By Nick Buglione
It wasn't long before two of the packages landed in the sand-filled lap of Marine Cpl. Trevor Tranchina, a 28-year-old Bethpage native who was bouncing around southern Iraq shortly after the war's outbreak.
It had Ken's name on it and my name was on it and I said, This is curious,' said Tranchina, describing the two packages that came addressed directly to him while he was in the Iraqi village of Ad Diwaniyah.
Tranchina happens to be East Meadow PTA Council President Laurie May's nephew. May collaborated with Acerno in his mammoth drive to collect and ship snacks, baby wipes, lotion, lip balm and other items to the troops, making sure two boxes got to her nephew and his comrades.
It had a letter from the PTA and some drawings from kids, which I still have, said Tranchina, who returned to his California base about two weeks ago and visited his family here Father's Day weekend. It choked me up a bit.
It was a gesture that obviously touched the Marine, so it was only fitting that he joined East Meadow PTA members last week in extending a resounding thank you to Acerno at a surprise celebration in his honor.
When we were packing boxes one night, we were trying to think of what we could do for Ken, said Kathy Volpe, co-president of the Parkway Elementary School PTA. He really had this whole thing going. He put out the phone calls, he hooked us up with the colonel in Garden City, he hooked us up with a woman from a base in Brooklyn. He really put his heart into this.
Volpe and her colleagues decided to bestow the Rockville Centre resident with a New York State Congress of Parents and Teachers honorary life membership award during a June 17 ceremony at Parkway.
I was absolutely blown away, said Acerno, who had no idea that the celebration was for him. I certainly didn't expect this. I thought it was Kathy's going-away function, and I, out of respect for her, wanted to be there.
By all accounts, it was an award that was well deserved. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Acerno transformed the North Bellmore convenience store he's owned for two years into the base for Operation Soldier.
By the time his two-month effort was finished, a small army of volunteers had rallied to his side, helping him send about 266 care packages, or 7,000 pounds of goods, to the troops.
My brother was serving and at the time my guy and I were putting together packages for him, said Acerno, explaining how he started the project. I had the boxes, I had the stuff. It was a no-brainer.
While any soldier who got his hands on a package was undoubtedly grateful, it meant a little more to the local boys serving overseas.
Tranchina wasn't the only Long Islander to receive one. An East Islip serviceman did too, most likely learning of the package's origin from a letter or signed picture enclosed.
Some of the boxes had letters from the kids; we tried to break up as many of them as we could, May said.
The unidentified serviceman was so moved that he contacted his mother at home to notify her of the goodwill gesture. She promptly stopped off at Acerno's 7-Eleven with a cake to thank him, but he wasn't there to enjoy it.
It means all the world to me; it doesn't matter who [the packages] went to, Acerno said. I was proud to do what we did, and I'd do it again if we had to.
