On May 24, 2022, the Veterans Network debuted the Fordham Prep Jesuit Veterans Service Award.  It is presented on the Senior Awards Day to an extraordinary young man based on community service and nominated by Fordham Prep Faculty.

The Fordham Prep Veterans Alumni Network conceived the creation of the Award and sponsors it annually. In a unique partnership, the Prep co-launched the Award with colleagues from BC High in Boston. The Fordham Prep Veterans Committee was joined by BC High graduates, General Joseph Dunford USMC and General George Casey USA, to define and shape the core of this special honor.

The emphasis of the Veterans Service Award is: 
1) to encourage public service as a means of developing the whole person
2) to highlight the responsibilities of citizenship in our democracy
3) to promote selfless service, an ideal embodied by service in the Armed Forces of the United States.

Most importantly, The Veteran’s Network Mission is in the spirit of Saint Ignatius. Prep graduates carried our Jesuit values into the military inspiring our commitment to ethics, integrity and leadership as well as to service in the support of Fordham Prep.  Our motto is “Veterans for Others”. 

Fordham Prep and BC High hope that these Awards will inspire other Jesuit High Schools in America to create a similar award.  Nationalizing this Award will give a Jesuit education an amplified importance and stature, and most importantly, elevate the importance of service.

DONATE TO THE Veterans Network AWARD

Robert (Bob) Murray, Fordham Prep Class of 1964, was a genial, prayerful, and genuine young man. Upon graduation from Fordham University, he began studies at Harvard Business School, then opted to enlist in the U.S. Army. While serving in Vietnam, he was awarded Bronze Stars for heroism for two separate actions, resulting in promotion to Staff Sergeant.

One June 7, 1970, while on patrol, Bob sacrificed his life by throwing himself onto a live grenade to save the soldiers he led. For his extraordinary valor, he was posthumously awarded our country’s highest military recognition – The Medal of Honor.

The Murray Award, symbolized by a medallion inscribed with the words “Courage, Love, Sacrifice”, also includes a scholarship for college, and an honorary membership in the Class of 1964. It was established by his classmates and family so that each year, the Prep community might reflect on Bob’s devotion to his country, courage, love for his neighbor, and final sacrifice. His promising life and magnanimous death point us to our better selves.

To date, the Prep community has collectively contributed $184,064.00 to the Robert C. Murray Award Fund.

The Robert C. Murray Award recognizes that member of the senior class who has best exemplified the qualities of the man for whom it is named.

DONATE TO THE MURRAY AWARD

VetZero & The Low Road

Tommy Zurhellen, author of The Low Road: Walking the Walk for Veterans, talks about the voices of the amazing folks he meets, in their own words, on his trip across the country. All net proceeds from the limited "VetZero Heroes Edition" will benefit Hudson River Housing’s VetZero Heroes Program to help veterans. His epic adventure across America from start to finish is expressed in this humorous and humbling memoir about one veteran trying to make a difference!

VetZero

Hudson River Housing believes that those who served our country deserve the highest level of care, including quality, affordable housing. They strive to meet the needs of our veteran community through specialized housing, transportation, advocacy and care management. Through their VetZero Services for Veterans, they’re on a mission to reach ZERO veteran suicides and ZERO veteran homelessness in our community – and hopefully, in our nation.

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