Legion Hall party for Afghan war vet

At a time when much of the country is debating the status of immigrants, one man from Nicaragua has embraced the United States as his homeland of choice. Jimmy Contreras, 28, of Greenport, a U.S. citizen, recently returned from a stint in the Army in Afghanistan and is giving thanks that he is a U.S. citizen who plans to continue giving back to his adopted homeland.

On Friday, his former employer, Shelter Island Police Officer Walter Richards, who operates Liberty Landscaping, will celebrate Mr. Contreras’ homecoming with a party at the Shelter Island Legion Hall from 6 to 8 p.m. The company is paying for the event but Mr. Richards credits the Legion with contributing the space and doing much of the work to make the event happen. The entire community is invited to attend, Mr. Richards said.

“I am proud of being part of the diversity of the people of the United States,” Mr. Contreras said. He calls it “a privilege” to be an American. “It was a dream come true to be here in the land of opportunities and freedom,” he said.

Mr. Contreras was 17 when he first came to the United States in 2000 through an amnesty program that put him on the citizenship track. His parents had proceeded him here and have long worked for Claudio’s Restaurant. Mr. Contreras still has two sisters and a grandmother back in Nicaragua and he calls them frequently and visits every few years.

While he misses them, he said he’s grateful to the Greenport community that quickly made him feel so much at home.

He remembers the struggle to learn English when he first arrived in Greenport. He spent three years at Greenport High School in order to improve his language skills.

“As soon as I learned the language, I was able to graduate and I was proud to show my potential,” he said.

After graduation, he worked at some Shelter Island restaurants and then in construction with Marcello Masonry before securing a job with Mr. Richards’ landscaping company. He described Mr. Richards as “a great man” who treated him like a member of the family.

“He is my role model,” Mr. Contreras said. “He is very professional, respectful and a great friend.”

Similarly, Mr. Richards talked about Mr. Contreras as a worker who became a friend and always demonstrated a strong work ethic and a willingness to push himself to achieve.

It’s hardly surprising that Mr. Contreras has been taking courses in criminal justice with an eye to pursuing a career in law enforcement “just like Walter on Shelter Island,” he said.

His year in Afghanistan was spent providing convoy security as a gunner and transporting ammunition, parts and food to U.S. troops in the southern part of the country.

“It was a long year, very dangerous,” Mr. Contreras said. His unit was deployed for as much as a week at a time in convoys that had to make their way along unimproved terrain and through mountains, plains and remote villages, he said. Summer weather was hotter than he ever experienced in his life, he said, and dust was dense and constant. The winter was particularly brutal but what made it tolerable, he said, was the troops supported one another.

“We became family,” he said.

“The enemy was very active all year, so we had to be alert to stay alive,” Mr. Contreras said.

As a result of his service in Afghanistan, he will receive a promotion at his home base in Fort Hood, Texas, in January from Private First Class to Specialist in recognition of his “outstanding performance and discipline.”

Meanwhile, he has been granted a brief vacation with his family at home in Greenport. By April, he could be deployed to Japan or Germany or be stationed in the United States, he said. Because he’s a part of a transportation unit at Fort Hood, wherever such services are needed is where his unit will be sent.