On May 19, 2018, American Legion Post 1123 held its annual “Lacrosse for Deployed Soldiers.” This event collects non-perishable supplies to be sent to American soldiers serving our country overseas. The United States’ war on terrorism has been long, and sometimes it is easy to forget that our country continues to have servicemen and women in harm’s way. “Lacrosse for Deployed Soldiers” reminds our communities of the sacrifices our military makes for our freedom and asks the community to help support them during their deployments.
“Lacrosse for Deployed Soldiers” was started to collect and send supplies to the son of one of the Post 1123 members, who was deployed to Afghanistan. This soldier had also played youth lacrosse. The American Legion enlisted the assistance of some local youth lacrosse teams to raise supplies, and an event was planned where the players could drop off those supplies. On July 15, 2017, Post 1123 hosted two lacrosse games inside the walls of Sing Sing Prison. The Legion sent all the supplies donated to a unit that was deployed. This year all the supplies collected were sent to Sing Sing Correction Officer Alan Rincon and Watertown Correctional Facility Sergeant Cameron Fisher. Both are currently deployed overseas.
This year “Lacrosse for Deployed Soldiers” had six teams competing in four lacrosse games in the closed medium-security section of Sing Sing Prison. The six teams were a 7th grade RECON Mountain lacrosse team from Long Island, two teams from the Town of Cortlandt in Westchester County, NY (a 3 / 4 grade team and a 7 / 8 grade team), two teams from Orangetown in Rockland County, NY (a 3 / 4 grade team and a 7 / 8 grade team) and a 3 / 4 grade team from Irvington in Westchester County, NY. All the games were played in a torrential rain storm. All the coaches reminded the players that our country’s servicemen and women often work and live in these conditions. One of the players whose father served in the Army was overheard saying, “He loved how much it sucked out here.” All the teams enjoyed playing in the rain but the supplies they donated was the reason for the day. Once the supplies were boxed up, the Legion had 17 boxes weighing a total of 128 pounds to send overseas.
General Douglas MacArthur in his speech at West Point spoke of “Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be." The players involved are representative of General MacArthur’s word. All the players involved exhibited teamwork, sportsmanship and comradery. All the players are a positive example to their communities. The American Legion is very proud to have had their assistance.
Post 1123 also provided food for all the players and their families thanks to the assistance of local restaurants and delicatessens, and they had T-shirts made for each player. The American Legion received support from the Ossining Police Department, the Ossining Volunteer Fire Department, the Sing Sing officer’s union, NYSCOPBA and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Society. The American Legion “Lacrosse for Deployed Soldiers” continues to be immensely popular with all who attended and each year the number of teams that want to participate increases. Post 1123 looks forward to working with local youth lacrosse teams and the community to support our country’s servicemen and women deployed overseas.