Brooklyn Vets Honored at Local Nursing Homes This Veterans Day

75 year-old Carl Cohen is one of the bravest and nicest man you'll ever meet and a resident for six and a half years at Boro Park Center, the large and prestigious 504-bed nursing and rehabilitation facility on 10th Avenue next door to Maimonides Medical Center. Mr. Cohen is a proud father and grandfather who served as a motorman with the US Army during the Vietnam War.

As a proud American whose parents immigrated from Ukraine and Byelorussia, Carl Cohen was born in Brooklyn during the year that saw the end of World War II in 1945 and 18 years later, he joined the US Army to fight during the Vietnam War. Carl was deployed to Vietnam during the early years of the war in 1963 and he saw action that earned him multiple medals for heroism, but also nearly cost him his life. One of the darkest moments of his service in Vietnam is when he lost his best friend in combat, a friend who he will never forget. Upon his return back to the US, Carl married and started a family.

"On behalf of the Boro Park Center and Centers Health Care, we want to say thank you to Carl Cohen for his service to our country!" said Polina Kravchenko, Recreation Director at Boro Park Center. "We are all very proud and thankful for Carl's service in the US Army!"

Mr. Naford C Holston, 73, is a Brooklyn original and a resident at Concord Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, the highly respectable 140-bed nursing and rehabilitation facility on Madison Street in Brooklyn . Mr. Holston served during the Vietnam War in November 1967. He finished one tour in the US Airforce but was luckily enough to learn about the mechanics of our aircraft so upon his discharge, Mr. Holston became an aircraft mechanic. Naford never married and doesn’t have children.

"We are blessed and lucky to know our veterans," said Aracelis Abreu, Recreation Director at Concord Nursing and Rehabilitation. "We not only thank them for their service, we learn how it was to be in their shoes and to try to understand their bravery."

88 year-old Andrew Hill, is also a Concord Nursing resident and originally from Anderson, South Carolina. Mr. Hill served proudly in the US Army during the Korean War in the early 1950s. Later after discharge, he became a master barber. One great lifelong hobby that developed for him, is the love of photography. Andrew never married and has no children.

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, 77 year-old US Army Veteran Robert Williams served in the Vietnam War for one tour. Prior to his military experience, Mr. Williams and his family moved north to Detroit during his teenage years, where he graduated from high school before moving to New York City. From there he joined the US Army and was sent off to southeast Asia. Following his tour in Vietnam, Mr. Williams became a New York City Police Officer at the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights. Mr. Williams was never married and is a resident at Brooklyn Center in Crown Heights.

Mr. Robert Taylor, also a resident at Brooklyn Center, was drafted into the US Army during the 1970s height of the Vietnam War in 1972. At 69 years-old, Mr. Taylor was originally from Henderson, North Carolina before moving north to the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Following serving one tour in Vietnam, Robert was discharged and back home he went to school and graduated as a graphics art designer. Mr. Taylor is married, has three children, twelve grandchildren and one great grandchild.

"We are so fortunate to have amazing heroes amongst us," said Rabiah Ghani, Recreation Director at Brooklyn Center. "You really have to admire what Mr. Williams and Mr. Taylor did for this country. They know what it means to fight."