Navy SEALs Museum To Honor Native Son Lt. Michael Murphy
WEST SAYVILLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - The memory of Navy SEAL hero Michael Murphy from Long Island will be kept alive with a new military museum in his honor.
In 2007, he was the first member of the navy to be awarded the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War, reports CBS2's Jennifer McLogan.
A Hollywood movie, "Lone Survivor," was made about the final hours of his life in Afghanistan, dying while trying to save fellow soldiers in a gunfight with the Taliban.
The Navy has also commissioned a destroyer in his honor.
READ: Boy, 14, Arrested After Medal Of Honor Veteran's Memorial Vandalized
Now an official groundbreaking has taken place for a Navy SEAL Museum in Murphy's name.
"So many accolades for him but honestly, he was the most humble person," said mother Maureen Murphy.
She says the museum will be a living and breathing memorial to her son.
"I'm very proud of what this is going to do for the community," she said.
The spectacular Sea Air and Land museum will be located in a Suffolk County park on the Great South Bay where Lt. Murphy trained to become a Navy SEAL.
"His favorite saying, 'Education will set you free,' so a museum fits right in with his legacy," said father Daniel Murphy.
More than $2 million in donations poured in as hundreds of Michael Murphy's military classmates, friends and neighbors pledged money, labor and supplies for the museum.
"We thought, 'Oh this is going to be costly, now we have people coming out of the woodwork,'" said Daniel Murphy.
"These are the elite of our country, these are the people who everyday are doing things that are unimaginable to most of us.to protect the values that this nation represents, and to keep this world safe," said Suffolk County executive Steve Bellone.
The museum is expected to open next November.