Veterans Honored by McKevitt

Stanley Sichel was 23-years-old when he entered World War II in January of 1941. A model airplane lover, he became a bomber pilot, flew the biggest war plane — a Boeing-29 — and cheated death on more than one account. It is because of men like Sichel that Assemblymen , David McDonough and Michael Montesano held a veteran’s brunch on Saturday morning to honor their service to our country.

Sichel, 94, of Mineola and countless other veterans filled the room of the Hicksville VFW Hall to enjoy some hot eggs, bacon, waffles, bagels and coffee.

“People I think become very complacent with all the great honors that we have in this country and that’s something which I can never forget,” McKevitt said about the importance of honoring our veterans. “We wouldn’t live in the place we live today if it weren’t for these men and women here today.”

Sichel served in the war for five years and although it has been 65 years since he sat in a war plane like that B-29, he will never forget his experiences up in the sky.

“On Dec. 7, 1941 myself and four other fellows got into the infantry…and we were home over the weekend and we were on our way back because we had to be there Monday the eighth and we stopped along the way at about two or three o’clock in the morning for some coffee and a bite to eat,” Sichel said. “A fellow in there asked us if we knew about Pearl Harbor and the four of us said, ‘No, who’s she?’ It wasn’t a she, he said, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii he says, they bombed it. All four of us looked at each other and said, ‘Uh oh, there we go,’ and we knew we were in for a long while.

Every Veteran’s Day Sichel thinks about the war and enjoys the Memorial Day Parade in May, which is also his birthday.

“I come to any [event] they have," Sichel said. "I live alone and all that, so I don’t hesitate."

McKevitt first came up with the idea to hold events for the veterans about five years ago and what started out as one person hosting the event individually turned into one big combined event that criss-crossed communities.

“We just thought there are certain groups that you always try to think about…and people forget about [the veterans] after a while, many of them are getting older these days — especially the World War II and Korean [War] veterans — and I just thought this was a nice token by saying, ‘We do thank you for your service and we will never forget,’” McKevitt said.