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Norwalk Veterans Memorial Committee |
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Committed to the Veterans of Our Great Nation |
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Shea-Magrath Ceremony |
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The annual ceremony at the Shea-Magrath Memorial will take place this year on Sunday, May 18, at 1:00 p.m. The program will begin with a band concert by the Brien McMahon Wind Ensemble at 12:30 p.m. The ceremony gets underway at 1:00 p.m. with the presentation of massed colors. The first musical selection will be the National Anthem and, during the course of the program, the BMHS Wind Ensemble will play a medley of service songs, the Navy Hymn, Taps, and To The Colors. Local clergy will present the invocation and benediction. Mayor Dick Moccia will speak briefly. Chairman Ed Downing will be the Master of Ceremonies. A student guest speaker to represent all local cadets will be selected from the ranks of the JROTC detachment at Norwalk High.
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The Annual Ceremony at the Shea-Magrath Memorial |
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Our principal guest speaker will be Daniel Murphy, member and National Judge Advocate of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and father of Medal of Honor recipient Michael Murphy, USN. Mr. Murphy served in Vietnam with the 25th Infantry Division and was severely wounded April 1970. His son, a Navy Seal, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously (in 2007) for gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in Afghanistan in 2005. The presentation of the medal was made to Mr. Murphy and his wife by President Bush in the White House. |
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The ceremony not only honors Norwalk's two most heroic sons (Medal of Honor recipients Daniel Shea and John Magrath), but all 169 Norwalkers who paid the supreme sacrifice while serving their country from World War II until the present time. A wreath will be dropped into Long Island Sound to honor all Americans who have died at sea during wartime. |
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Colonel (RET) Roger H. C. Donlon, US Army, US Army Special Forces |
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THE MEDAL OF HONOR |
