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NoVEMBER 27 - DECEMBER 3, 2025
Local’s book on veterans now available to read “I started writing about veterans back in July of 2017,” Grogan said. He took his skills David Gro g an may be a from writing crime fiction and retired veteran, but he still put them towards connecting works towards a vital mission: with brothers and sisters in arms by featuring their stories the preservation of history. Grogan is a retired naval on his website and eventually officer and international law- creating this book. All of the book’s proceeds go yer, serving for about 27 years, regularly negotiating treaties, towards America’s VetDogs, a veteran-focused charity based and advising admirals. Throughout the years, Gro- in Smithtown that helps train and provide free g a n t r ave l l e d guide and service around the world do gs to veterans throughout various and first respondwars and national crises, including ers. So far, the book working at the Penhas raised about tagon in response $2,000 for the founto 9/11. Wherever dation. he went, he met fasTom Garvey, 78, cinating people a Merrick resident DAVID GRoGAN whose stories were and combat veteran Author worth preserving. of the Vietnam War, Grogan’s book is is featured in Chap“Learning to Live From Those ter 4 of the book. He was 19 Willing to Die,” published in when he was drafted into the September, collects the stories military. of 26 veterans: five of World “This marine looks at my War II, 13 of the Vietnam War, orders,” Garvey remembered, two from Desert Storm, three “he says, ‘Oh, you’re going to from the Iraq War, and three Dong Ha. You don’t want to go from the Cold War. These sto- there.’ I’m saying to myself… ries are organized to communi- What is this place?” cate 14 life lessons readers can Garvey served in the Vietlearn from the lives of service nam War from 1967 - 68 as a members during the time of part of the Army’s field artiltheir service.
By JoSEPH D’AlESSANDRo
jdalessandro@liherald.com
I
Tim Baker/Herald
Andrew Meyerowitz, president of the Bellmore Kiwanis, and Marianne Adrian, lieutenant governor of the Long Island South Central Division, prepare Thanksgiving meals.
Volunteers prepare Thanksgiving meals Kiwanis’s holiday project unites L.I. groups By HERNESTo GAlDAMEZ hgaldamez@liherald.com
The scent of roasting turkey and freshly baked stuffing filled the American Legion Hall in Massapequa earlier this week as volunteers from across Long Island gathered to prepare thousands of Thanksgiving meals for families in need. For the Belmore Kiwanis Club, what began as a modest effort in 2020 has grown into a multi-day community tradition. That year, the club delivered 2,000 meals to local organizations and individuals during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, the project scaled up to anticipate 5,000 meals. “We started small, and each year it’s
grown,” said Andrew Meyerowitz, president of the Bellmore Kiwanis. “It’s just a drop in the bucket compared to the need on Long Island, but maybe a family doesn’t have to worry about where their Thanksgiving meal is coming from because of this project.” Among the earliest volunteers was Gary Crozier, a Levittown Kiwanis member who has been involved since Meyerowitz first asked for help. Crozier, who was born and raised in Levittown and has spent decades volunteering through youth sports, church groups, and community organizations, said the project immediately resonated with him. “Levittown was built for veterans returning home from World War II,” he said. “I’m a son of a veteran, a son-in-law of a veteran. It ConTInueD on pAge 11
decided that I needed to try to do something.
ConTInueD on pAge 9