On Veterans Day, LI Restaurant Honors Hero Airman Lost In Iraq

MANORVILLE, NY — A Manorville eatery will pay tribute this Veterans Day — and through the end of the year — to a hero who lost his life serving the nation.

Technical Sergeant Dashan J. Briggs was serving with the 106th New York Air National Guard; on March 15, 2018 he was one of seven men killed when the HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter they were riding in crashed in western Iraq.

To honor the 13 service members who lost their lives in Afghanistan this past August, customers who sit at a designated booth at Manorville's Hurricane Grill & Wings, located at 496 County Rd 111 Ste 2., will have 10 percent of their checks donated to the Dashan Briggs Foundation.

The foundation was founded by Briggs’s wife Rebecca, to keep his legacy alive and raise funds for student scholarships. The couple were frequent customers at the Manorville location, and had their first date at the Port Jefferson Hurricane Grill & Wings, a release said.

Along with the fundraiser, which will continue through the end of the year, the restaurant will also be offering all veterans and active-duty military — who must present military ID or wear a military uniform — a complimentary entree from a preprinted menu that features a list of six entrees on Veteran’s Day. Those choices include 10 boneless wings; Yuengling beer-battered fish and chips; a steakburger; a chicken Caesar salad; a buttermilk chicken sandwich; or chicken BLT tacos.

The Dashan J. Briggs Memorial Foundation was organized to keep the memory of Tech Sgt. Briggs alive.

Briggs, 30, was one of four heroes from the NY Air National Guard's 106th Rescue Wing, located at Gabreski Airport in Westhampton, who died in the tragic crash that killed seven airmen. Since his death, scores have continued to honor Briggs; Riverhead Town dedicated a street to him, the street where he grew up.

Briggs, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said last year, "is an American hero and died in service to our country. Thank you for all you do to not only honor his legacy but to help support veterans," Bellone said to Briggs' wife Rebecca.

"My husband loved to help people, in the Air Force or with friends and family," Rebecca said. "The Dashan J. Brigg Memorial Foundation will help our youth and teach them life skills such as car maintenance, finance, cooking."

Funds will also be utilized for a scholarship in her husband's name at Riverhead High School and possibly Comsewogue High School, she said.

In 2010, Tech. Sgt. Briggs joined the Air National Guard 106th Rescue Wing and was deployed to Afghanistan as a munitions system specialist.

The school where he left a long legacy retired Briggs' football jersey; while attending Riverhead High School, he was a standout football player and member of the lacrosse team, the district said.

At his funeral, inside the firehouse in Westhampton Beach, it was standing room only: Briggs' coffin was draped with an American flag; a beautiful American flag created with red, white and blue flowers also stood alongside, a testament to his patriotism, devotion and dedication.

Another spray of flowers featured the heartfelt words, "These things we do, that others may live."