South Nassau honors area veterans at annual celebration

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It was nearly standing room only at South Nassau Communities Hospital’s on Nov. 10, for the medical center’s annual Veterans Day Celebration where only the group of 46 veterans employed at South Nassau and their families, overshadowed the crush of hospital and local elected officials present in its crowded conference room.

Among the guests honored at the event was Gold Star mother Marianna Winchester, a Phys. Ed teacher at Oceanside Middle School whose son, Marine First Lt. Ronald Winchester, was killed during his second tour of duty in Iraq in 2004.

“The greatest privilege you can have is to die for your country,” she said after the ceremony. “And that’s what my son’s wish was. He thought, ‘If I’m gonna die, let it be for my country.’”

She asked others to continue supporting veterans still returning from America’s wars abroad, adding that a simple “thank you,” would do, and insisted “We have to make sure they are never, ever forgotten.”