By Nicole Falco
Since his son's death, Leonard Wahl, a Valley Stream resident, has racked his brain, trying to think of a way to honor his son's memory. "I wanted to do something that Gregory loved, and he loved his daughter, Alexis," Wahl said. "I realized that there are other children out there who have lost a parent."
Children like Mikayla Lynn, 5, and Theodora Rose, 2, whose father, Jeffrey Weiner, a Navy man, was killed in Iraq on May 6. Weiner, a former Lynbrook and Valley Stream resident, lived within walking distance of Wahl. "The bus stopped by his house, and I used to see him, [his wife] Maria and their two girls on my way to work sometimes," Wahl said.
A little over a month ago, Wahl set up the Children of the Fallen, L.I. Money raised by the nonprofit organization will go to children of soldiers from Long Island who were killed in operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. The money will be put in a trust fund in their names. Wahl has already contacted some of the soldiers' families, but he realizes there are more he may not know about.
"The children are lost in the shuffle, and the children are the ones who have lost the most," said Wahl, who served four years in the Air Force. "A wife can replace a husband, [but] a child can never replace a mother or father who is lost in war. So who loses? That child does. So really, that child gave up the most for our country."
To get the organization up and running, Wahl has had the help of friends like Doug Quaranto and Vinny Puccio, as well as from the parents of other deceased soldiers. The organization's first fund-raiser will be a dinner-dance on Saturday, July 16. The event will be held in the American Legion Hall, at 51 Roosevelt Ave., from 8 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $60 and include dinner, beer, wine and soda, and entertainment. The American Legion donated the use of its hall, and chefs Joe Loshiavo, of Valley Stream's 99 Club, and Scott Bradley, Gregory Wahl's cousin, of Snaps in Wantagh, have donated their services. "I hope this is the first of many fund-raisers," Wahl said.
Wahl is soliciting event sponsors. Sponsorships range from $25 to $50. Checks should be made payable to "Children of the Fallen, L.I." and sent to 71 Albermarle Ave., Valley Stream, NY 11580. For more information about Children of the Fallen, L.I., call Quaranto at (516) 317-8293 or Wahl at 561-6852.
"I'd still rather have [Gregory] back, but I can't have him back," Wahl said. "I guess I'm doing it for Alexis. I see his blue eyes in hers. In a way it's like he's here ... yet he isn't."
According to Wahl, his daughter-in-law took her husband's death hard, and the last year hasn't been easy. Maricela received just $12,500 in death benefits from the government, though her daughter will receive Social Security benefits until she graduates from college. Alexis, who just finished kindergarten in Brentwood, still sometimes asks when Daddy is coming home, but she's a happy little girl who loves to laugh. Mother and daughter plan to move to Watertown upstate. Gregory and Maricela spent the first eight years of their marriage there, about 75 miles south of Syracuse, near Fort Drum, where Wahl was stationed before being sent overseas.
"If I can make [Alexis] a little bit happier, then I'm doing all right," Wahl said. "Then things aren't that bad. And if I can help other children while I'm helping her, then that's a good thing, too."
Comments about this story? NFalco@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 208.
