Fundraiser to honor slain NYPD reservist

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Vinny Zecca


Fundraiser to honor slain NYPD reservist
Staff report
Posted : Thursday Jan 17, 2008 14:14:25 EST

The family and friends of Staff Sgt. James D. McNaughton, the first New York City police officer killed while serving in Iraq, will celebrate his life and honor his memory Saturday during a benefit to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project.

The event will be held from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at Mulcahy’s Pub and Music Hall in Wantagh, N.Y.

McNaughton, a member of the Army Reserve’s 306th Military Police Battalion in Uniondale, N.Y., was killed by a sniper Aug. 2, 2005, in Baghdad. The 27-year-old joined the New York Police Department seven years ago and was a member of the first police academy class to graduate after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“I know most of the stories that have been written or told about Jimmy have said how great of a hero he was, but what sometimes goes unwritten was how great of a person and a friend to many of us he was as well,” childhood friend Vinny Zecca wrote in an e-mail to Army Times. “I could write a novel about Jimmy and how great of a friend he was and how he is a true hero and an inspiration.”

This is the third year McNaughton’s family and friends have organized the benefit in his honor. Last year’s event drew about 800 people and raised almost $30,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project, a Florida-based nonprofit organization that seeks to assist service members who have been severely injured in combat, and the James McNaughton Foundation. The foundation named for McNaughton provides scholarships to men and women in the NYPD.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/army_fundraiser_080117w/