The Long Island Museum (LIM) has recently partnered with the Long Island State Veterans Home (LISVH) at Stony Brook University for a letter writing project.
In conjunction with the Museum’s At Home With LIM projects, a series of online family art and history activities based on the museum’s collection, historic buildings and grounds, the Student/Veteran Pen Pal Project takes young people on a journey through the art and history of penmanship in the 19th century.
Long Island students from kindergarten through 12th grade are invited to participate and are asked to follow the instructions from the printable activity guide that can be downloaded from the museum’s website.
The penmanship lesson teaches students how to write a letter, preferably in Spencerian script, to one of the veterans by using the greeting “Dear Veteran” and sharing with them what school is like today, and asking them what school had been like for them.
“In the 1800s there was no such thing as email, phones, or FaceTime. The main way people were able to communicate with others who didn’t live near them was to write letters,” said Lisa Unander, Director of Education at the LIM.
“During these difficult times, the LIM believes in the power of the arts to unite us. The Student/Veteran Pen Pal Project allows for children to connect with veterans who are in need of connection and support while they are socially isolated because of the coronavirus pandemic,” she said.
Once the letter is written, it can be either scanned or photographed and then sent to [email protected], and [email protected]. The LISVH will then print out the letters and distribute them, and the veteran pen pal can respond to the student by a letter sent through email as well.
“The project is a wonderful collaboration between the registrants in the Adult Day Health Care program at the Veterans Home and local community school children,” said Jean Brand, Program Director of Adult Day Health Care at the LISVH. “The heartfelt letters are a fun educational bridge that celebrate the best of who we are as a community. During this time of social distancing the project creates relationships that inspire the human spirit.”
The Student/Veteran Pen Pal Project is currently ongoing and the activity guide will remain on the Museum’s website as the LIM remains closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information on this project or other At Home with LIM projects visit www.longislandmuseum.org.
LI State Veterans Home has gone through much hardship since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Image from Google Maps
By Rich Acritelli
“Never was so much owed by so many to so few.”
Fred Sganga, right, hands a plaque to Battle of the Bulge veteran Tom Struminski at an event last year. File photo by Kyle Barr
These words of heroic national service by Winston Churchill Aug. 20, 1940, have been surely witnessed by U.S. citizens since the start of the COVID-19 health crisis. Feeling immensely proud of his staff and echoing these powerful sentiments is Executive Director Fred Sganga of the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook. He stated just how thankful and proud he was of his 675 employees who have done everything possible to treat the veterans of this facility. From the moment that this virus hit the nation, these health care workers and support staff are on the front lines to ensure that this nursing home has taken care of their patients through the terrible rise of COVID-19.
Currently, there are five New York State Veterans Homes that are facing staggering difficulties since the initial spread of the virus. While this pandemic has impacted all age groups, older generations are the most susceptible from being impacted by the ferocity of this sickness. For over 19 years, Sganga has led the vets home through many difficult moments, but it’s possible this scenario could be the most challenging point of his career. On March 10, Sganga ordered the complete lockdown of operations the nursing home, restricting access from the outside. Looking at the website of this hospital, it has been a transparent effort by Sganga and his staff to speak about the daunting issues that has faced both the workers and residents of the veteran’s home.
Covered in protective gear from head to toe, masks and shields, the staff has been working in hazardous conditions to treat veterans who have greatly sacrificed for this nation. Sganga said he is incredibly proud of his faculty’s ability to not only take care for their patients, but to serve as surrogate family members. For over 40 days, many of these residents have not seen their loved ones and the doctors, nurses, aides, housekeeping and maintenance cadre have engaged these older men and women with a consistent foundation of love and support.
One of the biggest concerns that Sganga’s staff must handle with the patients who are already battling serious ailments and respiratory problems. The sickness has impacted the COVID units of this nursing home with 57 residents to date that have tested positive. Sganga identifies how this hospital has dealt with the positive cases by not allowing cross contamination between the various health care units. He considers this a deadly “chess game” where he’s made to use every possible strategy to contain the expansion of the virus within the hospital.
These heavy health strains on the elderly population are apparent as the vets facility, which as of press time has lost 41 people, according to Sganga. While this is a tumultuous time, Sganga has continually stressed the determination of his staff to show up to work every day and to help those men and women residents that have sacrificed for the defense of the nation. Like that of the families, these staff members grieve at the loss of residents that they have grown to known through many special bonds. They have had to adapt to the many unknowns of the virus and decipher through the multitudes of guidance coming from the state and federal government. And through the spirit of cooperation amongst the team, every person plays an important role in carrying out these policies to protect the residents during these harrowing times.
Much can also be said about the wonderful job that Sganga has done during his tenure at this home for almost two decades. Vietnam vet and Rocky Point VFW Post Commander Joe Cognitore said, “Sganga demonstrates the highest traits that a leader of any major organization can exhibit to lead and care for others. During the height of this crisis, he has the pulse of every staff member and the people that reside in this home. He is a self-starter and a delegator of plans to properly guard against this massive epidemic. Words are not enough to express his strength as a decisive figure to always assist others.These sentiments are presented through my experiences as a patient that was flawlessly treated by this hospital. His spirit is easily seen through the endearing qualities of all his personnel that are always motivated to do their duty.”
Once this tragic virus began to escalate in widespread positive cases and deaths, the vets home has followed many directives from the U.S. Center for Disease Control, New York Department of Health, the Veterans Administration and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Almost every day, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) speaks at daily press conferences outlining the risks of the elderly in the nursing homes and the devoted care in places like that of Stony Brook that has continually met their growing needs.
Presently, there are over 45,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S., with New York making up a third of these figures by nearly 15,000. Out of these numbers, experts say nearly a fifth of virus deaths have come from nursing facilities, and the fear is that more could to be taken from the brutality of the virus. Right now, there are health care workers and patients that have deteriorated quickly and passed away without any major signs of this sickness.
Until recently, there were not enough testing kits for nursing homes like that of the Long Island State Veterans Home to even test their own workers. Cuomo recently stated that the goal of New York was to start testing 40,000 people every day, but there are many workers that were unable to know if they were safe from this virus. Through the entire interview, Sganga could not thank his staff enough for the absolute determination of his colleagues to stay the course in helping the elderly fight this illness. It has been a hard time for this staff, but they never shied away from their ultimate mission of protecting these men and women that sacrificed greatly for this nation. According to Cognitore, “even during the darkest moments of this crisis, Sganga’s employees and volunteers have diligently worked above and beyond the call of duty to protect the veterans against this uphill medical war to defeat the ongoing spread of COVID-19.”
Rich Acritelli is a social studies teacher at Rocky Point High School and an adjunct professor of American history at Suffolk County Community College.
Signs outside the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook share thanks to the people working inside the vets home. Seven veterans have died as of April 8 due to complications caused by COVID-19. Photo by Kyle Barr
By Kyle Barr, Leah Chiappino and David Luces
For the elders along the North Shore, those living in communities and places built for people living out their late or twilight years, the coronavirus has sewn both devastation and concern. State data now shows that the virus has made a huge impact on nursing homes, more so in Suffolk than most other New York counties.
Signs outside the Long Island State Veterans Home in Stony Brook share thanks to the people working inside the vets home. Seven veterans have died as of April 8 due to complications caused by COVID-19. Photo by Kyle Barr
Data from New York State as of April 12 showed close to 20 percent of all deaths from COVID-19 came from nursing homes or other adult care facilities — 1,979 of a total of just over 10,000. An additional 459 deaths have come from adult care facilities.
Suffolk County has seen 141 deaths from people in nursing homes and 95 from those living in assisted living places. That is out of the 568 who had perished from the disease as of Monday. The latest number of deaths, as of press time Wednesday, April 15, was 653.
It’s a staggering number that displays Suffolk has a higher percentage of elder deaths compared to surrounding counties, such as Nassau which has a total of 261 fatalities out of 910 as of Monday.
This is also considering in late March, New York officials mandated nursing homes must accept stable or recently discharged-COVID-19 cases into their facilities, partially as an effort to not overload the health system and give these elders places to live when many have nowhere else to go.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said they had no clear information on why nearly half of all COVID-19 deaths were related to nursing homes or adult care facilities. County officials have said, upon analysis, these homes have implemented all state and county rules correctly.
The county executive added that upon review, the virus was shown to have been inside Suffolk before testing became ubiquitous and before all the calls for social distancing were in place.
“If the virus was here, and people are going into nursing homes, workers coming in and out — you put those two things together and you’re going to have the kind of numbers that you see here,” he said. “It’s tragic and it’s devastating. This is one of those things why testing early on was important and could have helped to save lives.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) also said he was concerned with the numbers released about nursing homes.
The Long Island State Veterans Home released a letter April 8 saying that, at that time, seven veterans have died due to the coronavirus as a comorbidity. Forty vets had tested positive for coronavirus, where 35 were still living in the home and another five were being treated at Stony Brook hospital. Fourteen employees also tested positive for the virus and were recuperating at home.
“Each of these veterans answered the call to serve our great nation with honor and dignity to protect the freedoms we all enjoy today as Americans,” the letter read. “Our staff is grieving the loss of these beloved members of the LISVH community.”
Peconic Landing, a nursing home in Riverhead, has already reported nine deaths as well.
Leisure Glen in Ridge, a 55-and-older gated community, have stopped virtually all community activities during the ongoing pandemic. The housing market has also drastically slowed in the community. Photo from Google maps
After numbers related to elder deaths during the pandemic were released, the AARP put out a release detailing questions people should put to nursing homes during the pandemic, including if the home is at full staff, and how many people have tested positive for COVID-19.
“New Yorkers need to communicate with their loved ones in nursing homes on a regular basis and to be aware if the virus is present in the facility.” said AARP New York State Director Beth Finkel in the release.
With so many nursing homes locked down during the pandemic, many were not willing to share much about the numbers of people in their facility, either staff or residents, who had become sick. Still, both Bristal Assisted Living, with locations around Long Island, and the 55+ community Vistas at Port Jefferson are offering virtual tours during the pandemic.
A representative from the Smithtown Center For Rehabilitation and Nursing Care said they have barred visitors since March 9, in compliance with state guidelines. In order to keep families connected, the facility sends out email blasts and has social workers and nursing staff call family members for updates. According to itswebsite, they are also scheduling times for residents to video chat with loved ones.
It’s not only the nursing homes that are struggling. For communities who mainly house older residents, the virus has been just as disruptive, perhaps even more so than an average neighborhood.
The 646 homes in Leisure Glen, a 55-and-older gated community in Ridge, have also felt the pressure of the ongoing pandemic. Ed Marczak, the homeowner association president at Leisure Glen, said they have been complying with guidelines on social distancing and have cancelled all community events and activities, along with the clubhouse.
“My wife and I haven’t had much contact with neighbors or others,” Marczak said. “If it’s nice out we’ll see some people out, but everybody is trying to be 6 feet apart.”
The real estate sector of the community has also slowed down, with those in the middle of closing or selling homes now having to hold off until an unknown date arrives.
Laura Ruhnke, lead broker at Leisure Living Realty, said before the pandemic, they were experiencing a strong market, but not anymore. Virtual home tours are an option for the group,but it could be tricky as some clients may not be as tech savvy.
”Business has drastically slowed down since the outbreak,” she said.
A Walmart customer donates to Stan Feltman’s fundraising efforts for fellow veterans. Photo by Rita J. Egan
On a recent December morning, while many shoppers rushed into the Middle Island Walmart to take care of some holiday shopping, others paused in the vestibule to throw some money in a bucket.
The container sat in a shopping cart filled with articles and wartime photos that feature veteran Stan Feltman, 93, the man standing behind the cart. Feltman is a familiar face at the store as he stands there practically every day, all year long, collecting money for his fellow veterans with the recognizable red poppies in his hand. Some days he takes a break, but only from his usual spot. He then moves on to collect money at the Walmart in Centereach or East Setauket.
Feltman said he’s met so many generous people through the years. He usually can collect between $80 and $100 after standing there for two hours. One day a gentleman shook his hand and noticed he was cold and bought him a jacket from the store. One woman gave him a $20 bill one day saying it was for him to keep.
“I took the $20, and when she left I threw it in the pot,” he said. “I don’t need the money.”
A member of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA Col. Mickey Marcus Post 336, Feltman brings the donations to the post’s monthly meetings where he and his fellow members decide where the money should go. Post Comdr. Norman Weitz said over the last few years they have been able to donate more than $21,000 thanks to Feltman’s fundraising efforts. The post is a regular contributor to many veterans efforts, including the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University.
“A common theme you will see in the veterans community is that veterans are dedicated to giving back to helping other veterans.”
– Jonathan Spier
In 2017, the post donated $5,000 to LISVH. Jonathan Spier, deputy executive director of the vets home, said the donation was used to purchase oxygen concentrators for the patients. He said the JWV has been a partner with the home for more than 20 years and other donations from them have been used for recreational therapy programs. The post also assists Jewish vets to attend Shabbat and holiday services.
“A common theme you will see in the veterans community is that veterans are dedicated to giving back to helping other veterans,” he said.
Spier added he is in awe of Feltman’s fundraising efforts.
“It’s really incredible to see that passion and that energy and the effort that he puts in to help veterans,” he said.
As for his war record, Feltman was a B-29 tail gunner in the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1945. He was a double ace, meaning he shot down 10 enemy planes. Weitz said he admires Feltman, who one time when he was shot down had to escape on a raft. When Feltman’s fellow soldier slipped off the raft into shark-infested waters, he dived down to save him and grabbed him by the collar. Feltman earned the Bronze Star Medal for saving the man’s life. The medal wasn’t the only one earned during his service, as he gained four medals in total throughout his time in the Air Corps, even though they are no longer in his possession.
“My wife was so proud of them when she passed away, I put them in her coffin,” he said.
Weitz said he believes there are more heroic acts that Feltman doesn’t talk about, and the office of U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) is trying to see if his medals can be replaced by writing to the Air Force Historical Research Agency, which has access to after-action reports. The post commander has also nominated Feltman for membership in the Legion of Honor of The Chapel of Four Chaplains, which recognizes veterans who have gone above and beyond their required duties and contribute to their community.
In addition to raising money for veterans, Feltman has participated in lectures at schools and senior groups, including Erasmus Hall High School where he attended while growing up in Brooklyn. He also has been interviewed for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project, an initiative established to collect and preserve firsthand remembrances of wartime veterans.
Weitz calls Feltman amazing and said he is worthy of all the accolades he has received.
“The record amount of money he’s collected allows us to distribute thousands and thousands to local veterans organizations,” he said.
John Tsunis and Fred Sganga along with Suffolk County and New York State officials, stand by vets who were at the Battle of the Bulge. Photos by Kyle Barr
At the Long Island State Veterans Home, John Tsunis, the owner of the Holiday Inn Express at Stony Brook and board member of the vets home, briefly choke up when speaking of his father, Charles, a World War II veteran and soldier during the Battle of the Bulge, consisting of over a month of fighting from December 1944 to January 1945.
The Long Island State Veterans Home honored four Battle of the Bulge veterans Dec. 16. Photos by Kyle Barr.
His father called the Battle of the Bulge “a hell on ice,” and Tsunis described when his father had been forced behind enemy lines where he and two of his fellow soldiers were pinned down by an enemy machine gun, helping to save several men, which earned him the Bronze Star.
“My dad took the lead and they were crawling around, keeping their heads low because there was a machine gun shooting over their heads,” he said. “He kept on crawling, not knowing what to do, until he came over some dead Germans, and under their bodies was a German bazooka. He told one of his buddies to load him up, took aim at the machine gun nest and knocked it out.”
In what was one of the bloodiest battles Americans fought in World War II, the last major German offensive on the Western Front saw 19,000 U.S. soldiers killed, 47,500 wounded and 23,000 captured. The pocket created by the Germans’ push into American lines gave the battle its name. The day’s ferocious fighting was displayed in a video of historic footage shown to the gathered local officials, staff and veterans.
The veterans home honored four veterans who experienced the battle up close and personal, James Lynam, Philip DiMarco, Frank DePergola and Thomas Struminski. Each was given a plaque, while both state and county officials presented proclamations to each in turn. Tsunis accepted the honor in place of his father who died nearly 20 years ago. He also helped name and hand out plaques honoring four men at the home who fought in one of the most consequential battles of the war.
DePergola, DiMarco, Lynam and Struminski were all there during the battle, and now that each is over 90 years old, they are some of the only people in the U.S. who can remember firsthand what happened.
Lynam’s children Kathy Corrado and William Lynam said their father didn’t speak much about the battle as they were growing up. However, once they were older, their father, a Brooklyn native, would emotionally relate snippets of the ferocious fighting.
The Long Island State Veterans Home honored four Battle of the Bulge veterans Dec. 16. Photos by Kyle Barr.
“A Tiger tank almost ran over him, and he said they just couldn’t get the gun down low enough to get him,” Corrado, a Stony Brook resident, recalled.
William Lynam said such stories put graphic imagery in his head.
“[My father] said [that] when the panzer division was coming, and these guys were trying to dig into ground that was frozen … he remembers so distinctly the sound of the panzers, the Tiger tanks rolling over a field of cabbage, crushing the heads of cabbage and they were all imagining skulls of men were being crushed as they were coming through,” he said.
Others in the audience remembered the horrors of that day up close. Alfred Kempski, a World War II veteran living in the vets home, pointed to a black-and-white image of the Battle of the Bulge, of American soldiers in long greatcoats, M3 submachine guns and M1 Garands clutched in gloved fists, the soldiers peering forward in snow up to their knees.
“25,000 GIs were killed at night, the Germans came in at 2 o’clock in the morning and shot them all, they were sleeping,” he said. “The snow was so deep, we had a hell of a time finding the bodies. I was only 19 then, and when I think of it now …”
Scenes from the Veterans Day tribute at the Long Island State Veterans Home Nov. 8. Photos by David Luces
Scenes from the Veterans Day tribute at the Long Island State Veterans Home Nov. 8. Photos by David Luces
Scenes from the Veterans Day tribute at the Long Island State Veterans Home Nov. 8. Photos by David Luces
Scenes from the Veterans Day tribute at the Long Island State Veterans Home Nov. 8. Photos by David Luces
Close to 100 veterans were on hand for a Veterans Day tribute at the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University Nov. 8.
Highlights of the tribute included a performance from New Lane Elementary School students who sang a number of patriotic songs for the veterans and performed the Armed Forces Medley dedicated to the five individual armed services.
Fred Sganga, executive director for the LISVH, spoke on the importance of veterans’ sacrifices.
“Today we honor more than 56 million Americans who proudly wore the uniform on behalf of a grateful nation,” he said. “We all know the burdens of young men and women that they bear in America’s fight against terrorism and tyranny.”
Thomas DiNapoli, New York State comptroller and keynote speaker for the ceremony, said the holiday is a reminder of the strength that comes when people join together in a just cause.
“Every day should be a day to thank our veterans,” he said. “So much of what we now take for granted in our nation was guaranteed by each of you. And the sacrifices of countless men and women who helped preserve democracy and freedom in America and around the globe.”
Since opening in October 1991, the LISVH has provided care to more than 10,000 veterans.
Scenes from the uneviling ceremony of three new monuments at Port Jeff Memorial Park Nov. 10. Photos by David Luces
Scenes from the uneviling ceremony of three new monuments at Port Jeff Memorial Park Nov. 10. Photos by David Luces
Scenes from the uneviling ceremony of three new monuments at Port Jeff Memorial Park Nov. 10. Photos by David Luces
Scenes from the uneviling ceremony of three new monuments at Port Jeff Memorial Park Nov. 10. Photos by David Luces
Scenes from the uneviling ceremony of three new monuments at Port Jeff Memorial Park Nov. 10. Photos by David Luces
Scenes from the uneviling ceremony of three new monuments at Port Jeff Memorial Park Nov. 10. Photos by David Luces
Local officials and veterans gathered at Port Jefferson Memorial Park for an unveiling ceremony of three new monuments to honor those who served in the nation’s most recent conflicts Nov. 10.
The ceremony and unveiling completes renovations for three of four memorial sites located in Port Jefferson, Setauket and Stony Brook identified last year for upgrades. The new memorials honor those who served during the Cold War, Lebanon peacekeeping, the Grenada and Panama invasions, the two Gulf wars, the Afghanistan War and the War on Terror.
The work was spearheaded by a war memorial fund committee formed last fall through a partnership between Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket), American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars members, and the Long Island State Veterans Home.
“Today is the unveiling of three new monuments that have been long overdue here — the previous three monuments only went up to the Vietnam War,” said Bill Wolf Sr., commander of the Port Jefferson Station American Legion Wilson Ritch Post 432. “We are dedicating three new monuments from the Cold War to our present-day wars we are fighting today.”
Hahn thanked the veterans present for the sacrifices they’ve made.
“I want to thank the veterans here today for their services — this great nation is only free because of all the things they have done,” she said. “We’ve been working for a year and half to update these memorials … so when veterans come home, they can have the conflicts they participated in reflected here.”
Dedication of the updated memorial in Port Jefferson was accompanied by the replacement of the site’s damaged existing stonework. Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright (D-Port Jefferson Station) secured funding from her district parks budget to make these updates and other related work in advance of the installation of the new monuments. The Town of Brookhaven owns and maintains the memorial site in Port Jefferson across the road from Village Hall.
Phase 1 of the project has already been completed by expanding the memorials in Stony Brook Village and on Setauket Village Green. The final phase will comprise an update at Setauket Veterans Memorial Park near Se-Port Deli.
The approximate $35,000 cost for the memorials project is being paid largely through donations. Contributions are still being accepted for the phase 2 costs. As of Nov. 10, the project members have raised $29,000 since 2018.
Members of the committee will look to complete phase 3 of their project in time for next year’s Memorial Day. Wolf said the committee should have the funds by then to get the work done.
Checks can be made payable and mailed to Veterans Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 986, Port Jefferson Station, NY, 11776, or can be hand delivered to the attention of Ed Kiernan at American Legion Wilson Ritch Post 432, 1450 Hallock Ave., Port Jefferson Station.
More information is available at the website americanlegionwilsonritchpost432.org.
From left, Fred S. Sganga and Harry J. Janson present a check from the net proceeds of the 18th annual Golf Classic to Jonathan Spier, deputy executive director at the Long Island State Veterans Home. Photo from LISVH
The Long Island State Veterans Home (LISVH) at Stony Brook University held its 18th annual Golf Classic at the Willow Creek Golf & Country Club in Mount Sinai on Sept. 19. Over 184 golfers enjoyed a picture perfect day and raised over $174,000 to benefit the veterans residing at the veterans home.
Fred S. Sganga, executive director of the LISVH, acknowledged the extraordinary leadership of Harry J. Janson, the chairman of the 18th Annual Golf Classic.“Harry has served as our golf chairman for the past 11 years and has helped raise over $1.4 million for the veterans living at the home. Each year, Harry finds a way to take our golf outing to a new level, he said.”
Janson, a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient, is president of Janson Supermarkets, LLC and owner of ShopRite of Hauppauge and Patchogue. A resident of Setauket, Janson is involved in many charitable organizations and serves as a dedicated advocate for veterans and their families.
“Harry Janson is ‘A veteran’s veterans’ and truly believes in the mission and vision of the Long Island State Veterans Home,” said Sganga.
“At the Long Island State Veterans Home, we take great pride in caring for America’s heroes from the greatest generation to the latest generation, and the $174,000 raised from our Golf Classic will go a long way to help our Home,” said Bob Smith, chairman of the LISVH Veterans Advisory Board.
Added Sganga, “The proceeds raised from this event will be used to support the quality of life programs our veterans deserve.”
Next year’s Golf Classic will take place on Sept. 17 at the Willow Creek Golf & Country Club. For more information, call 631-444-8615.
Few D-Day veterans are alive today, but you can find three of them at Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University, where an award ceremony was held June 6 in honor of the 75th anniversary of D-Day and Operation Overlord, the largest amphibious operation in military history.
One hundred World War II veterans were presented with the Governor’s Proclamation for the occasion, while Phillip DiMarco and Frank DePergola were decorated with the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross and Charles Cino was decorated with the New York State Medal for Merit. All three men participated in the Normandy invasion.
Ninety-seven-year-old DiMarco was among the first wave of soldiers to storm the beach. “I’m just grateful to have survived,” he said.
Two-thirds of his fellow troopers perished in the first 30 minutes of battle, according to information provided by the state. DiMarco’s group suffered from wounds, hunger, exhaustion and trench foot and survived on green apples and stagnant water doped with halazone tablets, a chlorine-based water purifier.
“Our World War II heroes and heroines who came of age during the Great Depression, gave new meaning to the words, duty, service, sacrifice, courage and honor,” said Fred Sganga, executive director of the veterans home. “They answered the call to save the world from the two most powerful and ruthless military machines ever assembled, instruments of conquest in the hands of fascist maniacs.”
War veterans often are understandably reluctant to talk about their horrific war experiences — it’s clearly too painful to relive. At their advanced ages, speaking also requires tremendous effort. Their stories live on through oral history and past memorials. But these men have stories to share from which history can be garnered. After 75 years, their summaries of what happened are often succinct and to the point.
“There was this man who didn’t like Jews, and we got him,” 96-year-old DePergola said. DePergola was part of D-Day plus 10, meaning his troop arrived 10 days after the initial invasion. He was one of only four people to survive the war out of a platoon of 20, his daughter Jean Pulizzi said.
In his campaign in Germany and Poland, DePergola encountered what they thought were abandoned buildings, only to discover upon entering about 30 captives: Jews, Catholics and Muslims. It was essentially a concentration camp. The stench inside, he said, was intense and unforgettable. The people, he said, were emaciated and wore black and white striped uniforms.
“They were glad to see us,” DePergola said.
While on assignment from headquarters to retrieve maps, DePergola encountered two German soldiers in the woods in Metz, France. He took them captive with a German Luger pistol he had taken off another German officer earlier, since he forgot his issued rifle at headquarters, and returned to base with the captive soldiers. For this, he was awarded a Bronze Star, a military badge of heroism.
For Thursday’s ceremony, DePergola insisted on wearing his favorite cap, which bears the Purple Heart badge, an emblem that recognizes war injuries. DePergola was shot in the knee during battle, but back then, he said, you remained on active duty.
Cino was 18 years old when he stormed the Normandy beaches. He was responsible for transporting under the cover of darkness thousands of troops in a landing ship tank, or LST, an amphibious boat capable of landing on shore carrying tanks, cargo and troops. Cino, when he heard it was the 75th anniversary of D-Day nodded, shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. He could utter only one full sentence, “I was there.” Then he closed his eyes.
Both DePergola and DiMarco, in addition to their experience at Normandy, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, the last major German offensive of World War II during the harsh winter in 1945.
The D-Day ceremony included color guards and live musicians, who sang patriotic tunes and played the bugle. About half of the veterans in attendance were in wheelchairs, and despite their limitations, tapped their toes to the music. Many were able to salute the flag. Some veterans wiped tears from their eyes, particularly when the room sang the lyrics to “God Bless America.”
During World War II, 900,000 New Yorkers went to the battlefield; 43,000 did not come home.
The nation’s largest population of World War II vets live at Long Island State Veterans Home
Al Anderson, a Vietnam vet, tries out the new virtual reality device at the Long Island State Veterans Home. Photo by Kyle Barr
It was something straight out of science fiction.
On May 2, the residents and patients at Long Island State Veterans Home on the Stony Brook University campus put on stubby virtual reality goggles and headphones. After just a few seconds, they were transported to another place entirely.
A veteran experiences what it would be like to fly a fighter jet through a new virtual reality device being used at Long Island State Veterans Home. Photo by Kyle Barr
Vietnam veteran Al Anderson moved his head from side to side, up and down. He was no longer on Long Island but in Mozambique, Africa. To the left was a baby hippo and to the right grass plains of golden brown. One of the home’s recreational therapists spun Anderson around in his wheelchair, and then the VR changed, and he was suddenly in a suburban backyard where hummingbirds were feeding from a trough hanging above his head.
“It puts you right there, and if I had this available to me when I started to have some problems with [post-traumatic stress disorder], it would put me out of where I am to another place,” Anderson said. “If I woke up in the middle of the night, and I had this available to me, I could put it on and probably fall right back asleep without having a problem.”
Residents and patients of the veterans home were able to try one of the new 10 MyndVR devices now part of the home’s recreational therapy tools. MyndVR is a company based out of Dallas, Texas, that tries to provide VR technology to the elderly in retirement communities and home health care services. Directors at the home hope this will become a part of regular therapy.
“It’s not just a video game, it’s actually very therapeutic,” said Michelle Cheslak, the director of therapeutic recreation. “It stimulates their cognitive ability to recall a memory. Maybe it unlocks a memory of Paris, maybe a honeymoon that they’re now reliving. Think about it. They’re probably not going to be able to go to Paris ever again, now they can travel wherever they want, right from their seat.”
“It stimulates their cognitive ability to recall a memory. Maybe it unlocks a memory of Paris, maybe a honeymoon that they’re now reliving.”
— Michelle Cheslak
The VR headset allows those who wear it to experience full sensual awareness as the headset tracks head movement and changes audio direction based on where the person is facing.
Deputy Executive Director of the Long Island State Veterans Home Jonathan Spier said that the veterans home is the first in the country to use VR for therapy.
“My goal is to really try to use this with my veterans who suffer from depression, anxiety and PTSD,” Spier said. “Some [residents] are just too physically disabled to go out into the community, so this is some technology to let that veteran go anywhere in the world.”
The money for the VR headsets was provided through a grant from the non-profit Bowlers to Veterans Link, an organization made up of bowlers and bowling alley owners who raise money for veteran causes.
“For the people who do the work, and try and heal the veterans, [local veteran centers] are the most appreciative of the value from that,” said John Laspina, the chair of the BVL board of directors and president of Maple Family Centers.
Some of the different VR experiences include NASCAR racing, a tour through Paris, taking off in a fighter jet and swimming with dolphins among several others. Though the devices are not physically intensive, Spier said people with epilepsy or other seizure disorders will not be able to use the devices.
“Some [residents] are just too physically disabled to go out into the community, so this is some technology to let that veteran go anywhere in the world.”
— Jonathan Spier
“It’s like I’m there, either taking off and landing,” said Vietnam veteran and adult day health care patient James Saladino about the fighter jet experience.
Veteran Ronald Kelson served in England from 1954 to 1956. He never got to visit Paris, but with virtual reality, he was able to get a small tour.
“I saw all of London, but I didn’t get to see all of Europe,” Kelson said. “You feel like you’re part of it.”
Executive Director Fred Sganga said he wants technology like this to help remove the stigma that nursing homes are depressing, monotonous places.
“We’re thrilled to be cutting edge,” Sganga said. “A nursing home should not be a boring place. I have an obligation to provide my residents with an outstanding quality of life. We like to say our residents have better social lives than we do.”
Cheslak said that as younger veterans arrive at the veterans home, there is a growing desire and need for more technologically-based therapy.
“We’re getting more younger veterans coming in who are computer savvy,” Cheslak said. “They have iPhones and iPads, and they’re looking for that new technology, for that action. People in their 60s and 70s want to go scuba diving again, they want a thrill.”
In conjunction with the Museum’s At Home With LIM projects, a series of online family art and history activities based on the museum’s collection, historic buildings and grounds, the Student/Veteran Pen Pal Project takes young people on a journey through the art and history of penmanship in the 19th century.
“During these difficult times, the LIM believes in the power of the arts to unite us. The Student/Veteran Pen Pal Project allows for children to connect with veterans who are in need of connection and support while they are socially isolated because of the coronavirus pandemic,” she said.
“The project is a wonderful collaboration between the registrants in the Adult Day Health Care program at the Veterans Home and local community school children,” said Jean Brand, Program Director of Adult Day Health Care at the LISVH. “The heartfelt letters are a fun educational bridge that celebrate the best of who we are as a community. During this time of social distancing the project creates relationships that inspire the human spirit.” 
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