thedrifter
04-25-06, 09:35 AM
Fundraiser planned for monument to Marines killed in Osprey crash
By KHURRAM SAEED
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: April 25, 2006)
New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly will speak in Rockland next month to help raise money for a memorial honoring Marines killed in Osprey crashes.
The May 7 fundraiser will specifically honor Lt. Col. Michael Murphy, 38, who grew up in Blauvelt and was among a select group of pilots trained to fly V-22 Ospreys, which take off and land like helicopters but fly like airplanes at speeds around 300 mph.
Murphy and three other Marines were killed in December 2000 when their Osprey crashed during a training mission near their North Carolina air base. Murphy was 38 years old and left a wife and two young children.
Earlier that same year, 19 Marines died when their Osprey crashed in Arizona.
Given two other fatal accidents in the early 1990s, the program's future fell into doubt. Last year, however, the Pentagon approved full production of the Osprey in a $19 billion program.
Anne and John Murphy, Michael's parents, and other families of those Marines killed have spent five years raising funds for a granite memorial. It would be placed at Semper Fi Memorial Park at the Heritage Center, a new Marine history museum just outside the Marine base in Quantico, Va.
The families have raised about $45,000 of their $65,000 goal, Anne Murphy said yesterday.
"They have started building the monument," Anne Murphy said. "We're hoping to have the dedication in the spring of '07."
Rockland Legislator John Murphy, who is not related to Michael Murphy, approached the family last year with the fundraiser idea.
John Murphy met Michael Murphy in 1999 when the pilot flew President Clinton to Palisades for an education summit aboard the Marine One presidential helicopter.
"I was astonished that he was a local boy," John Murphy said.
John Murphy soon learned the two of them had more in common than their last name. Both were Marines, served in the 2nd Marine Air Wing in North Carolina, were sons of New York City policemen and were from Orangetown.
John Murphy invited Ray Kelly, who is a retired Marine and has a son who was a Marine helicopter pilot, to speak at the event, which will be held at the Irish American Cultural Center, in Blauvelt. Marine Lt. Col. James Schafer, a Osprey test pilot who flew with Michael Murphy and who was his best friend, will also attend.
"We're going to tell the story of Michael's heroism and tell the story of the monument we're building in his memory," Murphy said. "I think Marine test pilots are America's forgotten heroes."
The memorial will be a 14-foot-tall black granite and marble tower, capped with golden pilot wings and air crew chief wings. "In Loving Memory of the Few, the Proud, With Wings" will be engraved on the monument, along with the names of those killed.
Orangetown Councilman Denis Troy and Pete Power, the commandant of the Rockland Detachment of the Marine Corps League, are co-organizers.
If you go
What: Fundraiser-cocktail party for a memorial honoring Marine Lt. Col. Michael Murphy, killed in December 2000 while testing the Osprey aircraft
When: from 2 to 5 p.m., May 7
Where: Irish American Cultural Center, 284 Convent Road, Blauvelt
Cost: $50 per person
What Else: New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, the father of a former Marine helicopter pilot, will be the guest speaker.
Information: Call Rockland Legislator John Murphy at 845-398-1623 for payment instructions.
On the Web:
• Osprey Memorial Foundation: www.ospreymemorial.com
• Michael Murphy tribute page: www.legal-eaze.com/index_files/Page500.htm
Ellie
By KHURRAM SAEED
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original Publication: April 25, 2006)
New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly will speak in Rockland next month to help raise money for a memorial honoring Marines killed in Osprey crashes.
The May 7 fundraiser will specifically honor Lt. Col. Michael Murphy, 38, who grew up in Blauvelt and was among a select group of pilots trained to fly V-22 Ospreys, which take off and land like helicopters but fly like airplanes at speeds around 300 mph.
Murphy and three other Marines were killed in December 2000 when their Osprey crashed during a training mission near their North Carolina air base. Murphy was 38 years old and left a wife and two young children.
Earlier that same year, 19 Marines died when their Osprey crashed in Arizona.
Given two other fatal accidents in the early 1990s, the program's future fell into doubt. Last year, however, the Pentagon approved full production of the Osprey in a $19 billion program.
Anne and John Murphy, Michael's parents, and other families of those Marines killed have spent five years raising funds for a granite memorial. It would be placed at Semper Fi Memorial Park at the Heritage Center, a new Marine history museum just outside the Marine base in Quantico, Va.
The families have raised about $45,000 of their $65,000 goal, Anne Murphy said yesterday.
"They have started building the monument," Anne Murphy said. "We're hoping to have the dedication in the spring of '07."
Rockland Legislator John Murphy, who is not related to Michael Murphy, approached the family last year with the fundraiser idea.
John Murphy met Michael Murphy in 1999 when the pilot flew President Clinton to Palisades for an education summit aboard the Marine One presidential helicopter.
"I was astonished that he was a local boy," John Murphy said.
John Murphy soon learned the two of them had more in common than their last name. Both were Marines, served in the 2nd Marine Air Wing in North Carolina, were sons of New York City policemen and were from Orangetown.
John Murphy invited Ray Kelly, who is a retired Marine and has a son who was a Marine helicopter pilot, to speak at the event, which will be held at the Irish American Cultural Center, in Blauvelt. Marine Lt. Col. James Schafer, a Osprey test pilot who flew with Michael Murphy and who was his best friend, will also attend.
"We're going to tell the story of Michael's heroism and tell the story of the monument we're building in his memory," Murphy said. "I think Marine test pilots are America's forgotten heroes."
The memorial will be a 14-foot-tall black granite and marble tower, capped with golden pilot wings and air crew chief wings. "In Loving Memory of the Few, the Proud, With Wings" will be engraved on the monument, along with the names of those killed.
Orangetown Councilman Denis Troy and Pete Power, the commandant of the Rockland Detachment of the Marine Corps League, are co-organizers.
If you go
What: Fundraiser-cocktail party for a memorial honoring Marine Lt. Col. Michael Murphy, killed in December 2000 while testing the Osprey aircraft
When: from 2 to 5 p.m., May 7
Where: Irish American Cultural Center, 284 Convent Road, Blauvelt
Cost: $50 per person
What Else: New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, the father of a former Marine helicopter pilot, will be the guest speaker.
Information: Call Rockland Legislator John Murphy at 845-398-1623 for payment instructions.
On the Web:
• Osprey Memorial Foundation: www.ospreymemorial.com
• Michael Murphy tribute page: www.legal-eaze.com/index_files/Page500.htm
Ellie