Geoghan, Joseph Gilbert and Kenneth Scruton. One of the names is Thomas DeLuca, a friend of Manny Grillo and Thomas Nicholas Motto, who also attended high school with the now-VFW commander. 

While DeLuca and Motto have their own individual plaques near the library parking lot,  Grillo “felt it was time, it’s been 50 years since the war and I felt it was time that we honored the other men along with Tommy and Tommy.”

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Standing over the plaque, which was unveiled at the conclusion of the ceremony, Grillo told the family members that were gathered there that “though it might bring some pain, but I want you to know we’ll never forget, ever. Their names will be here for a long time.”

During Vietnam there were a total of 153,303 wounded servicemen, 2,583 POW or MIA and 58,156 killed.

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“We are grateful... for those who have served our country with honor, to keep us safe and to preserve the liberties that have been endowed to us by our Creator,” Maj. Phillip Wittenberg of the Salvation Army said in his benediction. “We thank you for them and we remember them.”

Upwards of 100 residents came out to the ceremony, braving some of the blustery winds to honor the veterans.

“Here today, we take time from our everyday lives to recognize, honor and pay tribute to them; tribute to the men and women who served our country and to remember the five members of our community who paid the price of freedom with their lives,” Mineola said, noting of their families that “the Village of Mineola will always remember the sacrifices and hardships they have also endured since their loss.”

One of those veterans who made it back was John DaVanzo, who said “this day is very significant, it’s a difficult day, it’s a day when a lot of the veterans think back about what happened in the old days,” remembering how his ship was sunk two days following the Normandy invasion of D-Day.

“We also can take solace in the fact that no matter what the foe is, good always prevails, freedom always wins and we always endure,” deputy mayor Paul Pereira said. “We know that in the end, good people with good intentions and people who protect liberty and freedom will always win out.”

Having a number of nights prior, village trustee Lawrence Werther told the crows that when he welcomed them back from Afghanistan “some of them smiled, some of them in a very shy and bashful way turned their face aside and I realized that these people go out there and they carry their personalities into war and they are our heroes. I was gratified, I was honored to shake their hand; that’s the kind of welcome that we need to have for our veterans.”

Taking note of the presence of both Cub Scout Troop 225 and Boy Scout Troop 45 at the ceremony providing color guard duties, involving them in civic affairs, noted that “what we are doing here today is special; it doesn’t happen by accident.”


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