After reading the article From the Desk of Supervisor Bosworth: “Putting N. Hempstead’s veterans 1st” in the Williston Times, I feel obligated to write this letter.
I need to write to express my disappointment and share the injustice that took place at this ceremony. Ray Vaz and Tommy Scardino from the Mineola American Legion Post 349 were personally invited to the ceremony by Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judy Bosworth.
After accepting the supervisor’s invitation and exerting a significant amount of effort to attend the event (as both men are 90 years old) the men deserved far more respect than what they received.
These two D-Day veterans were ignored by Supervisor Bosworth and the commander of the Purple Heart Committee the entire ceremony.
I find it inexcusable that during the introductions of Purple Heart Receipts that were in the audience, all of whom where given an opportunity to speak, there was no mention of these two men.
Ray and Tommy have four Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars between them, and at the very least deserved recognition, if only by name. It does not take a lot of effort to say thank you for your service, most would consider it common courtesy or even basic manners.
The only time these two men were acknowledged was to be in a photo to further the political agenda of the local politicians who attended.
I want to believe that inviting these two veterans was more then a publicity stunt, however it seems that is all they were to you.
Bill Urianek
Williston Park
