And So Fourth...Holiday at the Brewery

July 4th...actually July 6th...at Captain Lawrence Brewing.

I met a pretty cool veteran who was very psyched to be enjoying beers with family, and not in Afghanistan.

Charlie Menendez of White Plains is enjoying quality time with his family. If anyone deserves a relaxing Fourth of July weekend, it’s Charlie, back from a two year stint fighting in Afghanistan. He’s digging the Red Herring. “Usually I’m an IPA guy,” he says. “This is a sweet twist on an IPA.”
Charlie is with his mother, Luz Mary, his brother, Christian Lasso, and his stepfather, Peter Gonzalez. Luz Mary is from Colombia, and the family rabidly watched Colombia’s World Cup campaign, which ended a few days earlier in a bruising match with Brazil. “I barely cried in Afghanistan,” says Charlie. “But that was…emotional.”

Luz Mary is emotional too, tearing up when Charlie speaks of phone calls from Afghanistan with his mom that were cut short when the bombing started. But that is all behind him now.
“We haven’t had many Fourth of Julys together—it’s always nice,” the proud veteran says. “Beer, barbecue, relax with family…that’s it.”