STEWART GUARD BASE – National Guard, Marine and other military
personnel, members of the NYPD as well as local law enforcement and public
officials paid their respects to the late Tech Sgt. Joseph Lemm, who was
among six American service personnel who were killed by a suicide bomber
in Afghanistan on December 21.
Sgt. Lemm’s full-time job was as a New York City Police officer.
Lemm, 45, was a resident of West Harrison and enlisted in the 105th Airlift
Wing in 2008. This was his third deployment to the Middle East, serving
his entire time with the 105th Base Defense Squadron as a security force
member. He previously served in the military from 1988 to 1996.
A second Stewart Guardsman, Staff Sgt. Louis Bonacasa, was also killed
in the attack. He was a resident of Coram, New York. He, too, served a
total of three deployments to the region. He joined the Stewart 105th
in 2010 after serving with the Guard’s 106th Security Forces Squadron
at F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach, New Yor
Sgt. Lemm’s son holds the door open to the hearse holding his
father’s body
A wake in honor of Sgt. Lemm will be held Tuesday, December 29 at Saint
Anthony of Padua Church in West Harrison between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. and
7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Funeral services will be held at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New
York City at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 30.
Burial will be at Gates of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne Following the
funeral.
Details of arrangements for Sgt. Bonacasa will be announced later.
