Pulaski Street School Library Named After Local War Hero

On Sept. 16 students, teachers, community leaders and family gathered at Pulaski Street School to rename the school's library in honor of Pfc. Garfield Langhorn, a 1967 graduate of Riverhead High School who earned the Medal of Honor after he sacrificed his life in the Vietnam War.

Langhorn, who attended when it was still the town's high school, was killed at the age of 20 when he scooped an enemy grenade under his body to shield his fellow soldiers from the blast during fighting in Vietnam. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor by President Nixon in 1970.

The Garfield M. Langhorn Memorial Library was officially opened by Langhorn's mother, Mary, who attended the ceremony with Joan Brown-Smith, Langhorn's fiancée at the time, childhood friend Jenny Corbin and Congressman Tim Bishop, D - Southampton.

Corbin and Bishop both spoke at a short ceremony in the school's auditorium for the school's sixth graders to learn about Langhorn and his heroic sacrifice.

“You’re sitting in an auditorium where a hero sat," Bishop told the students. "You’re walking in the halls a hero walked in. You’re sitting in the classroom a hero sat in.”

The sixth graders will use Langhorn's courage as inspiration in their sixth annual essay contest this year.

Corbin lightened the mood by sharing stories about Langhorn as a child, how he baked better chocolate-chip cookies than his mother. The story drew laughter from the audience as well as a smile on Mary’s face as she nodded in agreement. Yet both she and Corbin were still visibly emotional as they reminisced about Pfc. Langhorn.

Brown-Smith, who helped Mary with the ribbon cutting, will be back at Pulaski Street School next month to see the winner of her fiancé's essay contest.