Honoring a local hero: Riverhead Post Office named for PFC Garfield Langhorn

Hundreds of people flocked to the Riverhead post office on West Main Street today for the dedication of the building as the PFC Garfield M. Langhorn Post Office. (See video.)

The federal facility on West Main Street was named for the 20-year-old Riverhead native who sacrificed his life in Vietnam on Jan. 15, 1969 by throwing himself on a live grenade to save his comrades during a rescue operation in Pleiku Province. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor, becoming the only Suffolk County recipient of that award.

Langhorn, a 1967 graduate of Riverhead High School, was drafted into the Army and served in Vietnam as a radio operator in 1968-69.

Today’s ceremonies were attended by his mother, Mary Langhorn, 86, and members of his extended family, including his nephew and namesake Garfield Reid, who spoke on behalf of the family, thanking the community for its support. (See related story and video, “A Gold Star Mother Remembers.”) 

The Langhorn family listened today as the soldier’s comrade, James Napolitano described how Langhorn helped lead him on the path to Christianity.

Eric Eve, the son of one of the men saved by Langhorn’s bravery, read a speech about Langhorn given several years ago by his father, Rodney Eve, who succumbed to cancer three years ago.

“I am here today because of his actions,” Eve said, expressing his gratitude and admiration for a man he would never meet but would always admire. A history teacher at Lindenhurst High School, Eve brought his students with him to the ceremony, as well as his wife and children. He and his daughters, he noted, owed their lives to Langhorn’s bravery.

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton), who authored the legislation renaming the post office for Langhorn, presented the soldier’s mother with the original legislation and the pen used by President Barack Obama  in June to sign the bill into law.

County Executive Steve Levy, Supervisor Sean Walter, Town Board Members John Dunleavy, James Wooten, Jodi Giglio and George Gabrielsen, Assemblyman Marc Alessi and County Legislator Ed Romaine attended the ceremonies, which started at 11 a.m.

“He was a hero,” Bishop said, praising Langhorn’s family, his church, and his community for raising a man like him. “There is nothing more important going on in the United States today than what is happening right now here in Riverhead, New York,” Bishop said.

A portrait of Langhorn, painted by artist Gerald Slater, as well as a bronze plaque commemorating the naming of the building, were unveiled during the ceremonies.

The county executive said the naming will lead children to ask their parents who Langhorn was, and will give parents an opportunity to explain the meaning of true heroism.

“A hero is not a football player. A hero is not a rock star,” said Levy. “A hero is a man like Garfield Langhorn, who gave his life for others. That’s what a hero is. God bless his memory. God bless the United States of America.”