A ceremony was held at Stewart Air National Guard Base on Dec. 28 for Joseph Lemm, a technical sergeant who was killed by a suicide attack in Afghanistan on Dec. 21 just north of Kabul. He was one of six killed and several more were injured in the attack. His body was taken to New York city where he served in the NYPD as a detective for 15 years, for a funeral, and then was scheduled to go to West Harrison in Westchester County where he is from.
County Executive Steven Neuhaus ordered all flags on county property to be flown half mast during the day to honor Lemm and Staff Sergeant Louis Bonacasa from Coram, New York who also perished in the attack.
“Orange County stands behind the sacrifice that all of our military personnel have made during the war in Afghanistan and the rest of the Middle East,” Neuhaus said in a statement. “We will always remember their courage and sacrifice.”
Members of the 105th Airlift Wing, based at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh participate in the transfer ceremony of Technical Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm on Dec. 28, 2015. TSgt Lemm was killed in action while deployed to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan on Dec. 21, 2015. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Lee Guagenti
Members of the 105th Airlift Wing, based at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh participate in the transfer ceremony of Technical Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm on Dec. 28, 2015. TSgt Lemm was killed in action while deployed to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan on Dec. 21, 2015. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Lee Guagenti
Members of the 105th Airlift Wing, based at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh participate in the transfer ceremony of Technical Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm on Dec. 28, 2015. TSgt Lemm was killed in action while deployed to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan on Dec. 21, 2015. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Lee Guagenti
Members of the 105th Airlift Wing, based at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh participate in the transfer ceremony of Technical Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm on Dec. 28, 2015. TSgt Lemm was killed in action while deployed to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan on Dec. 21, 2015. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Lee Guagenti
Members of the 105th Airlift Wing, based at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh participate in the transfer ceremony of Technical Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm on Dec. 28, 2015. TSgt Lemm was killed in action while deployed to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan on Dec. 21, 2015. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Tech. Sgt. Lee Guagenti
Holly Kellum
Washington Correspondent
Holly Kellum is a Washington correspondent for NTD. She has worked for NTD on and off since 2012.
