West Babylon road renamed for late soldier

(L-R) The McKenna Family - Katelynn 14, Sabrina, 7 and... — (L-R) The McKenna Family - Katelynn 14, Sabrina, 7 and Mom Dina, 42 see a sign unveiled for the first time in West Babylon during a memorial street renaming ceremony for William McKenna, husband and father who passed away in 2010 from an aggressive form of Lymphoma. (June 30, 2012) Credit: Steven Sunshine

By ALISON BARNWELLalison.barnwell@newsday.comJune 30, 2012

A light breeze ruffled the bright dresses of two young girls, fatherless, who sat among a small crowd gathered at West Babylon Senior High School Saturday for the renaming of a road in honor of U.S. Army Sgt. Bill McKenna.

His daughters, Sabrina, 7, and Katelynn, 14, and McKenna's widow, Dina McKenna of West Babylon, unveiled a new sign -- "Sgt. William B. McKenna Avenue" -- on the lawn of her husband's alma mater, renaming Great East Neck Road in West Babylon, between Arnold Avenue and Route 109. Legis. Wayne Horsley (D-Babylon) and others, including keynote speaker Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), watched and clapped. A 2012 graduate of the high school, Zach Russo, sang "America the Beautiful."

McKenna, who would have turned 43 on July 4, was inspired to join the Army at age 33, after the 2001 terrorist attacks, his family said. He twice toured in Iraq and served near a burn pit at the former Balad Air Base, where he was exposed to toxic chemicals. At 41, he was diagnosed with lymphoma and died.

"He was moved to serve by the horror of Sept. 11," Bishop said. "That is the kind of selflessness that great men possess. Everyone that drives this street will know greatness was here."

Reached by phone Saturday, U.S. Army Sgt. Chris Rucks, 37, of Dade City, Fla., spoke of McKenna, with whom he served in Iraq. "I saw him the day before he went to the hospice," Rucks, who is preparing to deploy to Afghanistan, said. "He was pale, and there were burn marks on his head. He tried his hardest. He ate his whole plate, and then I laid in bed with him and we watched 'The Simpsons.' "

McKenna's story led Bishop to sponsor the 2010 Military Personnel Toxic Exposure Registry Act, which would identify and follow those soldiers exposed to hazardous substances. "Our work is not done on burn pits," Bishop said. "We need to establish the same level of presumptive cause [as we did with Agent Orange], so that if a veteran presents a set of symptoms, they don't have to fight anymore. They've already fought."

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