Williston Times 8.7.15

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Serving The Willistons, Albertson, Herricks, Mineola, and Searingtown

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Friday, August 7, 2015

vol. 64, no. 32

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SPORTS AND RECREATIO

◆◆◆ August 7, 2015

Sgt. Harter gets his due 47 years later

NeW MINeOL A StRe e t BA N N e RS

Receives Purple Heart in Albertson hall for wounds suffered in Vietnam By C h r i st i a n araOs anD BiLL san antOniO As Sgt. Gunter Harter recovered in a military hospital in Colorado in 1969, after an explosion in Vietnam severely damaged his right ear and killed a member of his squad, he was awarded a Purple Heart that was later lost to bureaucracy and time. On Friday, the 47-year-old paperwork glitch was corrected and Harter was honored during a ceremony at the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Albertson Post hall at 155 Searingtown Road. “Receiving the Purple Heart is an honor, and more importantly, a tribute to the brave soldiers I fought alongside and served with,” said Harter, 73, who emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1961. Harter said he became eligible for the Purple Heart in 1969, but never received his medal.

The Bellerose, Queens resident contacted U.S. Rep. Steve Israel’s office, and the Democratic congressman expedited a request to the U.S. Department of the Army to grant him the award. On June 23, the army approved the request. “Sergeant Harter, like so many of his fellow veterans, was not born in the United States but fought bravely in service for our country and never asked for, or expected anything in return,” said Israel, of Huntington, who hosted Friday’s ceremony. “It is an honor to stand here today with Gunter and his family and present him 47 years later with his Purple Heart that symbolizes the selfless sacrifice he made for a country he barely knew,” Israel added. When he first arrived to the United States, Harter said, he was told he’d have to enter the draft to secure American citizenship. Continued on Page 38

PHOTO COURTESY OF GINA MEHLING

Gina Mehling’s depiction of the old Winthrop University hospital is part of a new series of village banners in Mineola. Story on page 2.

Herricks grad takes his grandparents Hollywood By B i LL san antOniO

was running out. So he started to write characters based on their personJacob Mariani had long alities — his grandfather goofy wanted to showcase his grand- and affable and his grandparents in one of his short films, mother as one quick to emobut feared his time with them tion — and cast the couple in

what eventually became the short “Marriage Tools,” which Mariani wrote, directed, shot and edited. “It was a bit of a strain to come up with an idea but the Continued on Page 39

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