Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network

Massachusetts Police News, Information and Discussions on MassCops

Posted by: Nachtwächter

Friday, November 24, 2006 WWII veteran wanted to help

Motorized wheelchair was his gift to a soldier injured in Iraq

v By Kevin Keenan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF



Shrewsbury resident Beth Murray holds a photograph of her father Jesse Murray, who served in the Navy during WWII. Mr. Murray died this past September. (T&G Staff / PAUL KAPTEYN)
Enlarge photo var helper = new DHTMLHelper(); var model = helper.createModel(); var photoString = new String(""); model.makeHolder('extraPhotoHolder', true);


SHREWSBURY— Watching coverage of the Iraq war on MSNBC about two years ago, Jesse P. Murray, then 86, told his daughter Beth to call a Navy recruiter and make an appointment, because he wanted to re-enlist.

The World War II Navy veteran, who was deeply patriotic and itching to help, believed the young men and women in Iraq needed his wartime experience, and he was serious about re-enlisting.

Beth Murray, his daughter and caregiver, said she thought, “How am I going to pull this one off?” She called the local Navy recruiter in Worcester and told them about her dad.

A recruiter visited the ranch-style home that Mr. Murray built for his family on Woodland Road 55 years ago, listened to his World War II stories, thanked him for his service and left. Mr. Murray told his daughter that the recruiter “seemed young,” and he didn’t make any more noise about re-enlisting. But he remained steadfast that he wanted to somehow help the young veterans returning home, especially those who suffered serious injuries.

“He was a very determined, patriotic guy,” Ms. Murray said. “He felt Iraq needed him.”

Mr. Murray died Sept. 21 at the age of 88.

His last wish was to donate his barely used motorized wheelchair to a disabled Iraq war veteran.

But after Ms. Murray gave it to the Disabled-American Veterans, she learned that another organization, the Princeton-based National Education for Assistance Dog Services, badly needed a motorized wheelchair for its Canines for Combat Veterans program. She is hoping donations will come in so NEADS can get its wheelchair too.

NEADS enlisted inmates at the prisons in Gardner and Concord to train dogs for combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Without a motorized wheelchair, the dogs can’t be properly trained to help the returning veterans, Ms. Murray said.

“They are in desperate need of a new motorized wheelchair to replace their old broken one. They will soon have some new clients who were injured servicemen and women home from Iraq,” she said.

“I believe at this time of holiday sharing and giving that this would be a wonderful way to thank the soldiers who served in Iraq and were injured, also to thank an organization that works tirelessly to help the disabled live productive lives.”

NEADS relies on private donations, and the wheelchairs cost $10,000 or more, Ms. Murray said.

“It really bothered him that so many amputees were coming home from this war,” Ms. Murray said of her father.

Mr. Murray, who underwent two brain surgeries, spent the last year of his life unable to speak and needed a wheelchair to get around.

He was born and raised in Maine, on a farm where he worked and learned to do just about everything. A founding member of Trinity Episcopal Church on Main Street, he loved God, country, community and his family, according to Ms. Murray. He served as a Boy Scout leader and was an executive at Remington Rand Corp. in Boston in a 40-year career.

Mr. Murray suffered a stroke after his wife of 57 years, Katherine D. Murray, died in 2000. He remained upbeat during physical therapy, and when he was told he needed brain surgery, he continued to crack jokes to nurses, Ms. Murray said. When he started using a wheelchair, several members of Trinity Church went to his house and built a ramp, so he could get in and out.

“He was always smiling and laughing,” Ms. Murray said.

Mr. Murray never told his family that he earned a Bronze Star during World War II for his role serving on the USS Madison, a Navy destroyer, in sinking a Nazi submarine in the Mediterranean off the coast of France. A family member received a copy of his service record from the government, where it was mentioned.

“He never boasted and never told anyone,” she said.

After he died, Ms. Murray called the Navy recruiter’s office in Worcester to ask about a military funeral. She said her father wanted one. The recruiter remembered her father, she said, and sent a representative, and four-member ensemble to play taps at his funeral. She said her dad would have loved it.

---

Posted by: sempergumby

Semper Fi

---

vBulletin Copyright ©2000 - 2008, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited.
vB Easy Archive Final ©2000 - 2008 - Created by Stefan "Xenon" Kaeser