Army Lieutenant Visits South Middle School

Lynbrook welcomed home one of its own on Friday morning when Lieutenant Greg Durso spoke to students at . Durso, a 2006 High School graduate, recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Durso's presence served as a reminder of who America’s true heroes are. 

“We tend to think of heroes as people who can hit home runs, put a leather ball in an iron hoop better than others...but those aren’t heroes - those are people who can do something very well,” said teacher Al Marrazzo, who managed Durso on the Lynbrook Owls varsity baseball team.

“Lieutenant Durso is what you would consider a true hero because he does things selflessly...this is someone who you should admire and look up to," Marrazzo said.

For the students staring back at the Lieutenant, the Afghan War has spanned a large majority of their lifetime - more as a fact of life than anything else. Durso felt it was of the utmost importance to explain the United State’s role in the Middle Eastern country to those students, some of whom may not understand the purpose.

“We are not fighting [the country of] Afghanistan,” Durso said. “We’re fighting groups in Afghanistan, most of which fall under the category of Taliban. Those smaller groups are working actively against the Afghan government and, by extension, the American army to prevent the country from making any progress.”

Although the romanticized thoughts of the army have to do with physical combat, Durso said that the majority of his time was spent interacting with Afghan citizens, specifically children. He showed slides of himself and others interacting with local youth, trying to demonstrate that they were there to help, not hurt or terrorize. 

“We didn’t want them to think we were the bad guys,” Durso said. 

Durso went to Afghanistan after graduating the United States Military Academy in 2010. He took 40 credits per semester during his time at the academy. For comparison, the majority of non-service university students take an average of 15 credits per semester, according to Durso. 

When he was deployed to Afghanistan, Durso joined a unit that had already been there for two months. Eight hours into his tour, he was leading a mission. 

“It was a very steep learning curve,” he said.

Students asked questions of Durso after his presentation. The questions ranged from what Afghan life is like to his life in Lynbrook. He informed the students that he was also a graduate, much to the delight of the other Marion Street alums in the room. 

Durso is currently on a month-long break. He is stationed at the Fort Drum Army Base in upstate New York. There, he’ll be training to return to Afghanistan. His family currently resides in Massapequa, leaving Lynbrook after he completed high school.

Did you hear Durso speak this week at Lynbrook schools? Tell us in comments.