Honor A Veteran

Albany County Honors Korean War Veteran Willard McGraw, Jr.

Albany County Executive Mike Breslin and the Honor-A-Veteran Committee commemorated Korean War veteran Willard McGraw, Jr. A ceremony was held on Monday, January 5, 2004, in the Cahill Room of the Albany County Office Building.

McGraw, a longtime resident of Cohoes, was born in Troy and graduated from Catholic Central High School in 1949 and from Paul Smith’s College in 1954. He served in the 176th Armored Field Artillery Battalion of the United States Army during the Korean War, where he served on the front lines, assisting forward observers and relaying fire direction instructions back to the guns. He received a number of medals for his combat service and in 1998 was awarded the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross.

McGraw worked as an administrator with Cohoes Hospital, a technician for the New York State Bill Drafting Commission and for 17 years as an account clerk for the Albany County Department of Social Services until his retirement in 2002.

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