2026 Veteran of the Year

---

Remarks from  Bernie's Daughter, Lisa DeCicco:

I am here today speaking on behalf of my dad, Bernie Russo. At this time, my dad would like to thank the East Haven Veteran’s Council for naming him the East Haven Veteran of the Year for 2026. 

My dad began a life of service even before he joined the Navy. He left school at a young age, as did a lot of men & woman back then and began working. He worked for public works for the Town of East Haven for a little while, he worked construction and had started to build a life for himself in a town he grew up in and loved so much. 

But….the federal government had other ideas. Unbeknownst to Dad, in late 1969, he had received a DRAFT notice, but his mom intercepted it, got very nervous about it and hid it in the kitchen drawer. When she came back upon the notice at some point, she called my mother, as my parents were not yet married and told them about the draft notice he had received and that she had hidden. The notice advised that dad had two options: enlist or be drafted. Dad immediately went home, got the notice and reported to the Navy office the next day.  When he was interviewed by the recruiter, they asked him what he did for a job and the recruiter immediately told him he would be a perfect match for the Navy Seabees. 

On January 11, 1970, dad reported for boot camp in Gulf Port, Mississippi. The boot camp at the time was not a very difficult boot camp, you did calestenics, learned how to march and got some time at the rifle range. He was there with 40 other guys, not one woman. 

When dad and I sat together to review his military service for these remarks, I learned a lot of new things about my dad and his service. I always knew my dad had an extensive construction background through his time in the Navy, but I didn’t know he dragged coral in Hawaii to re-flatten and rebuild roads for the touch and go pads for the fighter jets, I didn’t know he teetered on edges of roads as he drove a roadway grater through mountains in California to help create new roadways for bases, I didn’t realize he could operate machinery as big as a house to extend bases in Okinawa Japan. How he drove tractor trailers to deliver oil drums, to provide transport for food going to Naval ships, again in California. 

I learned two things in talking with my dad about his time in the Navy:

1.  His job with the Seabees was done with such pride and was a job rooted in service

2. And every single answer to the questions I asked my dad about his service referenced a fellow team member. It was never dad saying, I did this, I did that, it was always We did this, We did that. He made friendships that lasted outside of the Navy. He made connections and had once-in-a-lifetime experiences because of his team members. 

When I asked Dad what his service in Navy taught him most, he said it was the camaraderie. The bond of brotherhood, that once you make it, it doesn’t break. He said that was what he missed most when he left the Navy. 

But coming home to East Haven after his service, my dad continued to serve. He worked with a lot of you here today to form the Vietnam Veterans Chapter 484, to bring awareness to the experiences our service members had when fighting in Vietnam, to help support each other as they navigated life forward as Vietnam Veterans and to help bring back those feelings of camaraderie and friendship to a group of veterans suffering in silence. He served on the State Council of Vietnam Veterans. He is a member of the American Legion Post 89. 

And he has given so much back to the town he still resides in today, a town he still loves with all his heart. He and so many others helped make Momauguin Little League the thriving league it is today. He was a member of the East Haven Town Council for 4 years. And he is a founding member of the East Haven Fireworks, an event that still happens today. For my dad, bringing together his community was always first and foremost in his heart. To bring back those bonds he felt in the service. 

I’ll end with this: Most of you have heard me talk about my dad instilling in me and my brother, then later, in his grandchildren, the importance of love of country and honoring those that serve. I asked him recently, why was that, why was it so important for us to know these things. 

He explained the support you show your town, your neighbors, your community and our Veterans helps develop the similar bonds of and feelings of camaraderie you feel with your fellow service members. That love, loyalty and patriotism is the heartbeat of America and in small towns like ours, it is what sustains us, its what gets us through the good times and the bad. 

My dad’s message to you, as your veteran of the year – support your community, help your neighbors, teach the next generation the values of service, whether its in the military or out in your community and above all else, always support those that served and always remember those that made the ultimate sacrifice protecting our freedoms. 

One final thought that has stayed with me since talking with my dad for this honor: He said to me, every veteran that has served, no matter their age right now, if asked, they would do it all over again. And knowing my dad, he’d be the first to raise his hand. 

Thank you again, from my dad. This is an honor he will never forget.