
Congressman pays visit to veterans center Day Room. During a February 11 visit to the county’s Joseph P. Dwyer Day Room of the Veteran’s Center in Greenport, county Director of Veterans Services Gary Flaherty shows Congressman Antonio Delgado (D-19th) the center’s new Space Force flag. Rep. The meeting gave Rep. Delgado a chance to hear from Mr. Flaherty what legislative issues are of greatest concern to local veterans. And Mr. Delgado discussed bi-partisan legislation he has proposed that would benefit veterans. Photo by David Lee
GREENPORT—A billboard in Chatham advertises the Joseph P. Dwyer Day Room of the Veteran’s Center in Greenport. It features a photograph of an American soldier in battle gear carrying an injured child. The picture is by photojournalist Warren Zinn, who was working for the Army Times and embedded with the 7th Cavalry in 2003 as the United States Army approached Baghdad, Iraq. After a night of ambushes and firefights PFC Dwyer was photographed as he evacuated the child from a contested village.
The photo became famous, featured on magazine covers all over the world. PFC Dwyer became a celebrity. But after he left the military he suffered from severe traumatic stress and five years later he died of a drug overdose.
The Joseph P. Dwyer Veterans Peer Support Project, launched in 2012 in Suffolk County, has is now in Columbia County. Money provided by the state Senate through the Dwyer Project has helped to fund the new facility and its programs. Read more…