NYPD officer, Army Reserve Soldier to be honored in National Police Memorial

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The first New York City police officer killed in Iraq

while serving as an Army Reserve Soldier will be honored in the National Law

Enforcement Officer’s Memorial this year in Washington, D.C., during

National Police Week.

Staff Sgt. James D. McNaughton’s name will be officially dedicated along

with other police officers who died in the line of duty during the 29th

Annual Candlelight Vigil, May 13, beginning at 8:00 p.m.

This year, the Candlelight Vigil will be held on the National Mall between

4th and 7th Streets. In addition to the lighting of the candles and reading

of names, the Candlelight Vigil includes remarks by dignitaries and musical

tributes preformed to honor the memory of these fallen officers.

“We gathered all the civilian police officers in the unit and told them what

the situation was. They were to train Iraqi police,” said Brig. Gen. John

Hussey, who was at the time McNaughton’s battalion commander and now

commanding general of the 1st Brigade, Great Lakes Division, 75th Training

Command, in Arlington Heights, Ill. “Jimmy McNaughton stepped forward. He

stepped up because he knew a lot of these guys were married and had kids,

and he didn’t want them to be put in harm’s way.”

Having been denied once, Hussey made it a personal mission to have

McNaughton’s name included in the police memorial wall in Washington.

“I was trying to mount a campaign and went to several elected officials and

asked them to get involved,” he said. “Instead of submitting through the New

York City Police Department like we did the first time, we submitted the

application for Jimmy’s dedication to the National Law Enforcement Memorial

through the Army.”

The application was approved.

McNaughton graduated from the police academy shortly after 9/11 and

volunteered to go to Iraq in 2005. While there, he volunteered for a

dangerous mission, which would cost him his life.

This weekend, Hussey and McNaughton’s parents will meet in Washington to see

the unveiling of his name and light candles for those who sacrificed their

lives in the line of duty.

Command Sgt. Maj. Craig Owens, from Atlanta, the senior enlisted leader for

the 200th Military Police Command, headquartered at Fort Meade, Maryland, is

also expected to attend the ceremony to represent McNaughton’s service as a

military police Soldier.