Pulaski library to be named in honor of fallen war hero

The Pulaski Street School library will be named for PFC Garfield M. Langhorn, pursuant to a resolution approved by the Riverhead Board of Education Tuesday night.

Langhorn, a Riverhead native and a 1967 graduate of Riverhead High School — when the high school was located in the Pulaski Street building — was killed in action in Vietnam on Jan. 15, 1969, when he threw himself on a live grenade to save his fellow soldiers during a rescue mission in Pleiku Province. He was just 20 years old. In recognition of his valor, Langhorn was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor,  becoming the only Suffolk County recipient of that award.

The soldier’s mother Mary, 86, was present at the school board meeting for the presentation by Pulaski Street School principal David Densieski, who sought the board’s approval for the library dedication.

A bronze plaque will be installed over the threshold of the library entrance, Densieski said. A second bronze plaque will be hung inside the library, along with a print of an oil portrait of Langhorn painted by the artist Gerald Slater. The painting was commissioned for the PFC Garfield M. Langhorn Post Office on West Main Street, which was named for Langhorn at a dedication ceremony on Sept. 27, 2009. The print was donated by the artist on Tuesday, Densieski said. A second print, a copy of a poster commemorating the post office dedication will also hang in the library.

The plaques and posters will serve to educate students about Langhorn and the values he had that enabled him to sacrifice himself to save others, Densieski said. This is a goal shared by the PFC Garfield M. Langhorn Essay Contest, ongoing for the past six years, with the help Mrs. Langhorn, Densieski said.

The library “will serve as an inspiration to students for many years to come,” schools superintendent Nancy Carney said,

A ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony will be held this spring, probably sometime in Aprl.