Honor Roll Project - Massapequa, NY - Klestinec Park

As part of Heather Wilkinson Rojo's Honor Roll Project, I have transcribed this Roll of Honor in Massapequa, NY to make the names visible to search engines so that family researchers can find them.

This memorial park is located on a triangle formed by Broadway, Franklin Avenue and Michigan Avenue. I photographed this honor roll some time ago and now I can't remember if I knew it was there or if we stumbled on it.

This first stone does not contain names but is a memorial to all who served in the Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, Grenada and the Persian Gulf.

This memorial lists the names of soldiers killed in Vietnam, it also gives a their rank, branch of the military and the date they were killed.

1st Lt. Thomas A. Sanders

USAF Killed July 7, 1965

Cpl. Albert F. Klestinec, Jr.

USMC Killed July 10, 1966

Sp/4 William Mansfield

USA Killed October 29, 1966

Sp/4 Thomas Gray

USA Killed February 18, 1967

Cpl. Patrick Gallagher

USMC Killed March 30, 1967

Sp/4 Leonard F. Jantzen, Jr.

USA Killed April 8, 1967

Pfc. Steven L. Millett

USMC Killed June 7, 1967

Pfc. Robert J. Kubinciak

USA Killed July 7, 1967

Sp/5 Joseph C. Lupo

USA Killed August 27, 1967

L/Cpl. Michael J. Ferrara

USMC Killed March 6, 1968

Sgt. Alan Giannelli

USA Killed September 14, 1968

Maj. Robert H. Harrison

USAF Killed June 18, 1972

W.O. Thomas J. Casey, Jr.

USA Killed February 18, 1969

Sp/4 Brian E. Swane

USA Killed May 8, 1969

Sp/4 Karl A. Schofer

USA Killed June 9, 1969

L/Cpl. Joseph E. Colorio

USMC Killed August 12, 1969

Sp/4 Kim Michael Diliberto

USA Killed August 17, 1969

Sp/4 Frank T. Henson

USA Killed May 10, 1972

There is also a mounted plaque in honor of one of the men listed above, Cpl. Albert F. Klestinec, Jr., and according to Google, although I did not see a sign, this is Klestinec Park.

I haven't found any other memorials or rolls of honor in Massapequa, although there are some in neighboring Massapequa Park that I have yet to locate and photograph.

New York Genealogical & Biographical Society Education & Events

DJ, our Basenji, avoiding a walk in -9°F wind chills, two years ago.

I have been keeping up with my goal of doing something each week for genealogy, but none of it has been blog-worthy. At the moment, I am taking a break from organizing my genealogy space in preparation for working on scanning and storing some family photos and papers.

Later this week and next week I will be watching some webinars from the NYG&B and participating in an indexing event as well.

If you want to see what is coming up or currently available at the NYG&B, visit their events page here. There you will find a list of upcoming webinars and events like a scanning day at their offices. On the left of the page you will see some other education opportunities, like the New York Family History School which is currently offering access to presentations from the 2020 New York State Family History Conference through February 21st. There are 24 sessions available for viewing; $59.95 for members, $99.95 for non-members and its even less expensive if you attended the conference in 2020 and want to watch these presentations again.

I hope to have something blog-worthy to share soon, in the meantime stay warm and stay safe!

Just Do Something - My Goal for 2022

If I were to sum up my overall genealogy goal for this year, it would be "Just Do Something." After taking such a long and unplanned break, and with so much uncertainty still in our present reality, my biggest goal for the year is to make time to do something genealogy related every week. Even if I can only squeeze in one activity during a busy week, I want to make sure I don't let more than 6 days go by without researching, documenting, transcribing, updating, organizing, scanning or learning something.

This isn't to say that I don't have specific things in mind that I would like to accomplish in 2022, but my approach to this year, at least for the first few months, will be pretty loose and easy.

For the next few months I plan to keep researching Donald's Barry lines and adding to both of our trees in WikiTree, just as I have been the last few months. In addition, I'll be putting together a plan to scan some set of records, photos or negatives in my collection. Those fast-moving fires in Colorado have lit a fire under me as well. Imagine running out to Costco or Home Depot for a quick errand only to be evacuated and never see your home again! Losing everything would be devastating, but nothing would hurt my heart so much as losing all of that family history before it was digitally preserved.

So, that is it, my quick, simple and certainly not overly ambitious goals for the first few months of 2022; just do something.