Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy To Be Honored On Long Island With Annual Run

LAKE RONKONKOMA, NY — Suffolk police are advising motorists to take alternate routes while road closures are in effect on Saturday near Lake Ronkonkoma for the annual Run Around the Lake in honor of U.S. Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy.

Rosevale Avenue will be closed between Pond Road and Smithtown Boulevard. Then Lakeshore Road and Pond Road will be closed between Portion Road and Church Street. Finally, Smithtown Boulevard/Lakeshore Road/Portion Road will be closed from Rosevale Avenue to Ronkonkoma Avenue.

Road closures will be in effect from 5:30 a.m. to noon.

Murphy, a Patchogue native, was killed in a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2005. He made his way out to an open area to call for help for his teammates on a satellite phone when he was fatally shot. Only one man survived the mission.

Murphy was later posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, as well as given the rare honor of having the Navy destroyer, the USS Michael Murphy, named in his honor. His heroism was recounted in the Hollywood movie, "Lone Survivor," with Murphy played by actor Taylor Kitsch.

A museum dedicated in Murphy's honor and that of the SEALs is located on the Long Island Maritime Museum's property in West Sayville.

He is buried at Calverton National Cemetery, alongside other Long Island soldiers who lost their lives from his generation.