2025 Honorees

Daniel Fondonella – United States Marine Corps

Daniel Fondonella served in the Marine Corps as an Infantryman from 2003 – 2007 in the 1st Battalion, 6th Marines. He deployed to Afghanistan and to Fallujah and Ramadi in Iraq. Daniel finished his service with the rank of Sergeant. He is currently a Sergeant with the Westchester County Department of Corrections, where he has worked for 13 years. Daniel and his wife have been married for 14 years, and have three children, ages four, nine, and eleven.

Nathan B. Grant – United States Army

Nathan B. Grant is affectionately known around the Hudson Valley as “Nate the Great,” a nickname he has more than earned for his years of service to the community. Nathan B. Grant was born in Virginia and raised in a small town in North Carolina, the youngest of 12 children. Nate grew up during very difficult times, after graduation from High School, Nate was offered a baseball scholarship to Fisk University in Nashville Tennessee, an offer he declined.

Drafted as a young man and deployed to Vietnam, Nate served in the United States Army as a “tunnel rat,” a job which entailed crawling into a tunnel (a tunnel initially dug by the Viet Cong, which led to their underground bunkers) to see if the tunnel was empty. His duty posed the terrifying risk of finding the tunnel occupied which would bring him face to face with the enemy, in combat, in extremely tight quarters. Nate’s only protection was a fellow soldier behind him holding a gun over Nate’s shoulder so that if Nate were to see any signs of the enemy, he would duck which would signal his battle buddy to shoot. This is the type of courage and bravery this Vietnam Veteran is made of. Nate served his country and returned home from Vietnam and worked until his retirement in 1994. Nate has embodied the spirit of giving and sacrifice, instilled in him since childhood.

Justin Hogan – United States Marine Corps

Justin Hogan grew up in Wingdale, NY and graduated from Our Lady of Lourdes High School in 2005. Justin enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after completing a semester at Dutchess Community College in December of 2005. He completed Boot Camp at Parris Island, SC with MOS 2671- Middle East Cryptologic Linguist. After completing Marine Combat Training in Camp Geiger, NC, Justin continued his training at the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center in Monterey, CA and completed the Basic Arabic Course. Justin then went on to Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) training in San Angelo, TX and Iraqi Dialect training in Ft. Gordon, GA before finally being stationed with the 2nd Radio Battalion at Camp Lejeune, NC. Justin would go on to deploy to Iraq on two 7 month deployments with only 5 months in between instead of the normal 1-2 years.

On his first deployment to the city of Hit, Iraq in 2007-2008, Justin was a member of a mobile SIGINT team, mainly providing intelligence support and actively locating High Value Targets with Naval Special Warfare Teams. Justin also monitored and translated the communications between Iraqi and US Forces at P.O.E. Arar on the Iraq/Saudi border during the 2007 Hajj. In 2008-2009, Justin was redeployed to Al Asad Airbase where he provided SIGINT support and instructed Land Navigation classes to Iraqi Military Officers. Justin transitioned back to civilian life in late 2010 and was Honorably Discharged in 2013. Justin currently serves as a Deputy Sheriff for the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, where he has been employed for the last 10 years. Justin is married to his amazing wife, Amber, and has 3 beautiful children ages seven, eleven and fifteen.

Mario Claussell – U.S. Army

Mario Claussell enlisted in the Regular U.S. Army in 1966 and served during the Vietnam Conflict from 1967 to 1968, continuing in combat and combat support roles until 2013. From 1972 to 2013, he was assigned to the U.S. Army Ready Reserve, retiring due to combat-related conditions. Over the course of his military career, he completed rigorous, multidisciplinary training that supported his professional advancement, with assignments that included the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, and several national intelligence agencies. In the final nine years of his service, Claussell was primarily based in Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia, where he served as a Special Representative and Military Liaison with frequent temporary duty assignments.

He is currently the Senior Vice Commander of VFW Post 5034 and holds Life Memberships with both the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Vietnam Veterans of America; he is also a member of American Legion Post 72 in Saugerties, New York. Alongside his military service, Claussell built a successful civilian career, working as a Detective Investigator with the Bronx and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Offices and later as a Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration. He concluded his public service in 2016 as a Racing Investigator for the New York State Gaming Commission. Claussell has been married to his wife, Susan, for 50 years. They have two sons, both U.S. Army veterans, and two granddaughters. His personal interests include fly fishing and the study of philosophy and ancient history.

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We are proud to support Mental Health of America of Dutchess County’s Veterans Programs. They assist local veterans with services such as housing and employment, peer-to-peer counseling, suicide prevention, and recovery. For more information, please visit www.mhadutchess.org/veterans