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The ceremony was held as a remembrance of McNaughton and rededicated a Joint Task Force conference center named for him. In attendance was Brig. Gen. John Hussey, JTF Guantanamo deputy commander, and a JTF Warfighter, both of whom served with McNaughton before he was killed.
“Today we remembered a soldier who gave his life for our country,” Hussey said in an interview, “If we allow people to just fade away when they die and not remember their contributions then we’re failing as a nation. We have some great American heroes and sometimes they don’t make the history books or front pages yet they affect the people around them and that’s what we’re here doing for Jimmy.”
McNaughton was 27 when he was shot and killed by small arms fire while visiting an Iraqi police station on August 2, 2005. He was the first member of the NYPD to be killed in action in Iraq. To honor Staff Sgt. McNaughton, Joint Task Force Guantanamo originally dedicated a conference center to the fallen Soldier in 2007.
Jimmy served his country as an Army Reservist with the 306th Military Police (MP) Battalion, 800th MP Brigade, and as a New York City Police Department's District 2 transit officer. McNaughton volunteered to serve in Iraq, where he was the noncommissioned officer in charge of the Iraqi Highway Patrol Mentorship Program.
A current JTF Warfighter and former colleague of Jimmy spoke at the ceremony, and talked about the confidence he had in Jimmy’s abilities as a Soldier and leader.
“As to how his soldiers felt about him,” the Warfighter said, “when they returned to the New York area some went on to be NYC Police Officers. They requested to wear Jimmy’s shield number, another carried his handcuffs, his nightstick and so on. I was proud to have served with Staff Sgt. McNaughton and am proud to be here today.”
Also in attendance was Rear Adm. Timothy Kuehhas, Sgt. Maj. Steven Burkett, other members of the JTF command staff and JTF Warfighters.
For more information about Joint Task Force Guantanamo, please visit https://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil
| Date Taken: | 08.02.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 08.14.2019 10:15 |
| Story ID: | 335815 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: | 209 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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