NEWS | THE NORTHPORT RECORD, MAY 13, 2004

Northport Remembers A Fallen Son

Nathan Bruckenthal memorialized in service, waterfront ceremony

By Michael R. Sisak / The Northport Record

Hundreds of mourners filled St. Philip Neri Church and later marched along Main Street to the waterfront, Tuesday morning, as Northport paid tribute to Coast Guard officer Nathan Bruckenthal, the son of police chief Ric Bruckenthal, who was killed in an attack off the coast of Iraq on April 24.

Related Story:
Nathan Bruckenthal, Son of Chief, Dies in Iraq Ambush
(Record, April 29, 2004)

Streets were closed for blocks around the church and the crowd overflowed from pews near the altar to a standing room section in the vestibule. Uniformed service men and women lined the wall. Most shed tears.

Outside, as an American flag flew alongside a Coast Guard flag on a banister on the steps of the church, more people stood and listened to an audio broadcast of the service.

Reverends Peter Garry and Stephen Michie and Rabbi Steve Moss led prayers and Nathan’s uncle, Steven, and stepmother, Pat, made remembrances.

“In peacetime, sons bury their fathers,” Moss said. “In war, fathers bury their sons.”

Photographs of Nathan in Iraq, one holding a combat rifle, the other a close-up of his smiling face, were displayed at the entrance to the church and along the sides of the altar, the lasting memories of a fallen son.

Members of the Coast Guard, the Northport and Suffolk County Police, local fire departments, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars paid their respects. Many counted him as a friend.

“When you made friends with Nathan, he was a friend for life,” Pat Bruckenthal said. “He had a sense of service at a very young age.”

Nathan died from injuries sustained when a small boat exploded in an apparent terrorist ambush as he and six other coalition sailors attempted to board it near an oil terminal in the Persian Gulf. He joined the Coast Guard shortly after his graduation from high school in Ridgefield, Conn., where he served as a junior firefighter and junior ROTC, and was first stationed in Montauk.

“For the longest time, I didn’t think the Coast Guard had washing machines,” Pat recalled. “He would come to our home in Northport with a Coast Guard issued duffel bag full of clothes. I think it was just to spend a little time with us.”

Mark Davenport, the commander of the Coast Guard station at Eaton’s Neck, also spoke of Nathan’s commitment to duty, theorizing that even if Nathan had been blessed with a gift to see the peril in his future, he would have carried on the mission.

“His absence wouldn’t have stopped the mission,” Davenport said, with a ripple in his throat. “Destiny, destiny cannot be changed.”

Nathan was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia on Friday. Rep. Steve Israel (D–Huntington) attended the funeral and the memorial service and remembered Nathan while questioning Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld before the House Armed Services Committee on Friday. Israel also attended the services in Northport on Tuesday.

“ He was the first member of the Coast Guard to be killed in action since Vietnam,” Israel said. “He was killed by a fanatic, he was killed by a suicide bomber. He was killed by a maritime improvised explosive device, by a culture that values death over life.”

Northport Mayor Peter Panarites watched the service from the rear of the church.

“It’s a sad day for Northport,” Panarites said. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the Bruckenthal family. Any time you have a thing of this nature, the village really pulls together. Nobody wants to see this happen to any family, any family.”

Following the service, mourners proceeded down Main Street to the waterfront, where a Coast Guard helicopter flew overhead and a wreath was laid in Nathan’s honor.

“After the wreath has been laid, after the final volley has been fired, after the last note of ‘taps’ is played,” Davenport said, “that is when my memorial to Nathan will begin.”

Panarites Searches For Stevens’ Replacement

Northport Mayor Peter Panarites is searching for a replacement for Ann Stevens, the village trustee who resigned last Wednesday, one day after she and two other board members approved a resolution to dismiss seven misconduct charges against Village Police Chief Ric Bruckenthal and return him to active duty.

Stevens said her decision is related to personal medical issues, and that while the timing of her decision may imply relation to the Bruckenthal case, there is no such connection. The resignation is effective immediately.

“I have had some personal health problems that have been mounting and that absolutely is it,” Stevens said. “It has nothing to do with specific pressures about the police chief case.”

Stevens and trustees Ed Perlin and Arlene Handel approved the measure to reinstate Bruckenthal, which was crafted and approved in a closed-door session, May 4, after discussions of a possible settlement were held at an executive session meeting requested by Stevens, April 30. Mayor Peter Panarites and deputy mayor Victor Howard elected to abstain. The board moved quickly to settle the case after Bruckenthal’s son Nathan, a Coast Guard officer, was killed in an attack in Iraq on April 24.

“Obviously there has been a lot of stress and turmoil in the village that has impacted my health, frankly, and that’s the reason,” said Stevens, a lifelong Northport resident who was elected to a four-year term in 2002. “Because I felt so strongly that this matter with the chief should come to an end, I was happy to have that be the last thing I did in office.”

Panarites is expected to shift village personnel to fill the role of village commissioner of personnel, which Stevens had held while in office.

“I’m very disappointed,” Panarites said. “She was a very capable and dependable public servant. I think with all the pressure that every member of the board got from the Bruckenthal people during these proceedings; Ann bore the brunt of it. She was getting a lot of pressure, I don’t care what anyone says.”