Lynch to Present Medal to Family of Fallen Soldier

A local soldier who died in Afghanistan in 2010 will be awarded the New Hampshire Medal of Honor posthumously at a ceremony this afternoon.

Lance Cpl. Michael E. Geary, a Derry resident, was killed at the age of 20 as the result of a hostile incident, according to LondonderryNH.net.

A ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. in the Executive Council Chamber of the State House in Concord, as Gov. John Lynch and Deputy Adjutant General Brig. Gen. Carolyn Protzmann will present the medal.

Three other fallen N.H. citizens will also be honored with medals, as families of the four soldiers will be in attendance.

A law passed by Lynch in 2007 created the N.H. Medal of Honor. Any state citizen who has given his or her life in the line of duty on or after Nov. 4, 1979 will receive the medal.

One of the following items must have taken place, as the law states:

• Engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
• Engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force;
• Assigned as military personnel to friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party;
• Serving in a combat zone as designated by Presidential order;
• Engaged in training in preparation for deployment to a combat zone as designated by Presidential order;
• Serving in the military and killed as a result of a terrorist act.

The event is free and open to the public