Hero cops who also served as Marines — some of whom were injured either in combat or on the city streets — were honored Friday by the NYPD, with one veteran saying the bond between his fellow servicemen “beats my heart.”
The NYPD recognized five of its own – one posthumously – at a 1 Police Plaza ceremony in honor of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps and the 32nd anniversary of the department’s Marine Corps Association, days ahead of Veterans’ Day.
Det. Third Grade Oliver Bagley, a purple heart recipient who now serves in the NYPD’s Bomb Squad, received the Patrolmen Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie Uncommon Valor Award.
Bagley, 44, of the Bronx, enlisted in the Marine Corps. on Sept. 4, 2001 – just days before the 9/11 terror attacks – and served in the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, among the first to fight in Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He returned in 2004 to Iraq, where he was involved in the first battle of Fallujah when his convoy came under attack from insurgents who detonated a car bomb.
He was gravely injured when a four-inch piece of metal struck him in the back, and has since endured a long recovery that included multiple surgeries and 84 stitches.
“It shows the resilience of the Marines and the Marine Corps,” he said of his recovery and continued service in the NYPD, which he joined in 2006 – two years after his life-threatening injury. “No matter what we go through, we will always come ahead, on top, and we will always fight to keep doing what we do and what we believe in.”
“There’s a huge sense of belonging and camaraderie between the two, and that’s really what people most strive for,” he said. “Not everyone has a dynamic, a family dynamic, but you can get that through service.”
Also recognized was Det. Second Grade Scot O. Abrams, 52, who was assigned to Brooklyn’s Highway Patrol Unit 2 when he became paralyzed in an on-duty 2007 motorcycle crash while heading to a funeral procession.
His spinal cord injury was so severe that he was given his last rites at the hospital.
“My whole life I’ve been in some sort of uniform,” said Abrams, who became a Marine straight out of high school in 1991 and served for four years.
He joined the North Massapequa Fire Department in August of 1995, soon after completing his service, and joined the NYPD in 1998.
“In the Marine Corps, there’s a purpose, [and] as a police officer, there’s a purpose,” Abrams said. “There’s that pride, you know, of having to be wanted and needed. I love what I do. I want to keep doing what I do.”
Abrams, who received the Set. John Coughlin Eagle, Globe and Anchor Award, described the ceremony as “humbling.”
“To just see all the other Marines around sincerely, you know, beats my heart,” he said of the dozens of fellow Marines-turned-cops in the auditorium.
The posthumous honoree was Det. 1st Grade Luis Alvarez, a Marine Corps. veteran who joined the NYPD in 1990, serving undercover in narcotics before joining the Bomb Squad.
He responded to the World Trade Center following the 9/11 terror attacks and died on June 29, 2019 of colorectal cancer, linked to his time taking part in the search and recovery efforts at Ground Zero.
Honoree Keith Prunty, who was assigned to the NYPD’s 9th Precinct, was shot while responding to an armed robbery at Third Street and Avenue C in 1995, becoming paralyzed from the waist down.
He who joined the Marines at 17 and served for four years — receiving honorable discharge as a corporal, before joining the NYPD in 1991.
Also honored was Captain Joe Lisi, who had a 26-year career with the NYPD before retiring, and also served in the Marine Corps reserve, earning an honorable discharge as a corporal in 1972.
Lisi is also an actor who appeared in “True Blue,” “The Sopranos,” “Law & Order” and “Third Watch.” He made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning “Take Me Out” as Skipper.
The NYPD also recognized Det. Third Grade Shaneil Mitchell, who joined the Marines straight out of high school and notably participated in Operation Phantom Fury, also known as the Second Battle of Fallujah.
He joined the NYPD in January of 2010 after completing his military service, and worked his way to his current role within the Firearms Investigation Unit, stopping the flow of illegal guns into the city.
“Anyone who has viewed the peak of experience has to reckon with the descent,” speaker Elliot Ackerman, a Marine Corps veteran, former CIA officer and author told the assembled cops. “But you all…[have] repurposed yourself in a different way to serve this city.”
“I mean, what a noble second purpose you’ve chosen.”
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