William and Michele McNaughton stood near a new plaque honoring their son, James Dennis McNaughton, the first N.Y.P.D. officer killed in Iraq. The plaque was brought to Transit District 2 Bureau in the Canal St. A, C and E station Friday after a ceremony in Battery Gardens restaurant. McNaughton, 27, who served in District 2, was an Army M.P. killed by a sniper Aug. 2, 2005.
“One guy can change the lives of so many people,” William McNaughton, 52, said as colleagues stopped by to shake hands. “They [the army] wanted a soldier with police experience to train Iraqi policemen.”
The son was in the first police academy class to graduate after 9/11.
Another army sergeant who served with McNaughton in Iraq stood near the front desk. “He was always standing tall all the time,” Sgt. Joe Giannetto said. “We called him the ‘go-to’ guy.”
“This was his destiny, plain and simple,” said William, who recently retired from the force. “He knew what he wanted and he did it.”
James’s mother, also a Transit police officer, said, “We get comfort knowing he did what he did.”
