A Life of Service: Edwin Cartoski Named Veteran of the Year

About five months shy of his 100th birthday, Edwin Cartoski received a new title he had never imagined.

Surrounded by friends and family, the World War II veteran and Korean War Marine aviator was named Veteran of the Year for the 1st Senatorial District by State Senator Anthony Palumbo on May 12, during a ceremony at Peconic Landing in Greenport, where now he lives.

Later this year, he will be inducted into the New York Senate’s Veterans Hall of Fame, which was created to honor and recognize outstanding veterans who have distinguished themselves both in military and civilian life.

“I never expected anything like this to happen in my life,” he said on Tuesday morning. “I’m extremely fortunate and very, very grateful. And I’m so happy it happened. I’m really honored.”

Cartoski was nominated for the recognition by Commander William Hughes of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5350 of Westhampton Beach, who attended the ceremony with nearly a dozen members of the Post. Cartoski’s daughter, Bernadette Aldcroft, was also in the audience, as well as about 100 Peconic Landing residents and team members.

“Through unwavering courage, selfless dedication, and exceptional service, Colonel Cartoski has not only earned this distinguished award, but embodies the very essence of honor and valor,” Palumbo said in a statement. “His resolute commitment to duty serves as an inspiration to us all. I congratulate him on this well-deserved recognition and may it stand as a testament to his extraordinary contributions to our nation.”

Growing up on Quiogue, Cartoski described his childhood as “wonderful.” He had access to a flat-bottomed rowboat, an old canoe and eventually a sailboat, and spent many days on the water.

“I love the ocean — the sailing, the smell of it, just the smell of the air,” he said. “Even the bog — people think I’m crazy, the bog! I love the bog. People lived off the water.”

But as bucolic as his upbringing was, there were also difficult times, he said, as the country came out of World War I and the Great Depression. “There were no jobs, no money and people helped each other,” he said. “That’s the way it was all over. One helped the other, was what it was.”

Then, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese military launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. And this marked the turning point in Cartoski’s life — as well as the lives of countless others.

“After Pearl Harbor, after we got bombed, everybody came together, 24/7. It brought the country together,” he recalled. “Our entire class in high school enlisted. They went into the service. Everybody signed up and went, and that’s what it was. It was just the thing to do. Everybody went in a different direction.”

In 1942, at age 18, Cartoski graduated early from Westhampton Beach High School to join the war effort. He enlisted in the Navy and underwent extensive aircraft and infantry training in New York, North Carolina, Missouri and then Florida, where he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant marine pilot.

He went on to serve in the Philippines and Hawaii during World War II, and then was recalled to active duty at the start of the Korean War to serve with the Marines in Korea, providing air support for the 1st Marine Division.

“It was really difficult,” he said. “My wife, my daughter, my two children — Bernadette, she was about knee high and my son was crawling on the floor — and I had to leave. I said, ‘This might be the last time.’ But it was the way of life. Everybody went.”

Reflecting on his time in the military, specific memories sprung to mind: the sub-zero temperatures in Korea, the orphanage they started there and the “wonderful,” resilient people he met, he said. He remembers landing a helicopter on top of a submarine, the USS Sealion, without permission from his captain.

“He looked at me and he says, ‘I don’t know whether to pat you on the back or kick you in the pants,’” he reminisced with a laugh.

But most of all, Cartoski recalls the camaraderie among his fellow soldiers — “I miss that very, very much, I sure do,” he said — and the feeling of returning home to his family.

“A few things I can’t tell you about, of course, and I don’t want to talk about some of the things,” he said. “But the greatest thing for me was coming home to my family and seeing them. That was the greatest thing in my life.”

In 1955, Cartoski left active duty but remained in the reserves to work as a test pilot for Grumman Aerospace Corporation, allowing him to be closer to his wife, Althea Densieski, and their growing family that would eventually include five children — Nadine, Bernadette, Ed Jr., Joe and Paul.

While in the reserves, Cartoski graduated from the Naval War College at the Marine Base in Quantico, Virginia. Upon his retirement from Grumman, he received the Sikorsky Helicopter Rescue Award for his role in numerous lifesaving missions.

That wasn’t the only one.

Over the course of his military career, Cartoski flew over 181 different types of aircraft and amassed over 17,000 hours of flight time, and received almost a dozen awards, including The Distinguished Flying Cross with one Gold Star, The Air Medal with Five Gold Stars, Presidential Unit Citation for Service in Korea, Army Distinguished Citation for Service in Korea, Organized Marine Corps Reserve Medal, American Campaign Medal, Victory Medal World War II, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, and Korean Presidential Unit Citation for Service in Korea.

In 1974, he retired from the Marine Corps with the rank of colonel.

“It was time,” he said. “I was flying most of my life and after a certain time, we have regulations to go by. And that was it. So at a certain time, you had to let it go.”

In the decades since, Cartoski has remained an active community member on the East End. He co-founded the United Parents of Mercy High School and has served as a leader of the Riverhead Polish Independent Club. As a member of VFW Post 5350, he has also helped to provide for veterans in need and award scholarships to local high school students.

At Peconic Landing, where he has lived since 2016, he has served on the community’s Veterans Day Wedding Giveback committee, which chooses a deserving military couple to win a free wedding.

And here, he has also discovered his penchant for gardening.

His cadence quickened as he described his raised garden bed, planted with different varieties of tomatoes and flowers.

“They keep blooming and blooming and blooming,” he said. “I give them to everybody who wants them.”