“Ooh, a storm is threatening my very life today,” the Rolling Stones sing in “Gimme Shelter.” “If I don’t get some shelter, ooh yeah, I’m “going to fade away,” they conclude. Some of us on the Sayville Michael Murphy Team—a group of 20 or so locals leading support for the Museum, the shelter for Murphy’s legacy—took that as the mantra.  What we didn’t understand is that as we worked to deepen support for the Museum, the work was changing us.

In Afghanistan, Michel Murphy gave his life to make a distress call to give his team a chance to live.  Murphy’s story helped us understand how important, fated even, that the Lt. Michael P. Murphy Navy SEAL Museum was built in our town.  Has the nation ever needed someone we all believe in more?  Our mission has been to inspire devotion to the legacy of Medal of Honor recipient Michael Murphy and to weave the Museum into our civic tapestry.

We are succeeding.  For the third time, the Sayville Inn hosted the Sangria Salute.  The event was hosted by Chuck Cabrera of the Sayville Inn and Rich D’Andrea of Raynor and D’Andrea Funeral Home.  One hundred percent of all funds were donated to the Museum.  “Events like this remind you just how generous and supportive our community is,” D’Andrea remarked. “We invited people to have a few drinks and raised $20,000 in just a few hours.” Cabrera shared how it’s been “a true pleasure meeting Mr. and Mrs. Murphy.  They have done so much in memory of their son.” Cabrera shared that our support is “the least we can do” to help locals “never forget a true American hero.”

Marlene Keglihan, owner of the Portly Villager, is grateful the community has stepped up to support the community viewing of the Army-Navy football game she hosts for the Museum.  Marlene, her husband, and the whole Portly team have doubled down by attending the Sangria Salute each year.  And for each year we’ve run the event at the Portly Villager, when the game is about to kick off, everyone sings the national anthem together.   It is the Sayville community at its very best!

To support the Museum, Marlene and the rest of the Sayville Michael Murphy Team will host our sixth annual Army-Navy game at the Portly Villager at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14. Marlene wants to make sure everyone knows they are invited to “just come out and watch the game and support the Museum.”

Signs abound that the Museum is thriving.  Two weeks ago, the Suffolk Superintendents’ Association hosted their annual meeting at the Museum.  Groups like the Nassau Suffolk School Boards Association and the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association’s new charity are encouraging their members to visit and have expressed an interest in utilizing the Museum’s conference space.  Groups are encouraged to call the Museum at (631) 589-7325 between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except Monday to inquire about visits or to request usage of the conference space. 

The work of the Sayville Michael Murphy Team is changing us.  To support the Sayville Rotary president’s (Carol Leyboldt) goal, for example, both the Sayville Inn and the Murphy Museum accepted Rotary’s invitation to become collection sites for General Needs.   That organization’s goal is to serve veterans with dignity (https://generalneeds.org).  Toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, etc.) and undergarments (including T-shirts and socks) are now being collected at these new Michael Murphy sites.  Bayport-Blue Point Library, Brinkmann’s Sayville, and the Sayville Library are also collection sites.

The Museum was built to preserve and extend the legacy of Michael Murphy.  The Sayville team is also proud to remember veterans who are struggling to reenter society, as shown in us stepping up for General Needs.  But what about veterans who are no longer with us?  How can we remember them?

That call was answered many years ago by John and CarolAnn St. Lawrence.  They were upset they could not honor John’s uncle with a flag on Memorial Day.  A local record of service was required.  No problem.  They found a record and obtained permission.   It wasn’t enough to merely honor their uncle, though.  John and CarolAnn spent two years creating an entire archive of records documenting the military service of all local veterans.  They were honored with a Congressional citation and a flag flown from the Capitol for their efforts.

Thanks to the Sayville Michael Murphy Team, John and CarolAnn’s archive is now online!  Readers need merely go to the website painstakingly created by team member Tim Leigh-Manuell:  https://www.restingvetsofsayville.com.  The beauty of Tim’s work is that when John and CarolAnn first set out on their project, one of their team members was none other than Tim’s dad, Bill Leigh-Manuell.   

From the very first, members of our team set out to demonstrate the maxim some of us learned playing Sayville football: The name on the back of your jersey, your name, means nothing.  The name on the front, your team’s name, means everything.  We are only beginning to understand the gravity of Michael Murphy’s legacy.  For while we came together to invite others to offer support, we now know Murphy’s legacy is its own invitation.  It’s an invitation to become the very best version of ourselves we can be.  And it’s an invitation we are proud to accept.