Heroes banners back in Village, honoring 40 veterans and counting
The Northport Hometown Heroes Banner program is in it second year; featured here are former Northport Village Chief of Police Chris Hughes and Russell C. Wright, the grandfather of Hughes’ wife.
A program honoring veterans is in its second year in Northport Village, and this time will line Main Street for a while longer, from May through November.
The Northport Hometown Heroes Banner program, begun by resident Jim McKenna and the Northport American Legion, was installed earlier this month. Forty banners featuring veterans from the area or with families in the area are already up, with banner requests still being accepted for inclusion in this year’s program.
Included in the 40 veterans being honored are three Gold Star families: Nathan B. Bruckenthal, John W. Engeman and Christopher Scherer. McKenna’s uncle William McKenna (Commander of the Northport American Legion and Vietnam vet) and father James P. McKenna (First Vice Commander and fellow Vietnam vet) are also featured side-by-side on the same pole.
A few new additions to the program this year are Russell C. Wright, whose banner is on the same pole as his grandson-in-law, the newly retired Northport Village Chief of Police Christopher Hughes.
Married East Northport residents Leigh and Nick Auletta’s banners are next to one another, as are brothers William and John Forster. Banners of Cavagnaro brothers Frank and Joseph are also on display.
The complete list of veterans featured in this year’s program are:
Bruce Adams
Joseph Accardi
Nicholas Auletta
C. Leigh Auletta
Dennis P. Brennan
Nathan B. Bruckenthal
Patrick Byrne
Frank Cavagnaro Jr.
Joseph F. Cavagnaro
Mark S. Cisek
Thomas F. Coulacas
Alfred Cozine
Thomas Crowe
Jerry Efthimiou
Bradford J. Ellison
John W. Engeman
Paul Fazio
William F. Forster
John V. Forster
Frank "Skip" Gorman
Walter Holland
John William Hosie
Christopher J. Hughes
Albert J. Jensen
Thomas J. Kehoe Jr.
John Lewis
James P. McKenna
James P McKenna
William G. McKenna
Peter F. McLaughlin
George R. Muller
Angelo R. Notaristefano
John Eugene O'Shaughnessy
Valentine Ryan
Christopher Scherer
Jeffrey Paul Spizuco
Angel M. Velez
George Weiderman III
Russell C. Wright
Joseph L. Zoda
Those interested in honoring a veteran via the Hometown Heroes Banner program should email McKenna at NorthportBanners@gmail.com or contact him at 631-974-9153. The cost for the banner is $200 for the first year and $100 for subsequent years after that or families can choose to do one year and keep the banner after the program is over. For more information on the Hometown Heroes program in Northport, click here.
