Sgt. 1st Class Joseph McKay, dead at 51

BY KIMBERLEY A. MARTIN | kimberley.martin@newsday.com July 10, 2008 Sgt. 1st Class Joseph McKay couldn't shake the images from his mind.

The World Trade Center ablaze; the thick gray smoke emanating skyward; the melting steel beams as the structures gave way.

He felt compelled to do something, his family says. He believed he could make a difference, his brother recalled Wednesday.

So McKay, a member of the New York Army National Guard since 1977, rejoined the military full-time. Three years after serving a tour in Iraq, he went to Afghanistan. There -- just two months into his stay -- his life was cut short on June 26, eight days shy of his 52nd birthday.

At his memorial service yesterday evening, family members and friends tried to make sense of a death they believe came all too soon.

Facing the flag-draped coffin, one of McKay's brothers, Ronald McKay, said, "We spoke three weeks ago, but I can't believe that was the last time I'd hear your voice."

Hundreds, including his wife, Rose, his four children, his parents and 16 siblings, gathered at Calvary Tabernacle in Hempstead, where McKay and his wife had both been parishioners.

McKay, 51, of Cambria Heights, Queens, died from injuries he suffered after his convoy was ambushed in eastern Afghanistan.

He was a month away from returning home on leave, his family said.

McKay, who had emigrated from Georgetown, Guyana, was a member of the B Troop 2nd Squadron, 101st Calvary Regiment, N.Y. Army National Guard. In the days following Sept. 11, he guarded Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal, earning a New York State Defense of Liberty Medal.

Later, he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Badge.

A funeral Mass is set for 11 a.m. Thursday at Calvary Tabernacle and a burial with full military honors in Long Island National in Farmingdale is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

Volney Williams, a friend of McKay's father Whitcliff described the fallen soldier as a "polite well-mannered young man who had a burning passion for life.

"He was very simple -- not the bravado type one would expect of a soldier."

Staff writer Matthew Chayes contributed to this story.