Weekend for Warriors

09/30/2025

Join us October 5th from 4-6pm at Mahoney's Irish Pub in Poughkeepsie to honor this year's 4 combat Veterans! Tickets can be purchased at the door or at www.weekendforwarriors.com

09/29/2025

Join us on Sunday, October 5th to hear from our keynote speaker, John Nawoichyk!

John Nawoichyk currently serves as the Director of Security, Operations, Strategic Planning and Training at the US Army Garrison - West Point, New York. He joined the Garrison after serving 9 years as the Senior Associate Athletics Director - Operations in the Army West Point Athletics Department. John retired from the US Army in 2018 as a Lieutenant Colonel with over 25 years of service, including five combat and operational deployments. He is an experienced, combat tested executive manager and logistician with over 32 years of leadership, logistics and management experience in large, diverse, multi-agency, multi-national organizations. Skilled at complex problem solving with proven track record of delivering on initiatives and accomplishing objectives. Adept at counseling, leader development, and personnel development using proven techniques that result in both organizational and personal growth.

09/23/2025

Presenting our fourth honoree for this year, Mario Claussell - US Army!

Mario Claussell enlisted in the Regular U.S. Army in 1966 and served during the Vietnam Conflict from 1967 to 1968, continuing in combat and combat support roles until 2013. From 1972 to 2013, he was assigned to the U.S. Army Ready Reserve, retiring due to combat-related conditions. Over the course of his military career, he completed rigorous, multidisciplinary training that supported his professional advancement, with assignments that included the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, and several national intelligence agencies. In the final nine years of his service, Claussell was primarily based in Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia, where he served as a Special Representative and Military Liaison with frequent temporary duty assignments.

He is currently the Senior Vice Commander of VFW Post 5034 and holds Life Memberships with both the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Vietnam Veterans of America; he is also a member of American Legion Post 72 in Saugerties, New York. Alongside his military service, Claussell built a successful civilian career, working as a Detective Investigator with the Bronx and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Offices and later as a Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration. He concluded his public service in 2016 as a Racing Investigator for the New York State Gaming Commission. Claussell has been married to his wife, Susan, for 50 years. They have two sons, both U.S. Army veterans, and two granddaughters. His personal interests include fly fishing and the study of philosophy and ancient history.

09/23/2025

Presenting our third honoree for this year, Justin Hogan - United States Marine Corps!

Justin Hogan grew up in Wingdale, NY and graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes High School in 2005. Justin enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after completing a semester at Dutchess Community College in December of 2005. He completed Boot Camp at Parris Island, SC with MOS 2671- Middle East Cryptologic Linguist. After completing Marine Combat Training in Camp Geiger, NC, Justin continued his training at the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center in Monterey, CA and completed the Basic Arabic Course. Justin then went on to Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) training in San Angelo, TX and Iraqi Dialect training in Ft. Gordon, GA before finally being stationed with the 2nd Radio Battalion at Camp Lejeune, NC. Justin would go on to deploy to Iraq on two 7 month deployments with only 5 months in between instead of the normal 1-2 years.

On his first deployment to the city of Hit, Iraq in 2007-2008, Justin was a member of a mobile SIGINT team, mainly providing intelligence support and actively locating High Value Targets with Naval Special Warfare Teams. Justin also monitored and translated the communications between Iraqi and US Forces at P.O.E. Arar on the Iraq/Saudi border during the 2007 Hajj. In 2008-2009, Justin was redeployed to Al Asad Airbase where he provided SIGINT support and instructed Land Navigation classes to Iraqi Military Officers. Justin transitioned back to civilian life in late 2010 and was Honorably Discharged in 2013. Justin currently serves as a Deputy Sheriff for the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, where he has been employed for the last 10 years. Justin is married to his amazing wife, Amber, and has 3 beautiful children ages seven, eleven and fifteen.

09/10/2025

We had a slight typo in the name spelling! Congratulations to Joseph Ferrotta! We will be in touch today!

09/10/2025

Our next honoree announcement is Nathan Grant aka "Nate the Great!"

Nathan B. Grant is affectionately known around the Hudson Valley as “Nate the Great,” a nickname he has more than earned for his years of service to the community. Nathan B. Grant was born in Virginia and raised in a small town in North Carolina, the youngest of 12 children. Nate grew up during very difficult times, after graduation from High School, Nate was offered a baseball scholarship to Fisk University in Nashville Tennessee, an offer he declined.
Drafted as a young man and deployed to Vietnam, Nate served in the United States Army as a “tunnel rat,” a job which entailed crawling into a tunnel (a tunnel initially dug by the Viet Cong, which led to their underground bunkers) to see if the tunnel was empty. His duty posed the terrifying risk of finding the tunnel occupied which would bring him face to face with the enemy, in combat, in extremely tight quarters. Nate’s only protection was a fellow soldier behind him holding a gun over Nate’s shoulder so that if Nate were to see any signs of the enemy, he would duck which would signal his battle buddy to shoot. This is the type of courage and bravery this Vietnam Veteran is made of. Nate served his country and returned home from Vietnam and worked until his retirement in 1994. Nate has embodied the spirit of giving and sacrifice, instilled in him since childhood.

09/07/2025

We will be announcing the winner of the baseball raffle live on facebook at approximately 2pm on Wednesday September 10th! Please plan to purchase any raffle tickets before 1pm!

08/22/2025

We are ready to reveal our 2025 Warriors! First up, we have Daniel Fondonella - US Marine Corps!

Daniel Fondonella served in the Marine Corps as an Infantryman from 2003 - 2007 in the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines. He deployed to Afghanistan and to Fallujah and Ramadi in Iraq. Daniel finished his service with the rank of Sergeant. He is currently a Sergeant with the Westchester County Department of Corrections, where he has worked for 13 years. Daniel and his wife have been married for 14 years, and have three children, ages four, nine, and eleven.

08/18/2025

We are hosting an online raffle to win (4) tickets to the September 26th Yankees vs Orioles game, including (4) t shirts and (4) hats! Entries are $20 each! Raffle entry tickets can be purchased at the link included in this post! A live drawing will be posted on September 10th to show the winner! All proceeds will be going towards the Weekend for Warriors, with our big event happening October 5th! Please check out our website for more information!

Weekend for Warriors is a four-day excursion provided to local combat veterans and ending with a reception that raises money for local vets.

08/18/2025

We are hosting an online raffle to win (4) tickets to the September 26th Yankees vs Orioles game, including (4) t shirts and (4) hats! Entries are $20 each! Raffle entry tickets can be purchased at the link included in this post! A live drawing will be posted on September 10th to show the winner! All proceeds will be going towards the Weekend for Warriors, with our big event happening October 5th! Please check out our website for more information!

01/21/2025

Announcing our 7th Annual Weekend for Warriors event October 2nd through 5th 2025! Are you a Combat Veteran or know a friend or family member who is? Nominate yourself or them for this years exciting and special event! Nominating forms can be turned into our office at 1335 Route 44, Suite 3 Pleasant Valley, NY 12569, or emailed [email protected]

09/22/2024

We thank everyone who attended our Sixth-Annual Weekend for Warriors event, and thank you to our great Veteran honorees!

Our Sixth-Annual Weekend for Warriors has concluded and what a wonderful event it turned out to be. Thank you to this years Veteran honorees!