By Ginny Raue
WEST MILFORD — Life goes by quickly. It seems that one minute he was a teenager delivering food and working in the kitchen at Macopin Pizza in West Milford and the next thing you know he’s a United States Marine serving his country in Afghanistan.
When Ryan Kessler was a youngster and was having a kid’s “moment,” his mom, Judy Rizzo, told him to behave or she’d be shipping him off to military school. That age-old parental threat didn’t work on Ryan. His response was, “Really, can I go?”
A football and baseball player for West Milford High School, Kessler graduated in 2011. It was during his junior and senior years that he worked at Macopin Pizza and became close with the owners, the Covello family. Now Kessler is on the receiving end of the Covello’s deliveries.
Kessler had his recruit training at Parris Island, North Carolina. He went on to the School of Infantry where he received advance infantry and physical combat training. He was recognized as an expert shooter.
Today, he is a lance corporal and a member of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines. He serves as a mounted gunner on daily patrols and is part of the Quick Reaction Force, a unit on call to instantly respond to any variety of circumstances. To add to that risky scenario, Kessler and his fellow servicemen and women labor under the yolk of Afghanistan’s inhospitable climate where the average daily temperature is 115 degrees.
“We can’t be more proud of the path Ryan has chosen. He has trained hard and is working hard and making a difference for all Americans,” his mom said.
Laura Covello and her mom, Lorraine, already well known in the township for their many charitable works, decided it was time to do something for their young friend and his unit members.
“While Ryan has a family to support him, not everyone has that support. We wanted to do something to help them out until they come home,” Covello said.
That “something” is very attainable. They have set up Macopin Pizza as a drop-off site for residents to donate just simple things that make the days better and more bearable for those who have voluntarily put themselves in harm’s way for the good of their country. Covello takes care of the packing and shipping and it’s amazing what a box of Pop Tarts and a magazine means when one is so far away from home.
“He loves everything. He messages me to say they really do appreciate everything we send over,” Covello said.
“All donations are shared among the men. I can’t express enough to you how much simple, little things mean to these guys,” Rizzo said. “Just getting that box is like opening a present when you’re a little kid at Christmas time.”
Those of us who do not have the constant worry of having a loved one on active duty in hostile lands can still understand Rizzo’s feelings when a stranger approached her at a New Jersey Devils game. She was wearing a sweatshirt that says, “My son is a Marine.”
“A cameraman said that he wanted to thank Ryan because he was here, able to do his job, knowing his baby girl was safe at home because of what my son was doing. His words, and my feeling at that moment, will stay with me forever. ”
Sometimes we can’t do much, but sometimes it’s the little things that count. Just think of Kessler coming in after an arduous day, chowing down on a can of Pringles. Bet he won’t eat just one.