SEAL of Honor by Gary Williams Read Free Book Online

sat in the bus, it refused to start. The general voiced his extreme displeasure to the unfortunate airman, who tried repeatedly to get the bus started.
The Murphy family laughed, because Michael had always been mechanically challenged when it came to cars. “This is not the airman’s fault, it is Michael’s revenge for making such a big deal of him coming home.”
    The family finally returned home, while Lieutenant Commander Muse and Lieutenant Widenhofer remained at Dover to coordinate funeral and transport arrangements with Maureen’s uncle, Eddie McElhone, who owned and operated the Clayton Funeral Home in Kings Park, across Long Island on the North Shore.

Wednesday, July 6, 2005
    After a few hours of needed rest, Dan, Maureen, and John met with the press. Six television stations and forty to fifty members of the broadcast and print media had packed the front yard. Dan, an attorney, was accustomed to dealing with the media and with crowds. He spoke for the family, as John and Maureen were somewhat intimidated by all of the bright lights, the microphones, and the shouting of questions. He explained that they had been at Dover AFB as their son’s remains were brought back to the United States. After the briefing, several members of the media were invited into the home to photograph pictures of Michael. Generally, the members of the media were very sympathetic and supportive of the family. But the family did have one painful experience. A cameraman noticed a picture of Michael at his graduation from Officer Candidate School sitting on the large wooden shelf above the living room sofa. In order to properly get a picture without the glare of the glass, he placed the picture on the floor to shoot the picture at a straight angle. Maureen gasped and covered her mouth with her hand as tears streamed down her face.
    Dan cried, “No, you can’t do that. We do not want our son’s picture on the floor.”
    The cameraman apologized and said he meant no disrespect, but it was necessary to get a good picture. He continued to attempt a picture and Dan quickly picked the picture up off the floor.
    “I don’t care; you are not putting our son’s picture on the floor.” He placed it back on the shelf, much to Maureen’s comfort.
    Dan informed Lieutenant Commander Muse that he wanted Michael brought to New York as soon as possible, as he did not want his son left alone in a mortuary. Later that afternoon, the Murphys met with Eddie McElhone. Compassionately, Eddie explained the service and burial arrangements. The family refused the Navy’s offer for Michael to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery and decided to bury him in Calverton National Cemetery, about fifteen miles from Patchogue. They accepted the Navy’s offer for full military honors.

Sunday, July 10, 2005
    Early in the morning, a motorcade consisting of a hearse, a limousine that carried Dan, Maureen, and John, along with John and Linda McElhone, and a Westbury police cruiser driven by Dan Duggan and carrying his wife, Lynda, and Heather left for Dover. The motorcade arrived just before 9:00 AM at the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs. The combined military honor guard solemnly placed Michael’s flag-draped gray steel casket into the hearse, and two cruisers from the Delaware State Patrol provided an escort to the New Jersey state line. Dan rode in the hearse and kept his hand on the casket throughout the trip and talked to Michael, telling him that he was on his way home and describing the scenery as they passed.

Honoring a Hero
    At the state line, two New Jersey State Patrol cruisers assumed the escort and led the motorcade to the New York state line. In New York, authorities had closed the Belt Parkway to the Nassau County line, with a uniformed New York City motorcycle police officer positioned at each entrance to the parkway. As the hearse approached, each officer snapped to attention and saluted, holding the salute until the motorcade had