Story by  Ex Captain Steven Grogan - Updated 05/13/2019

On December 3, 2010, thirty members of the Nassau County Firefighters-Operation Wounded Warrior program traveled to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD, to present Christmas presents to hospitalized wounded warriors. 

Eight members of the Lynbrook Fire Department were part of this year's group that made the trip.  They included: Third Deputy Chief Ed Hynes, and Firefighters Chris Hynes and Vincent McManus, representing Engine Company; Ex-Chief Richard Neidecker and Captain James Eisenhauer, representing Hose Company; Ex-Chief Kevin Bien, representing Truck Company; Ex-Captain Steve Grogan, representing Tally-Ho; and Ex-Captain Laura Gullicksen, representing the Medical Company.   Additionally, First Lieutenant James Tucker, representing Vulcan Company, and who is also a Navy Corpsman, left the day before and traveled with another group of volunteer firefighters to Camp LeJeune.

The Lynbrook Washington contingent left at 5 AM and were part of a nine vehicle caravan, including a U-Haul truck that carried the presents.  The caravan of fire department vehicles has been dubbed the "Long Red Line."  

The group presented 107 Christmas gift bags containing numerous presents (DVD player, NCFD fleece, blankets, socks, toiletries, Christmas cards, letters and notes) to soldiers receiving treatment at the two hospitals treating these wounded warriors.

At Walter Reed the presents were given to soldiers who had mostly lost a limb and were going through rehab after being fitted with a prosthesis.  Most of the wounded soldiers presented with gifts by the Lynbrook firefighters had suffered the loss of a leg.  At Bethesda, the group did not personally meet many wounded Marines due to the extreme seriousness of their injuries, many whom were recent arrivals at that hospital.   

Besides this group of thirty that traveled to Washington and Maryland, the second group of Nassau County firefighters were in Camp Lejeune that same day, while a third group was at Fort Bragg, with additional Christmas gifts for soldiers out of the hospital but recovering and re-training at those two bases.