Morristown Veteran Honored At Memorial Day Ceremony

MORRISTOWN, NJ — A Morristown veteran was honored at the annual county Memorial Day Ceremony on Wednesday.

Glenn D. McGuill was awarded the Morris County Distinguished Military Service Medal in recognition of his service in the Army. He was one of seven local veterans honored.

"We in Morris County honor those Americans, like Amery Vasso, who have served with honor in the armed forces, and we honor those Americans who have given their lives while serving to preserve our freedoms," Freeholder Director Doug Cabana said at today’s event. "As President Harry Truman said, ‘Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices.'"

The County Distinguished Military Service Medal features the county seal and is unique to Morris County. Each medal has a striped ribbon with the specific color of the conflict during which the veteran served. Since the program began in 2000, almost 10,000 medals have been presented.

The county provided the following information on McGuill's service:

Glenn D. McGuill grew up in Wyckoff, Bergen County, and graduated from Ramapo Regional High School in 1964.

He served in the U.S. Army from August 1967 to July 1970, and in the N.J. National Guard in 1984-85.

He enlisted in August 1967, went to basic training at Ft Dix and advanced training at Fort Lee in Virginia.

He deployed to Vietnam in February 1968 and served for one year in-country, driving a convoy truck for the 15th Transportation, 1st Cavalry Division in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

He was awarded the Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Two Overseas Bars, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and awards as Expert M14 and Marksman M16.

Following Vietname, he was stationed at Fort Monmouth from March 1969 to January 1970 at the Army's Automatic Digital Information Network (Autodin) training school as instructor assistant.
He deployed to Mannheim, West Germany, with the 28th Transportation Battalion as the battalion communications NCO (non-commissioned officer) for six months. He was honorably discharged in July 1970.

Fourteen years later, Glenn enlisted in the 3rd Battalion, 112 Field Artillery, N.J. National Guard at Morristown Armory. He served from Oct. 1984 to Oct. 1985.

He completed his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering degree from Newark College of Engineering (now NJIT) in 1974, and earned his Master’s Degree in Business Administration, specifically International Business and Finance in 1979.

He made his career in the maritime industry as a Marine Surveyor, Marketing Manager, and Director of Corporate Communications from 1975 to 1996.

He continued his career in the steel industry as Director of Operations from 1997-2008.

Mr. McGuill is the father of two daughters and proud grandfather of two grandsons.