GUANTANAMO BAY REDEDICATES FACILITY IN HONOR OF “JIMMY” MCNAUGHTON

The ceremony was held as a remembrance of McNaughton and rededicated a Joint Task Force conference center named for him. In attendance was Brig. Gen. John Hussey, JTF Guantanamo deputy commander, and a JTF Warfighter, both of whom served with McNaughton before he was killed.

“Today we remembered a soldier who gave his life for our country,” Hussey said in an interview, “If we allow people to just fade away when they die and not remember their contributions then we’re failing as a nation. We have some great American heroes and sometimes they don’t make the history books or front pages yet they affect the people around them and that’s what we’re here doing for Jimmy.”

McNaughton was 27 when he was shot and killed by small arms fire while visiting an Iraqi police station on August 2, 2005. He was the first member of the NYPD to be killed in action in Iraq. To honor Staff Sgt. McNaughton, Joint Task Force Guantanamo originally dedicated a conference center to the fallen Soldier in 2007.

I served in the same Brigade as James McNaughton in Iraq, and served with Gen Hussey at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (after the scandal). I was in Iraq when James was killed. Everyone said he was an ideal soldier and great Military Policeman. Rest in peace.