The late SSG James McNaughton will be honored for the 20th straight year at Wantagh’s
Mulcahy’s Pub and Concert Hall.
Photo courtesy of Vinny Zecca
“My son died doing what he loved and that gives us peace,” Michele McNaughton said of her son James.
Sgt. James McNaughton was killed on Aug. 2, 2005, by a sniper while stationed in Iraq training local police officers. He spent nearly a decade as a member of the military and was the first New York City police officer to die in combat while serving in Iraq. McNaughton was 27 at the time of his death.
For each of the past 19 years, an annual tribute has been held to honor McNaughton’s life. The 20th-anniversary event will occur on Saturday, Feb. 1, at Mulcahy’s Pub & Music Hall in Wantagh from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Military members will share stories, and there will be raffles, prizes, and more. Proceeds will go to multiple charities, including, but not limited to, the Wounded Warriors Project and the Northport P.T.S.D. Veterans Association.
James was born in 1978 to Michele and Bill McNaughton at West Point Military Hospital. Both of his parents were police officers, and McNaughton would follow in their footsteps later on.
At 17, he decided to join the military, which he did very shortly after completing high school.
“He graduated June 30, 1996, and then July 2nd, they picked him up in my driveway,” Michele McNaughton said.
McNaughton served five years in the active military, traveling to multiple different countries. Towards the end of his duties, his mother helped him follow in his family’s footsteps.
She had kept up with his paperwork in order to apply to be a police officer, and James would complete his tests when home from serving. McNaughton was honorably discharged from the army in the summer of 2001 but remained a member of the reserves.
McNaughton was a member of the New York City Police Academy when the 9/11 terror attacks took place. He served as a police officer over the next few years before going on two tours. McNaughton was on his second tour when he was killed.
“He understood the repercussions,” Michele McNaughton said. “All the different police officers that he was serving with had families, and he told them, I’m just gonna take it. I don’t have kids. Let me just do this.”
Vinny Zecca, along with many other childhood friends of McNaughton help organize the annual event in his memory each year.
“I remember him saying that for him, serving the country would be like playing in the Super Bowl,” Zecca, who was a friend of McNaughton since the third grade, said about him.
“It’s bittersweet,” McNaughton said about the annual event. “It brings joy, but it’s also sad. I’d rather have him here, but we’re helping other veterans in his name. His name carries on. We want to make sure that there’s help there for other veterans.”
Over 100,000 people from multiple states have attended the event throughout its history. Both Michele McNaughton and Zecca said that the future of the celebration after this year is unknown at this time.