East Berlin Resident Galgano Receives Award

At the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce 10th Annual Support the Troops Breakfast, held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cromwell on November 8, East Berlin resident Peter Galgano received the William J. Pomfret Veteran Community Service Award. This award is given annually in recognition of distinguished service on the part of a veteran of the armed forces to the citizens of Connecticut and selfless devotion to the ideal of commitment to public service.

Galgano is a Vietnam Veteran, serving in the United States Marine Corps from 1966 to 1970. He was discharged as a Sgt. E-5. He is employed at Middlesex Community College in Middletown where he manages the broadcast cinema and multimedia facilities.

Galgano was the recipient of the Marine Corps League’s prestigious Department of Connecticut Marine of the Year award in 2006. He received this award for his extensive involvement with the Military Funeral Honors Detail, Wake Service, and creating a DVD that was given to 300 funeral directors in Connecticut to assist families of the fallen Marines in arranging the military wake service and military funeral honors at the gravesite, which the family is entitled to.

In 2006 Galgano was one of the organizers for the return of 200 Marines of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marines from Fallujah, Iraq. Charlie Company named him the 2006 Marine Corps Veteran of the Year. He received the honor for establishing a website for Marines in Iraq so they could see and communicate with their families in Connecticut. He also created a DVD, shown at the Hartford Armory upon the Marines’ return, of photos sent to him from the Marines in Iraq and photos from events that supported the Marine’s families here in Connecticut. A copy of the DVD was given to each returning Marine.

When the largest traveling Vietnam Wall came to Rentschler Field, Galgano was Public Relations Chairman for that event. He also was involved in bringing the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team and the Drum and Bugle Corps to perform.

To remember the five-year return of Charlie Company from Fallujah and to honor the eight Marines who were killed in action, Galgano was an organizer of the “Gathering of Warriors.” This took place in June 2011, in Meriden. He created a DVD as a tribute to honor the eight Marines and made copies for their families.

Among the organizations that Galgano is active in are the following: The Marine Corps League in New Britain, Meriden, and the Dept. of Connecticut; The VFW Post 10732 in Berlin; the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 120, in East Hartford; the Town of Berlin Veterans’ Commission; the Special Veterans Advisory Committee for Senator Richard Blumenthal; Galgano is the Veterans’ Outreach Coordinator at MXCC and the Staff Advisor for the MXCC Veterans Club which is in a partnership with the Greater Middletown Military Museum; and he is the director of the new Veterans’ OASIS Center (Operation Academic Support for Incoming Servicemembers) at MXCC.

In addition to the general academic advising and personal support that Galgano provides to the MXCC veteran students, he works individually with them to provide additional support and services that they may need outside of the college setting.

Radio show host, Brad Davis, of WDRC The Talk of Connecticut, AM1360 and FM 102.9, was broadcasting live from the Crowne Plaza Hotel on the morning of the award presentation. During his show, he did an interview with Galgano.