Scout praised for effort to help soldier's family
BY NICOLE M. ANLLO Staff Writer

Vincent Longo

MANALAPAN- Alocal Boy Scout has been recognized by a U.S. embassy official after giving a special gift to a soldier's family.

Vincent Longo, 13, the son of Roseann and Gerard Longo, attends the Manalapan Englishtown Middle School. He was recently honored after a donation he made enabled a fallen soldier's relative to travel toArlington National Cemetery inArlington, Va., for the soldier's funeral.

Vincent, who has been a Scout since he was in the third grade, has already obtained 10 merit badges and recently was awarded the rank of Star Scout.

His donation to the U.S. Army helped the family of Specialist Camy Florexil, 20, of Philadelphia, who was killed by a roadside bomb while serving in Baghdad, Iraq, during Operation Iraqi Freedom on July 24, 2007.

Florexil, the son of Carol and Vital Florexil of Haiti, was buried at Arlington in October 2007, according to an article in The Washington Post.

TheArmy was able to pay for Florexil's parents, who live in Haiti, to attend his funeral, but there were not enough funds for his sister's plane ticket.

Vincent's donation allowed Florexil's sister, Emanuella, to attend his funeral.

According to a letter from Defense Attaché Thomas J. Mangine thanking Vincent for his donation, Haiti is the poorest country in theWestern Hemisphere and a plane ticket to the United States would cost more than most Haitian families earn in a year.

According to Longo's mother, Roseann, her son received an e-mail last summer from Boy Scout Troop 157, which is based at St. Thomas More Church, Manalapan. The e-mail related the story of Florexil's family.

Longo said her son made a donation out of his own funds to the family.

Vincent was thanked with a certificate of commendation from the Haitian-U.S. DefenseAttaché and presented with a Defense Attaché office coin.

Mangine, who, it turns out, is a Manalapan native, explained in his letter that military units traditionally make their own coins that commanders can award to individuals for outstanding performance. Vincent is currently the youngest person to have the DAO Haiti coin, which has only been awarded to 20 people to date.

In his letter to Vincent, Mangine also said he was proud of Manalapan, his hometown, for producing such a generous Scout.

Mangine described Vincent's donation as a demonstration of "exemplary work ethic and compassion for your fellow man. [Vincent's] efforts were in keeping with the finest traditions of the American citizen."

Roseann Longo said her son remains humble and "doesn't like people making a big deal about it. He just says that's what scouting is; doing good is expected."

Vincent has two brothers, Sal, 20, and Gerard, 11, and a sister, Joelle, 11.