Lawmakers Thank Jerry Donnellan For Service, Accomplishments

NEW CITY, NY — The retiring head of the Rockland County Veteran Services Agency was formally recognized and thanked for his efforts by the county Legislature. Jerry Donnellan, whose three decades of service included establishing the annual Memorial Day Watchfires, announced in June he would be retiring at the end of 2017.

During a ceremony overseen by Legislator Phil Soskin Tuesday, and attended by family, veterans and the public, the Vietnam War vet was presented with the Legislature’s most prestigious honor – a Distinguished Service Award.

“Jerry, we are so proud and so appreciative of all you have done for veterans,” Soskin said. “As a veteran of the U.S. Army myself, I know how important your efforts have been and I’m sure, despite your claim of retirement, that you will continue to serve vets for years to come. You are a true ‘soldiers’ soldier.’”

Donnellan's accomplishments include:

• Establishing the Memorial Day Watchfires, as reminder that we will always remember our lost service members
• Establishing the Rockland County Buffalo Soldiers’ Award to recognize the contributions of African-American veterans
• Establishing the Camp Shanks Museum in Orangetown, near where the majority of the U.S. Normandy Invasion Landing Force embarked Piermont on their way to France, many never to return home
• Establishing the county Veterans Homeless Shelter, which has since been transferred to Homes for Heroes in Tappan
• Establishing the Rockland County Veterans Clinic, the first-ever veterans’ community clinic, which became a model for the 1,000-plus such clinics now operating across the nation.
• Establishing the Rockland County Public Service Medal to honor those who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and in the Global War on Terror, using the award as a way to connect with a new generation of returning vets to ensure they were accessing and aware of their benefits

Legislators said Donnellan has worked tirelessly to improve the lives of veterans in Rockland County.

He is a first-generation American, with his parents, Mike and Anna, who were both born in Ireland, immigrating to the U.S. in 1929. Donnellan grew up in Nyack.

He graduated from Albertus Magnus High School in Bardonia and eventually entered the U.S. Army, where he served with the 196th Light Infantry in Vietnam. It was there that Sergeant Donnellan was wounded in action on Oct. 24, 1969. He is the recipient of three Purple Hearts after being shot twice and wounded by a grenade.

Despite traumatic injuries, Donnellan started his own business, which, in his typical sense of humor, he called Peg Leg Productions. He toured the world as Frank Sinatra’s stage manager and even staged President Ronald Reagan’s Inaugural galas.

He joined the county Veterans Service Agency in 1988 and became its Commissioner in 1992.

SEE ALSO: Longtime Veterans Service Agency Director Jerry Donnellan to Retire