Newsletter for the Alumni and Friends of
Hicksville High School Hicksville, New York

The Editors:
Buffalo Bob Casale '61	Linda (Piccerelli) Hayden '60
Pat (Koziuk) Driscoll '56	Bob (Gleason) Wesley '61

Contributing Editors: Bob Gillette & Walter Schmidt

Webmaster: Roger Whitaker

To contact the editors, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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HICKSVILLE VIETNAM WAR ERA MEMORIAL - PROJECT UPDATE

There is nothing new to report for the month of February, 2022.

Given the winter season with its cold weather, the possibility of the Memorial Dedication Ceremony, will likely be delayed until late spring, when the weather improves and we can hopefully put the Covid Pandemic in the past!

We'll keep you posted as things change and promise that we will alert everyone of the dedication ceremony date, once we have it officially approved. We will also give everyone as much advance notice as possible, in the event they wish to attend.

At this time the Memorial stones can be viewed in the Hicksville Memorial Gardens on an individual basis at the south side of the Hicksville Middle School on Jerusalem Avenue.

Additional donations will continue to help us cover the cost of the Dedication Ceremony gathering for school district and local official dignitaries, as well as to honor donors who have made very significant contributions to the Memorial. Further donations will also help with maintenance and upkeep of the Memorial for many years to come.

The project will be officially complete once we are able to conduct the Dedication Ceremony at the Memorial.

Please visit the Honoring Our Veterans tab of this newsletter for the full update, along with information on how to send in a donation.

On behalf of the Project Team,
Joe Carfora, HHS 1962

HHS CLASS OF 1966- 55TH REUNION

SAT. MAY 14TH 5-9PM at the Milleridge Inn Jericho.
$120/ PERSON includes open bar, cocktail hour, full dinner.
Send your check by April 1st to: STEPHEN GOLDSTEIN 1111A WASHINGTON DRIVE CENTERPORT NY 11721

The Newsletter

Photo Gallery

These are unusual patterns formed by nature

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Memory Lane

Nassau Coliseum at 50

By Robert Brodsky This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. @BrodskyRobert

Memories of the 'Old Barn'

Updated February 6, 2022

Sent to HixNews by Linda Piccerelli class of 1960

Bobby Nystrom can still hear the eruption from the capacity crowd at the Nassau Coliseum as he scored the game-winning goal in 1980, securing the New York Islanders their first Stanley Cup championship.

An overtime goal by Bobby Nystrom on May 24, 1980, gives the Islanders their first Stanley Cup of four in a row.
Captain Denis Potvin holds the Stanley Cup over his head as he skates around the ice at Nassau Coliseum.
Credits: Newsday photo by David L. Pokress; Newsday / Paul Bereswill

"I think all 15,000 fans were on the ice after I scored the goal," recalled Nystrom, who signed his first NHL contract in the Coliseum's parking lot. "The Long Island fans really added a whole other dimension to our success. When we were down, or behind by a couple of goals, they were the loudest fans in the league. It was a helluva building."

Officially known as the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Uniondale arena is far removed from its glory years, sitting dark most days, except for the occasional COVID-19-rescheduled concert or home expo show. And its future, after the Islanders moved to their permanent home at Belmont Park last year, is uncertain.

Elvis Presley was on stage performing at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, on June 22, 1973. Credit: Newsday / Jim Peppler.

But as the 'Old Barn' approaches its 50th anniversary on Feb. 11, the venerable arena, which once hosted Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney and four straight Stanley Cup champions, remains arguably the most significant building in Long Island history.

"Nassau Coliseum put Long Island on the sports map, and to a wider set gave national recognition to this area," said Nicholas Hirshon, 36, of Forest Hills, a journalism professor at William Paterson University in New Jersey and the author of a photographic history book on the Coliseum. "Being home to the Stanley Cup champion and so many famous acts brought much more awareness around the world to what Long Island is."

The Coliseum was originally intended as a cog in a grand vision for the Uniondale property, along with a concert hall, museum, library, and gallery. Those plans, as would become a pattern over the next 50 years, never came to fruition.

When the Air Force closed its base at Mitchel Field in 1961, the county acquired most of the land and allocated $32 million in taxpayer funds for a new arena that would allow Long Islanders to avoid trekking into Manhattan to see the world's greatest athletes and entertainers.

Nassau Coliseum under construction in 1970. Vincent Ferrantelli, of Wyandanch, and John Donnelly, of Oakdale, put the finishing touches on one of the food concession areas during the final preparations for the opening of the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, on Feb. 15, 1972. Credits: Newsday / Tom Maguire; Newsday/ Bill Senft

The Coliseum opened Feb. 11, 1972, as nearly 8,000 people (capacity at the time was 15,000) watched the American Basketball Association's New York Nets, who had moved from the Island Garden arena in West Hempstead, defeat the Pittsburgh Condors. The Nets, after merging into the more established NBA, moved to New Jersey in 1977. The Islanders made their Coliseum debut in October 1972, with the expansion team winning just twelve games that season.

The Coliseum was considered state-of-the-art at the time, featuring a digital scoreboard, the first of its kind in an indoor arena, instant replay technology, unobstructed sightlines, and affordable tickets, starting as low as $4.50 in 1972.

During the mid-1970s and 1980s, the Coliseum's resume was virtually unmatched among indoor arenas. Frank Sinatra, the Grateful Dead, Madonna, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen and of course Billy Joel took the stage. The arena also hosted the 1983 NHL All-Star Game, a Richard Nixon political rally, and WrestleMania II.

Credits: Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment / Art Maillet; AP Photo/Ron Frehm; John Roca Newsday Photo / Dick Kraus; Newsday/David L. Pokress; Newsday/George Rubei

Sports radio voice Mike Francesa, who was born in Long Beach, recalled watching the Coliseum being built while attending Kellenberg Memorial High School. The retired co-host of the "Mike and the Mad Dog" show interned for two seasons at the Coliseum with the New York Sets, a charter franchise of World Team Tennis.

"I think it is very important that a community have a place where they can see special things: playoff games; college basketball, through the big names of the day," Francesa, who lives in Manhasset, said of the Coliseum.

The arena was never hotter than the early 1980s as the " Fort Neverlose " Islanders won four straight Stanley Cups, making Hempstead Turnpike a perennial parade route.

"The acoustics. The noise and volume. The fans are right on top of the ice. It probably cannot be replicated," said Chris Vaccaro, 35, of Lake Grove, director of the graduate journalism program at Hofstra University who reported on the Coliseum for years. "A tight-knit structure that allowed fans to connect with players unlike any place in North America."

Credits: Newsday / Dick Morseman; Newsday/ Dan Goodrich; Newsday/ David L. Pokress

But the arena had flaws, some minor, others more significant, that were never corrected. The Coliseum had a single narrow concourse, scarce bathrooms, and no access to public transportation. And as the team's fortunes turned, the arena showed its age. Asbestos. Leaky roof. Torn seats. And with the property owned by the county, much of the revenue, and decision-making, was out of the Islanders' hands.

Team owner Charles Wang's plans for the privately funded $3.8 billion Lighthouse Project, with housing, offices, retail, and a luxury hotel, were blocked by the Town of Hempstead. After a public referendum to spend up to $400 million to refurbish the arena was rejected by voters, the team left for Brooklyn.

Developer Scott Rechler and Charles Wang, then a co-owner of the New York Islanders, discuss the Lighthouse Project, in 2007.
Credits: The Lighthouse Development Group; Newsday/ Karen Wiles Stabile

The building eventually received a $180 million face-lift, allowing the Islanders a brief return as the Brooklyn marriage fell apart, and while Belmont was under construction. But the combination of COVID-19 and the lack of a true anchor tenant (the Nets' G League developmental team and New York Riptides lacrosse team notwithstanding) has left the Coliseum in limbo.

"The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum had its time and I just hope they leave it there as a landmark and as a reminder of what we did there," Nystrom said.

Master developer Scott Rechler, who did not respond to requests for comment, has said the county could break ground as early as March on a largely privately financed $1.5 billion plan to build housing, offices, biotech research space, "experiential retail" and parking garages around the arena.

In a statement, leaseholder Nick Mastroianni II said the development of the Hub site can create a boost of high-paying jobs while building a location that provides memories for Long Islanders for the next 50 years.

"As we look toward the next 50 years of this institution, we recognize that the world has changed dramatically not just over the past five decades, but over the past two years," Mastroianni said. "The global pandemic has permanently altered the arena experience and with the introduction of the state-of-the-art UBS Arena at Belmont, combined with the decision to make the UBS Arena the new home of the Islanders, a re-imagining of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is needed more than ever."

In March, former County Executive Laura Curran waived Mastroianni's rent payments until six months after the lifting of government restrictions on the occupancy of the Coliseum. She later extended that relief through the end of February, according to Chris Boyle, spokesman for current County Executive Bruce Blakeman. Beginning March 1, the leaseholders are obligated to pay an annual rent payment of $4 million, or $333,333 per month, Boyle said.

While the Coliseum's future is uncertain, its place in history is secure. "The legacy of the Nassau Coliseum is a location of some of the greatest moments in Long Island, American and hockey history," Vaccaro said. "That building housed Hall of Famers who played for Long Island on Long Island. There is not a greater sports story to come from this area. There may never be."

Casale's Corner

The Vietnam Wall

The quality of the soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen has never been in question. It is the quality of the highest levels of leadership that is in doubt.

To those who might have known some of the people whose names appear on the Wall. A little history most people will never know. Here are some Interesting Veterans Statistics off the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

There are 58,267 names now listed on that polished black wall, including those added in 2010.

The names are arranged in the order in which they were taken from us by date and within each date, the names are alphabetized. It is hard to believe it is 36 years since the last casualties.

The first known casualty was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Massachusetts. He was listed by the U.S. Department of Defense as having been killed on June 8, 1956. His name is listed on the Wall with that of his son, Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III was killed on Sept. 7, 1965.

There are three sets of fathers and sons on the Wall.

39,996 on the Wall were just 22 or younger.

8,283 were just 19 years old.

The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old.

12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old.

5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.

One soldier, PFC Dan Bullock was 15 years old.

997 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam.

1,448 soldiers were killed on their last day in Vietnam.

31 sets of brothers are on the Wall.

Thirty-one sets of parents lost two of their sons.

54 soldiers attended Thomas Edison High School in Philadelphia. I wonder why so many from one school.

8 Women are on the Wall. Nursing the wounded.

244 soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War; 153 of them are on the Wall.

Beallsville, Ohio with a population of 475 lost 6 of her sons.

West Virginia had the highest casualty rate per capita in the nation. There are 711 West Virginians on the Wall.

The Marines of Morenci - They led some of the scrappiest high school football and basketball teams that the little Arizona copper town of Morenci (pop. 5,058) had ever known and cheered. They enjoyed roaring beer busts. They rode horses along the Coronado Trail in quieter moments, stalked deer in the Apache National Forest. And in the patriotic camaraderie typical of Morenci's mining families, the nine graduates of Morenci High enlisted as a group in the Marine Corps. Their service began on Independence Day, 1966. Only 3 returned home.

The Buddies of Midvale - LeRoy Tafoya, Jimmy Martinez, Tom Gonzales were all boyhood friends and lived on three consecutive streets in Midvale, Utah on Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh avenues. They lived only a few yards apart. They played ball at the adjacent sandlot ball field. And they all went to Vietnam. In 16 dark days in late 1967, all three would be killed. LeRoy was killed on Wednesday, Nov. 22, the fourth anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination. Jimmy died less than 24 hours later on Thanksgiving Day. Tom was shot dead assaulting the enemy on Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.

The most casualty deaths for a single day were on January 31, 1968, ~245 deaths.

The most casualty deaths for a single month was May 1968 - 2,415 casualties were incurred.

Most Americans who read this will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, they see the faces, they feel the pain that these numbers created. They will be haunted by these numbers until they pass away because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons, and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors.

semper fi