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Overcast I.P. Civic Association Honors Our Troops
The highlight of the Island Park Civic Association’s “Love Your Troops” dinner dance was the awarding of honors and flags to former members of our military, including, for the first time, a woman.
Brooklyn born Army Staff Sergeant Caryn Deik proudly served as an active duty member and reservist from 1989 through 2004. She was honorably discharged after serving during Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. She was a patient administrative specialist and a personnel administrative specialist.
Deik, her husband Frank and son Dominic now call Island Park home, where she is active in the VFW and Kiwanis Club.
Army Medic Ernie Dipasqua moved to Island Park in 1959 at the age of 10. After attending school here he was drafted in 1968 and sent to Jump School at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was assigned to the 101 Airborne Division and sent to Vietnam where he served for two years. Honorably discharged in 1970 he earned four bronze stars and four other medals of commendation.
He worked for the U.S. Post Office for 38 years, and is now retired. Dipasqua is the proud father of a daughter, Lindsay. He currently lives in Freeport.
When Michael McCarthy was a young boy in Hicksville he wanted to be a Marine, and was recruited at the age of 17 with his parent’s consent. He entered the Marines the day after his highschool graduation party in 1989.
He attended combat training school for infantry, and was placed in the third battalion, seventh Marine Regiment, first Marine Division, and was accepted into the Scout Sniper Unit. In 1990 he was deployed to Japan, then reassigned to MAGTF4-90 for Operation Hunt. He was sent to Saudi Arabia as part of Operation Desert Shield, which became Operation Desert Storm. In 1992 he was assigned to perform Counter Narcotics Operations with the Drug Enforcement Agency. He was honorably discharged in 1993.
He is currently a private investigator. He and his wife Frenchie live in Island Park with their two daughters Fallon and Reagan. He is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the VFW, plus he coaches the Oceanside United Soccer Club and Island Park Little League.
