thedrifter
11-04-07, 06:41 AM
Area residents honored in Rockland for being heroes
By SARAH NETTER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: November 4, 2007)
WEST NYACK - Marine Cpl. Daniel Greeley doesn't think he's a hero.
He joined the Marine Corps after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and has served three tours in Iraq, returning home from the last one in April.
He said he's just been doing his job. But there were plenty of people yesterday who disagreed.
Greeley, of Suffern, was one of 10 area residents recognized yesterday in the first Honor Our Heroes ceremony.
Founded in part by a public relations and marketing firm, Group M Inc., the search for local heroes was sponsored additionally by LoHud.com, the Palisades Center and Tilcon.
In a ceremony yesterday on the ground floor of the Palisades Center, the heroes were invited on stage to say a few words and given gift baskets with merchandise donated by mall stores.
Greeley, 26, was nominated by a friend of the family and didn't know anything about it until he was called with the news that he had been chosen as one of the 10.
While it's nice to be recognized and to draw attention to the Marines, he said, "the real heroes are the guys who didn't come home."
Jeff Lewis, vice president for public relations of the Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based Group M, said the panel that read through the nominations was looking for the less-obvious heroes, the people who do extraordinary things in the course of their daily lives.
"Every single one of them was deserving of an award," he said of the nominees. "It was tough limiting it to 10."
Lewis said Honor Our Heroes would become an annual event.
LeeMarie Dell'Accio, the Palisades Center's marketing director, said about 50 nominations were received.
Tim and Karen Brown of Nanuet nominated their 19-year-old son, Bruce, also one of the chosen.
Bruce Brown, a sophomore at Texas A&M University, sold T-shirts that raised about $26,000 for the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund in the wake of the massacre at Virginia Tech University.
The Browns, both educators in Rockland, said their son had no connection to Virginia Tech, but that he had wanted to do something for that community.
The Browns accepted the honor on behalf of Bruce, who was at school in Texas.
Also honored were:
- Billy Ayers, a musician from Cross River.
- Heather Duke, a Rockland volunteer and county employee.
- Dr. Aretoula Fullam, a Rutgers University psychology professor.
- Chris Galletta, a 15-year-old Ardsley student.
- Peter Kearney, an Orangeburg firefighter.
- Nina Kellogg, a Katonah volunteer with the Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
- Danielle Malka, a 17-year-old New City captain of the New City Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
- Arthur Smith, a retired FDNY lieutenant from Congers.
Ellie
By SARAH NETTER
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: November 4, 2007)
WEST NYACK - Marine Cpl. Daniel Greeley doesn't think he's a hero.
He joined the Marine Corps after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and has served three tours in Iraq, returning home from the last one in April.
He said he's just been doing his job. But there were plenty of people yesterday who disagreed.
Greeley, of Suffern, was one of 10 area residents recognized yesterday in the first Honor Our Heroes ceremony.
Founded in part by a public relations and marketing firm, Group M Inc., the search for local heroes was sponsored additionally by LoHud.com, the Palisades Center and Tilcon.
In a ceremony yesterday on the ground floor of the Palisades Center, the heroes were invited on stage to say a few words and given gift baskets with merchandise donated by mall stores.
Greeley, 26, was nominated by a friend of the family and didn't know anything about it until he was called with the news that he had been chosen as one of the 10.
While it's nice to be recognized and to draw attention to the Marines, he said, "the real heroes are the guys who didn't come home."
Jeff Lewis, vice president for public relations of the Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based Group M, said the panel that read through the nominations was looking for the less-obvious heroes, the people who do extraordinary things in the course of their daily lives.
"Every single one of them was deserving of an award," he said of the nominees. "It was tough limiting it to 10."
Lewis said Honor Our Heroes would become an annual event.
LeeMarie Dell'Accio, the Palisades Center's marketing director, said about 50 nominations were received.
Tim and Karen Brown of Nanuet nominated their 19-year-old son, Bruce, also one of the chosen.
Bruce Brown, a sophomore at Texas A&M University, sold T-shirts that raised about $26,000 for the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund in the wake of the massacre at Virginia Tech University.
The Browns, both educators in Rockland, said their son had no connection to Virginia Tech, but that he had wanted to do something for that community.
The Browns accepted the honor on behalf of Bruce, who was at school in Texas.
Also honored were:
- Billy Ayers, a musician from Cross River.
- Heather Duke, a Rockland volunteer and county employee.
- Dr. Aretoula Fullam, a Rutgers University psychology professor.
- Chris Galletta, a 15-year-old Ardsley student.
- Peter Kearney, an Orangeburg firefighter.
- Nina Kellogg, a Katonah volunteer with the Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
- Danielle Malka, a 17-year-old New City captain of the New City Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
- Arthur Smith, a retired FDNY lieutenant from Congers.
Ellie