Tech. Sgt. Dashan Briggs will be honored posthumously by Heidi’s Helping Angels at the organization’s ninth annual dinner Oct. 18.
The Riverhead native died when the military helicopter he and six other airmen were riding in crashed while on patrol in western Iraq March 15.
Briggs, 30, left behind a wife and two young children.
“We thought it fitting to honor this fallen hero from our local community who made the supreme sacrifice in service to our country,” said Ron Schmidt, president of Heidi’s Helping Angels.
The group was founded in 2009 with the mission of furthering community service in the name of someone who gave her life while serving her community. Heidi Behr was a volunteer EMT with Riverhead Volunteer Ambulance Corps who, with paramedic Bill Stone of Ridge, was killed when the ambulance they were in — rushing a cardiac patient to the hospital — crashed on Route 25 in Aquebogue in May 2005. Behr was just 23 years old and the mother of a severely disabled infant son.
Former town supervisor Jim Stark founded the organization to help Heidi’s legacy “pay it forward,” because “she was all about community service,” he said in a 2011 interview.
The annual dinner benefits the Heidi Behr Memorial Scholarship Fund, which awards assistance to graduating high school students who have demonstrated a commitment to community service.
Dinner tickets are $35 per person and include a complete roast beef dinner at Riverhead Polish Hall. Reservations are recommended. Only 300 tickets will be sold. To reserve tickets contact Schmidt at 631-722-4944.
The survival of local journalism depends on your support.
We are a small family-owned operation. You rely on us to stay informed, and we depend on you to make our work possible. Just a few dollars can help us continue to bring this important service to our community.
Support RiverheadLOCAL today.
