Freeport Herald 11-19-2020

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Freeport

HERALD Leader

FHs student killed in car crash

Fire devastates local businesses

students craft cards for vets

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$1.00

NOVEMBER 19 - 25, 2020

VOl. 85 NO. 47

Remembering a local hero Street renamed for Korean War Air Force veteran Thomas Blount and for years volunteering to clean up houses and clear snow in the village. When Yvonne Blount, of To honor Thomas, who died Freeport, was a young girl, she in 2013, and his legacy, village attended a meeting of veterans officials renamed East Dean in Hempstead with her father, Street, between Columbus and Thomas Blount, who had served Frederick avenues, Thomas in the U.S. Air Force Louis Blount Street during the Korean at a ceremony last War. Friday. There they were “My father was a approached by a kind and humble man who thanked m a n wh o n eve r Thomas for having bragged about his saved his life during life,” Yvonne said. the war, which sur“We thank the vilp r i s e d Yv o n n e , lage for this honor.” because her father “We’re so proud had rarely spoken of his accomplishabout his service. ments and that we Ever modest, Thomcan honor his legacy as shushed his felhere,” said Yvonne’s low veteran, Yvonne JaIdaN HIll niece Alanna Troy. remembered, to “Freeport is our avo i d m a k i n g a Great-granddaughter home, and we’ re scene. blessed to have this In time, Yvonne moment.” learned that her father’s hero“Thomas Blount’s legacy conism extended much further: He tinues to this day with his famiwas a recipient of the National ly,” Mayor Robert Kennedy Defense Medal of Honor for sav- added, “and as a fellow veteran, ing the lives of a number of sol- I’m proud to thank him for his diers in Korea. service to our nation.” After the war, Thomas never Blount was born in Anniston, stopped serving people, leading Ala., in 1933. When he turned 18, civil rights marches in Freeport and elsewhere in Nassau County, Continued on page 3

By RONNy REyEs rreyes@liherald.com

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Ronny Reyes/Herald

MEMBERs OF tHE U.S. Marine Corps joined the Freeport American Legion William Clinton Story Post 342 to lead last week’s Veterans Day ceremony.

Honoring Sgt. Robert Hendriks Village holds annual Veterans Day ceremony By RONNy REyEs rreyes@liherald.com

The Village of Freeport hosted its annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Freeport Memorial Library, where local veterans, elected officials and residents gathered to pay special tribute to the late Sgt. Robert Hendriks, a U.S. Marine who was killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2019 at age 25, and whose mother lives in Freeport. “We’re here to pay homage

to a member of our Freeport family who made the ultimate sacrifice,” said Ed Dukich, first vice commander of the Freeport American Legion William Clinton Story Post 342. “To his mother, Felicia Biondo-Arculeo, we’ll never forget your son and his sacrifice that he made for his country,” Mayor Robert Kennedy said. Hendriks, a member of the 2nd Battalion of the 25th Marine Regiment, was patrol-

ling near Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan with two fellow Marines when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. All three died. Hendriks was buried with full military honors at Long Island’s Calverton National Cemetery. He was the son of Biondo-Arculeo and Erik Hendriks Jr., and the brother of fellow Marine Sgt. Joseph Hendriks. Biondo-Arculeo works in the village treasurer’s department. Continued on page 9

think it’s important that he’s being honored, and I’m proud to be following in his legacy.


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