Presidential Debate on Foreign Policy Reminds Us That All Politics Is Local

They say that all of politics is local. No matter how big of an issue, it somehow affects those who live in communities like ours. The final debate scheduled for Monday night at 9 p.m. between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney will focus on foreign policy.

The biggest foreign policy issue for the last three presidential terms has to be terrorism and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As the candidates debate foreign policy, Patch looks back at some of the stories we covered on the local effects on the community of America's ongoing wars.

Click the headlines for more on each story:

Afghan Vet Welcomed Home to Southampton
It's been about 10 months since Private First Class Kenny Lockard has been in Southampton, and he received an enthusiastic welcome home when he arrived with a motorcade just after midnight Friday. Members of the Southampton Fire Department, in which Lockard was a junior firefighter, and members of in which he is an EMT, waited with anticipation to join the motorcade as it passed on its way to his home in North Sea. Lockard's last time in Southampton was December 2011, when the now 20-year-old Southampton High School graduate reported to Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

Sag Harbor Welcomes Combat Medic Home
The Sag Harbor community stayed up late to help welcome home a soldier from Afghanistan. Army National Guard Sgt. Charles Glass, who lives on Bay Point and has been away nine months, flew into Long Island MacArthur Airport on around 11 and was met not only by his wife and family, but by firefighters and emergency medical services volunteers from all over Suffolk County as well.

New York State Sen. Kenneth P. LaValle and Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. welcomed JoAnn Lyles, the mother of Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter, and Chrystyna Keslter, the mother of U.S. Army 1st Lt. Joseph Theinert on May 22, as the fallen servicemen were inducted into the Senate's Veterans Hall of Fame. Haerter, of Sag Harbor, , just three weeks after being sent to Iraq. He killed a suicide bomber entering a base in Ramadi and saved 33 fellow marines and Iraqi police. Theinert, of Shelter Island, deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom as a new lieutenant. Approximately six weeks into his deployment, Theinert was killed in action at the age of 24 on June 4, 2010, while on foot patrol in Kandahar.

"My first reaction is to cry and I don't know why," JoAnn Lyles said on Monday morning of the instant she heard the news that Osama bin Laden had been killed.

Shelter Island Marine Welcomed Home
A Shelter Island Marine received a big welcome home on Sunday evening. Marine Lance Cpl. Michael "Zach" Mundy flew into Newark Airport on Sunday afternoon from his base in Hawaii, after returning from a tour in Afghanistan. Mundy grew up on Shelter Island with Army Lt. Joseph Theinert, killed in action two years ago, and Theinert's parents requested a motorcade escort Mundy back home. The Long Island Chapter of US Veterans MC and Patriot Guard motorcycles formed a procession for him all the way.

Soldiers Get Rousing Welcome on Shelter Island
Members of the 1st Squadron, 71st Calvary Battalion of the 1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, were met with cheers from a large crowd of Shelter Islanders of all ages around 3:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon. The servicemen fought with Shelter Island native Lt. Joseph Theinert before he died in combat in Afghanistan at the age of 24. They were escorted from Fort Drum upstate to the Mitchell Post of the American Legion on the island by members of the Freedom Riders Motorcycle Club. The procession was followed by a short but emotional welcoming ceremony and a dinner at the legion hall.