On Sunday, November 19, Assemblyman Brian Curran (Lynbrook-21st A.D.) hosted his annual Veterans Hall of Honor event. This event is meant to honor local veterans for their service to our country.

Among those honored were Ed Cook from East Rockaway and Ed Shaw and Ken Weir from Lynbrook. Ed Cook began his legal career at a Manhattan law firm before joining the Navy as a Judge Advocate in 1993. Ed was first assigned to Norfolk Naval Base and deployed to the Mediterranean aboard USS Kearsarge, stationed off the coast of Bosnia. Recalled to active duty after 9/11, he served on the staff of the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, and later served in Bahrain with Commander, Naval Forces Central Command. His reserve assignments included Atsugi Japan and Keflavik Iceland. He retired from the Reserves as a Commander in 2017.

Ed Shaw enlisted with the U.S. Navy after high school in September 1987. He completed Basic Training in Great Lakes, Illinois and his ‘A’ School in Millington, Tennessee. His secondary schooling was in Norfolk, Virginia. Upon completion of his schooling, he was designated an aviation electronics technician and was assigned to the Aircraft Carrier USS America CV-66. During his tenure, his aircraft carrier was sent to Cuba, Libya, Lebanon and the Persian Gulf. The USS America also went on a North Atlantic cruise and a Mediterranean and Indian Ocean cruise. While on the ship, he did calibration electronics, which supported the ship’s aircraft squadrons and onboard electronics labs. He earned the ship’s Sailor of the Month Award and was even an invited guest at the captain’s dinner. After completing active duty in 1991, he went into the active reserves for three more years. He was honorably discharged in 1994.

Ken Weir was inducted into the USAF on March 27, 1975. Vietnam officially ended when he was in basic training, so he is considered a Vietnam Era veteran. He went to Lackland AFB Texas for basic training and then Sheppard AFD in Texas for technical school. His permanent duty station for the rest of his enlistment was at Tyndall AFB in Panama City, Florida, where his job was general accounting specialist. He oversaw all the commercial contracts on the base from fixing TVs in the barracks to maintenance on the planes. In his last year, the USAF thought everyone who worked in an office should learn another job in case of war breaking out. For the rest of his enlistment, he was in law enforcement on the weekends. He learned a lot in the military including respect, discipline and punctuality. He was discharged honorably on March 26, 1979, as an E-4 Sergeant and returned home to his family in Forest Hills.

“It is my great honor to recognize all these amazing and inspiring veterans. They have given up so much to protect the freedoms we enjoy in the U.S. To honor them like this is the least I can do as a thankful citizen. We owe veterans a debt we can never repay and must always remember freedom is never free,” said Curran.