Vietnam Veteran Lee Sinnickson to Lead Parade

Lee Sinnickson wasn’t expecting to become Grand Marshal of the East Moriches Veterans Memorial Parade. In fact, when his wife, Loretta, first suggested his name be submitted, he declined.

“I like being under the radar sometimes. I didn’t want to overstep anybody else,” the Vietnam veteran explained.

Someone else had different ideas. A longtime acquaintance quietly submitted Sinnickson’s name anyway, eventually contacting Loretta for more information about her husband’s military and community service.

The result: Sinnickson, 78, an Army combat veteran whose roots in the community span generations, was selected to lead this year’s East Moriches parade.

For Sinnickson, however, the recognition extends far beyond himself.

“It’s an honor, not only for me, but for all the men who served who didn’t come home,” he said. “It’s recognition for everybody — the men who are unaccounted for, the POWs, not just Vietnam, but all wars.”

Parade organizer Miriam Gillies said Sinnickson was an excellent choice because his life reflects the very ideals the annual event was created to recognize.

“Lee has served his country and his community throughout his entire life,” said Gillies, a long-time member of the parade’s sponsor: the Chamber of Commerce of the Moriches. “He is an excellent choice for Grand Marshal, and we are very proud to have him lead the parade. His military service, his commitment to veterans and everything he has done for the Moriches Bay community make this a very well-deserved honor.”

A lifelong Center Moriches resident, Sinnickson trained at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and Fort Polk, Louisiana in 1967.

“I was in the infantry,” he said. “I was a combat soldier. That’s how I describe myself.”

Sent to Vietnam in 1968, Sinnickson served a 14-month tour with the famed 1st Infantry Division, operating out of Lai Khe. His unit conducted search-and-destroy missions, frequently deploying by helicopter into the field.

“You find them, they find you, and you do what you have to do,” Sinnickson recalled. “We were out anywhere from one day to a few weeks. The longest I was out was six weeks.”

He returned home as a specialist with an impressive list of decorations, including the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, Army Commendation Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Gallantry Citation, Vietnam Campaign Medal and National Defense Service Medal.

After Vietnam, Sinnickson attended Farmingdale College, earning his degree in funeral directing in 1971 and joining a family tradition that began with his grandfather in 1940.

“I was cutting the lawn there at 10 years old,” Sinnickson recalled of Sinnickson’s Moriches Funeral Home on Main Street of his hometown. “At 16, I was driving.”

His grandfather, a World War I veteran, founded the business; his father, a World War II veteran, became a funeral director after returning from the service. Sinnickson followed after Vietnam, and his daughter Keri later became the fourth generation of the family to enter the profession.

“At that time, I think we were the only funeral home in New York State with four direct generations,” Sinnickson said. “From my grandfather, my father, to me, to my daughter — direct family.”

His service to the community went well beyond the funeral home. Sinnickson joined the Center Moriches Fire Department at 18 and served as a firefighter, Hose Company officer, benevolent association trustee and commissioner, following his grandfather onto the Board of Fire Commissioners.

He is a lifetime member of Center Moriches VFW Post 414, Eastport American Legion Post 1545, Vietnam Veterans of America and the Society of the First Infantry Division. He also served as president of the Moriches Lions Club, Moriches Bay Little League and East Moriches Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Park, while supporting numerous local civic and charitable organizations.

Through it all, Sinnickson said his selection as Grand Marshal remains less about one veteran than everyone who wore the uniform.

“It’s good, not for me, but for all veterans,” he said. “Whether it be in time of war or time of peace, to me that doesn’t matter. You served. That, to me, is the important thing.”

The parade will step off rain or shine at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, beginning at East Moriches School on Adelaide Avenue and proceeding along Montauk Highway to Soldiers and Sailors Park, where a memorial ceremony will follow.