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Page 13 Vol. 35 No. 20
MAY 9 - 15, 2024
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Gold Star mom named parade grand marshal season, against Army, 30-28. Winchester was killed in action on Sept. 3, 2004, while he Marianna Winchester, a was serving his second tour of Gold Star mother, local school- duty in Iraq, when an improteacher and Rockville Centre vised explosive device detonatresident for nearly 50 years, ed near his vehicle, killing will lead the annual Memorial three other Marines as well. He was 25. Day Parade on May 27. “My life changed in a split “Every day is Memorial Day second,” his mothas far as I’m coner recalled. “Time c e r n e d , ” Wi n may pass, but the chester said. “We pain doesn’t.” wouldn’t have what It has been 20 we have today if we years since her son didn’t have Memodied, but she said r i a l D a y. I t ’ s that no one annibecause of the versary has felt any t h o u s a n d s w h o MARIANNA dif ferent or held have died that have WINchEStER more importance given us the free- Gold Star mother than the rest. dom that we have “It’s all the today.” Winchester, 77, grew up in a same,” Marianna said. “Time military household. Her father heals nothing.” While she still feels the pain fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal in World War II. Her of losing her son, she refuses to brother served in Vietnam. And allow it to make her bitter. her son, Marine Corps Lt. Ron- “This was his dream. This was ald Winchester, served two his desire,” she said. “Up until tours with ground infantry in the very last day that we spoke, I supported him in everything Iraq. He graduated from the U.S. he did.” And she has helped keep Naval Academy in 2001. He was a lineman and a captain of the Ronnie’s memory alive by dediNavy football team, and in 2000 cating herself to making a difhe led the Midshipmen to victo- ference in the lives of others — ry in their biggest game of the Continued on page 16
By DANIEl oFFNER
doffner@liherald.com
Tim Baker/Herald
Photo Finish Erica Martin, 45, of Rockville Centre, is all smiles as she crosses the finish line during the 2024 Jovia Long Island Half Marathon on Sunday, May 5. She finished 270 of 1,431 overall runners with a final time of 1 hour and 56 minutes.
Off-duty firefighter saves a life
Ex-Chief John Hennig uses CPR to save a man in Florida By DANIEl oFFNER doffner@liherald.com
Ex-Chief John Hennig of the Rockville Centre Fire Department was out enjoying a relaxing day of golf while vacationing with his family in Cocoa Beach, Florida, in January 2023, when something unexpected happened. While playing with his brother on the 18th hole, Hennig turned to look at the ninth green and spotted two men in a golf cart. It was at that moment that he noticed one of the men suddenly collapsed. Hennig, 62, a former New York City police officer and an emergency medical technician with Floodlight Rescue Company No. 1, knew
what to do and immediately sprung into action. He raced to see what had happened. Hennig noticed that the man’s cousin was on a FaceTime call with 9-1-1 and informed him that he is a New York state-certified EMT. With time being a factor, Henning was able to quickly determine that the man had gone into cardiac arrest and did not have a pulse. “He wasn’t looking good,” Henning said. “I used CPR and got him back in a couple of minutes, but then he went out again.” After several minutes of giving chest compressions, Hennig was able to get a pulse. He recalls hearing the sound of the Cocoa Beach Fire Department approaching in the distance Continued on page 5
W
e have to do more for our veterans.