RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Fifty years ago, a Riverhead, Long Island native made the ultimate sacrifice, saving his platoon during the Vietnam War.
On Monday, elected officials unveiled his U.S. Postal Service stamp, which will help save those who have served, CBS2’s Tara Jakeway reported.
On Jan. 15, 1969, Pfc. Garfield Langhorn threw himself on a live grenade, saving the lives of all his platoon mates. On Monday, Martin Luther King Day, the Purple Heart recipient received another posthumous honor witnessed by a sea of green.
“Today was a great day to be able to come here and honor Garfield Langhorn, especially on Martin Luther King Day,” said William Hughes, the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Suffolk County commander.
Jeffrey Langhorn brought his own tribute to his cousin on Monday.
“I’m very proud that he did what he did at that age. I don’t know what I would’ve done,” Jeffrey Langhorn said. “It was great that he sacrificed his life for others.”