Cop G.I. slain in Iraq was life of the party


The war in Iraq hit home hard for a band of Long Island buddies last week when a sniper's bullet took one of their own - city cop and Army Reserves Staff Sgt. James McNaughton.

The guys shared their memories of "Jimmy" with fondness, sadness, some laughter and much pride.

They called the 27-year-old, who died Tuesday, tough and scrappy, a stalwart friend, a patriot, a leader, a family man - and a mean poker player.

"Yeah, and don't forget he was a b---buster," added Shawn Donnelly, 26, who grew up with McNaughton in Centereach, L.I. "He just loved to tease you." The guys smiled and nodded.

Dave Drago, 26, was on the Centereach High School wrestling team with McNaughton.

"I'm not one to be emotional," he said. "But when I heard, I just dropped to my knees and lost it. Jimmy and I were inseparable since the third grade. I couldn't bear the thought he was gone."

"Jimmy was like a brother," said Drago, a physician's assistant at Gouverneur Hospital in Manhattan.

"Right," nodded Eric Wiggins, 26. "If you ever needed anything, you could call him up at 3 in the morning and he'd be there."

Donnelly recalled that McNaughton "happily" served as his friends' designated driver when they went out drinking. "And he also was the guy who'd tell you when you were getting out of line."

They remembered that McNaughton was so proud of his country that he had an American flag tattooed on his shoulder.

"You'd better not keep your hat on when the National Anthem was being played," said Wiggins, "because Jimmy was sure to tell you to take it off."

Andy Youssef, 24, who served with McNaughton stateside, said he had talked to men in the slain soldier's Iraq unit and learned that many of the troops had wept at the loss. "That tells you the guy was loved."

One memory replaced the sadness with smiles and some laughter.

"Every Fourth of July, the gang would go over to one guy's house and we'd wind up shooting bottle rockets near each other," Drago recalled.

"It was dangerous and all of us were scared, all of us but Jimmy. By the end of the night there were 12 people on one side and Jimmy on the other. One time a rocket shot up his shorts and he ran around like a maniac. I don't think any of us ever laughed so much."

Drago said McNaughton was looking forward to marrying his fiancée, fellow cop Liliana Paredes, and continuing "doing what he was doing with his life - being a soldier and a cop like his father, like his grandfather, like his great uncle."

McNaughton is gone, but his buddies intend to keep him alive in their hearts forever.

Their plan is to get together every April 13, his birthday, - maybe in Atlantic City - where some can imagine their pal drawing to a royal flush and laughing his endearing laugh.