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Oceanside/Island Park Herald 05-04-2023

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_________ Oceanside/island park ________

HERALD

Celebrating

LOOK InsIde

May 4, 2023

Celebrating Mom Celebrating nurses

Inside

VOL. 58 nO. 19

school honors Glenn Terry

Canasta coming to O’side library

Page 11

Page 16

MAY 4 - 10, 2023

$1.00

ROOTED IN STRENGTH

Honor Flight takes veterans on trip to D.C. By KARInA KOVAC kkovac@liherald.com

Karina Kovac/Herald

VIeTnAM WAR VeTeRAn William Taylor in his Oceanside residence with a hat he wore through the Vietnam War, which he marked with an X every day he was there.

In 1969, Oceanside resident William Taylor, then 20, received a draft letter to go to Vietnam. He left college in his second year and decided to accelerate his draft to show the government that he wasn’t resisting the orders. He did clerical work in service and arrived home safely after 13 and a half months. This past Saturday, Taylor and 46 other veterans were taken on a flight to Washington, D.C., by Honor Flight Long Island to visit the war memorials. According to Bill Jones, HFLI president, West Point 1972 graduate and Army veteran, “This special flight includes 38 Vietnam War veterans who will receive long overdue recognition and thanks for their service. They’ll be accompanied on this flight by two World War II veterans and

seven Korean War veterans. What this flight really represents is a ‘big hug’ to all our veterans from Honor Flight, their families and supporters, who make such flights possible.” Taylor, now 73, started his service by reporting for duty at the Knights of Columbus in Valley Stream. From there he was shipped off to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn and moved for basic training to Fort Jackson in South Carolina. There he was trained in clerical work and learned how to type 20 words a minute with no previous typing experience. He started his journey to Vietnam after reporting to Fort Lewis in Washington at the end of January 1970. He flew to Alaska, then Japan, then to Vietnam on a 24-hour flight. On Jan. 31, 1970, he landed and for the first time he saw the Vietnamese in straw hats and the beautiful scenery. Continued on page 5

Islanders surprise family, F.D. with playoff tickets By KARInA KOVAC kkovac@liherald.com

The New York Islanders gave the Graham family of Oceanside, and four other families, the surprise of a lifetime on April 22. Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky gave all the families playoff tickets for the April 23 playoff game against the Carolina Hurricanes. The Grahams, whose 1-yearold son Cooper has been fighti n g n e u ro bl a s t o m a , s a d ly received a new diagnosis a few days after the surprise: The cancer has spread and is no longer treatable. But for one Sunday, the family came together to cheer on their favorite team, which unfortunately lost the

game, 5-2. Parents Rachel and Michael Graham grew up watching the Islanders in their homes, and when they had their kids — Riley, 5, and Cooper — they all started watching the games together. So, as longtime Islanders fans, they were thrilled to receive the tickets and attend the game at the UBS Arena, where they had never been. Ledecky also had another surprise: tickets for Michael’s firehouse, Hose Company No. 3, along with T-shirts and hats. Rachel expressed her gratitude for the gesture and continued support her family has received, within and beyond the community, in their time of need. “There aren’t really words

COOpeR GRAhAM Is held by his grandfather Andy Pergament, alongside Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky, who surprised the Graham family with playoff tickets last weekend.

Daniel Tommasino

to describe the feeling that our community has been behind us this entire time. And it’s really, just, there aren’t any words,” she said. The Islanders started a relaContinued on page 2


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