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thedrifter
02-21-08, 04:56 AM
February 21, 2008


Monument honoring fallen Marine from Rockland to be dedicated in May

Khurram Saeed
The Journal News

A monument to honor eight Marines, including one from Blauvelt, who died in V-22 Osprey aircraft crashes will be dedicated in May.

The black granite memorial, which stands 14 feet high, was installed last month outside the Marine Corps Heritage Center, a new Marine history museum outside the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia. The monument has "In Loving Memory of the Few, the Proud, With Wings" and the names of those killed engraved on it. It is capped with golden pilot wings and air crew chief wings.

"I love the top of it, the wings, because they're looking up to heaven," said Anne Murphy of Blauvelt, who lost her son, Michael, in December 2000 when his aircraft crashed during a training mission near his North Carolina air base. Three other Marines also were killed on that Osprey flight.

The Osprey is an aircraft with a troubled history that takes off and lands like a helicopter but flies like an airplane. In 2005, the Pentagon approved full production of the Osprey in a $19 billion program, and the aircraft has been deployed to Iraq.

Michael Murphy, who was 38 and married with two young children, had also flown then-President Clinton in Marine One, the helicopter used for short trips by the president.

Anne Murphy and other military families have spent about five years working to create a fitting tribute to their loved ones. They have raised more than $70,000 for the memorial.

"It's been a long haul," said Anne Murphy, who has lived in Blauvelt with her husband, John, for more than 40 years. "I'm very grateful that there's something there in memory of these men."

Murphy said the official dedication was scheduled for May 31.

Several years ago, the families formed the nonprofit Osprey Memorial Foundation to organize their efforts. Since then, Murphy estimated, hundreds of people donated money at fundraisers, such as poker runs, or by buying cookbooks featuring favorite recipes submitted by the families.

Alabama's Carl Jones, a Marine who served in Vietnam, designed the monument, at Semper Fidelis Memorial Park.

In April 2006, Rockland Legislator John Murphy, who is not related to Michael Murphy, raised $11,000 at a local fundraiser for the memorial. New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, a retired Marine, spoke at the event.

John Murphy, an ex-Marine who lost his cousin in a plane crash, befriended the family after the tragedy.

He also had met Michael Murphy briefly when Clinton visited Rockland in 1997.

"It's still a burning issue," John Murphy said last week.

John Murphy said he was organizing a bus trip for residents who wanted to go to the dedication. Anybody interested is asked to e-mail him at murphy6288@verizon.net.

Ellie