By Kelsey Durham
As last week’s Independence Day holiday approached, employees at North Shore-LIJ in Manhasset, L.I., who had served in the military celebrated by joining with their children and sharing their stories about what freedom means to them.
Three military members, two former and one current, sat by their young sons and daughters July 3 as the children read essays they wrote about what it was like having their parents serve overseas and how they celebrate the freedom their mothers and fathers bravely fought to protect.
The employees, who have all been deployed to the Middle East at some point during the past decade, now each hold jobs at the hospital helping veterans and other patients.
Katrina Aronoff, a Forest Hills resident, brought her two daughters, 8-year-old Alina and 5-year-old Evelyn, to read out loud their writings about what it was like having their mother be away from home while serving as a petty officer 3rd class boatswain mate in the U.S. Coast Guard
Alina, who is preparing to enter third-grade in the fall, spoke about her mother’s job and why she was needed during the war.
“It’s an important job because it’s important to help save people,” Alina said. “It’s not always about yourself. I think she was a great big hero.”
Aronoff, who has worked as a radiation therapist at Lenox Hill Hospital for the past 10 years, decided to join the Coast Guard in 2012, citing it as something she had always wanted to do. Aronoff said her deployment was different than many other military parents because she made the choice to join after she already had a family, and explaining it to her two young daughters who had not grown up in a military family was difficult.
“We had a family vote and my girls were very supportive,” she said. “It was hard for me because I was away during all the holidays and it was the first time I was away from them for longer than a day.”
Aronoff talked about how she explained to her daughters why she would be gone and said she shared with them a special secret they could think of anytime they missed her.
“I told them that whenever they felt sad and lonely, they just needed to look up at the sky and know that we were always looking at the same stars,” she said.
Next to the Aronoff family at last week’s event was Juan Serrano, a Long Island resident who works in Rego Park, and his 9-year-old son Camilo. Serrano served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2000-09 and was deployed to Iraq during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom before being medically discharged after suffering a neck injury during his service.
Camilo read his letter to his father, who now works as an administrative manager providing treatment to 9/11 first responders, that discussed why it was important for him to serve his country and defend the freedom we enjoy today.
“My definition of freedom is much different than most of my friends,” Camilo said. “I am glad my father is still alive and I am grateful for him and his friends, but at the same time it’s very sad because many people died in combat. I’m proud to be an American and today is a good day to remember that freedom is not free.”
The third veteran, David Serana, was joined by his 13-year-old son Binhi, who read his letter about how his father explained the war and terrorism to him and what it means to him to be able to celebrate independence.
As he finished, he thanked his father for his bravery and said that to him, July 4 is a day to celebrate peace.
“Every day should be a peace day,” he said. “Without heroes and soldiers like Dad, there would be no peace and no July 4.”
Reach reporter Kelsey Durham at 718-260-4573 or by e-mail at kdurham@cnglocal.com.
