2009 Parade Marshals
 2009 GRAND MARSHAL:
Retired Army Captain Paul W. "Buddy" Bucha of Ridgefield, CT
Paul W. "Buddy" Bucha is a Vietnam veteran and recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor,
the highest
award that can be given to military personnel.
He received his BS in 1965, graduating
academically in the top 2 percent of his West Point Class, number two in Military
Order of Merit and a two-time All American and Captain of the Swim Team.
Immediately upon graduation from West Point,
he attended the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, receiving his
MBA in 1967 and completing his Airborne and Ranger training between academic
years.
After Stanford, he reported for duty with the 101st
Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky. to prepare for deployment to Vietnam as part
of Operation Eagle Thrust. On March 16, 1968, Captain Bucha was the commanding officer of a reconnaissance-in-force
mission that was inserted by helicopter near Phuoc Vinh, Binh Duong
Province to locate and destroy an enemy stronghold.
When his men were pinned down by heavy machine-gun fire, he crawled 40 meters
through a hail of enemy fire to single-handedly destroy the bunker with
grenades. Though wounded, upon seeing his unit's perimeter was about to be
overrun, he ordered a withdrawal while providing covering fire. At one point
during the night, he ordered his men to "play dead" while he brought
in friendly fire on the enemy. He also stood, in full view of the enemy, with a
flashlight to direct the evacuation of three helicopters carrying the most
seriously wounded from the field of battle. For his actions, Captain
Bucha received, among other decorations, the Bronze Star with V and Oak Leaf
Cluster, the Purple Heart and the Medal of Honor. Upon his return to the U.S., he reported for assignment as Assistant
Professor of Managerial Economics at West Point.
After resigning his Army commission in 1972, Bucha
joined du Pont Glore Forgan as a special assistant to H. Ross Perot. He later
moved to the Perot-owned Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS) as Senior
Vice President of International Operations, expanding EDS operations throughout
the Middle East and Europe. In 1978, formed
his own international consulting company, Paul W. Bucha and Company, Inc.
(PWBCO), and expanded to real estate development, building the environmentally
acclaimed development Port Liberte on New York Harbor.
In 2005, he established, Terra Mark II, LLC which specializes in residential
and mixed use development in environmentally sensitive locations. In addition
to real estate, he served as CEO of Delta Frangible Ammunition, the world's
leading developer of lead-free ammunition for military and law enforcement.
Bucha actively is involved in national security
and veterans issues with the encouragement of President Barack Obama's
administration, and was an advisor to candidate Obama during his 2008 campaign. He is a frequent lecturer to military leaders of all branches on honor and leadership. He has been a member of the Board and an officer of The Fisher House Foundation and Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund which support military families and wounded warriors. He is active in a variety of veteran organizations including the American Legion, the U.S. Army Ranger Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans, and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.
Bucha has lectured on ethics in business and government at Harvard, Princeton, Haverford, U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, the Merchant Marine Academy, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. In addition to his military honors, he is a Gold Medallion inductee of the International Swimming Hall of Fame, a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and an inductee of the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame. He has four children and three grandchildren, and lives in Ridgefield, CT with his wife, Cynthia.
2009 Honorary Grand Marshals
Retired Army Captain Dr.
Madelon Visintainer Baranoski, MSN of Meriden,
CT
Dr.
Madelon Visintainer Baranoski had a distinguished Military career in the Army,
serving as a Surgical Nurse and Nurse Supervisor while stationed in Vietnam. Her
first assignments were at the 8th Field Hospital in Nha Trang, and then at the
25th Evacuation Hospital
in CuChi, Vietnam. She is a recipient of the
Bronze Star for her meritorious service in a combat area, and has received the
National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign
Medal, and the Vietnam Gallantry Cross.
A
national pioneer in the field of identification and treatment of post-traumatic
stress disorder, Dr. Baranoski is Associate Clinical Professor in the Law and
Psychiatry Division at Yale University School of Medicine, and Director of the
New Haven Jail Diversion Program. She is a P.O.S.T. Certified Instructor in the
areas of law enforcement encounters with persons with mental illness, and she
has taught at the New Haven
Police Academy,
the Connecticut State Police and municipal police agencies. Dr. Baranoski is an
accomplished researcher and practitioner in the area of forensic psychology and
has given lectures across the country. She is also on the editorial board of
the Journal of the American
Academy of Psychiatry and
the Law Online Editorial Board. As part of her professional duties as a
clinical psychologist for the Connecticut Mental Health Center, Dr. Baranoski
evaluates defendants to determine whether they are competent to stand trial.
She lives in Meriden
with her husband, Robert Baranoski, their two sons, who are in college, and
with her mother and father, who met while serving in WWII. Her mother was a
Navy Nurse on Guam and her father was enlisted in the Army Air Corps on Tinian.
 Retired Army
Captain Eleanor Shirshac Becker of
Killingworth
Born on a family dairy farm in Coventry,
Conn., Eleanor Shirshac Becker, now 92 years old, was
working for the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles when the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor. She heard about the
establishment of the new Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACS) [now known as Women's Army Corps (WACS)] and immediately volunteered to serve because she "wanted to help out". After close
to a year as a supply sergeant, Becker was recommended for Officer Candidate School
(OCS). She was trained in cryptography and
took the secret orders for parts for military aircraft that were fighting in Europe and the Pacific. She rose through the ranks to Captain, serving in
several locations around the U.S.
At the end of the war, she returned home to many years of service for
State of Connecticut.
A
longtime Killingworth community volunteer, Becker recently was honored by the Killingworth Democratic Town Committee for
55 years of service. She was named the Killingworth Lions Club's Citizen of the
Year in 1999, was a member of the Killingworth School Board, and was active in
forming Killingworth's first pre-school. She continues to work part-time at a
local dry cleaners and is involved in the Killingworth Congregational Church.
She
married the late Edward F. Becker, a New
Haven attorney, and has two sons, one of whom is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel
whose wife is an active Lieutenant Colonel herself.
 Retired
CTNG Command Sergeant Major William W. Chapman
II of Willington, CT
Retired CTARNG Command Sergeant Major William W. Chapman II of Willington, Conn.
has more than 35 years of distinguished military service in the Marine Corps,
Army Reserve, and Connecticut Army National Guard. His military experience
includes Aircraft Hydraulics, Infantry, Civil Affairs, Combat Engineer,
Military Police, and Logistics.
He joined
the Marine Corps in 1972 because "I felt the need to serve my country," he
said. He took his physical on his 17th birthday, and a few days
later was in Parris Island. During the Vietnam
War, Chapman served in the Marines in Japan,
Philippines, Okinawa, and Taiwan, and finished up stateside in 1976 in North Carolina. He later
joined the Army Reserve Infantry and Civil Affairs for five years of service.
In 1989, Chapman joined the Connecticut Army National Guard and finished his
Bachelor's Degree in Business while serving. He was deployed several times
after 9/11 as part of Operation Noble Eagle and Operation Iraqi Freedom,
including service in Tikrit,
Iraq. Recently
retired from the Connecticut Army National Guard, he is the recipient of a
Bronze star, a Purple Heart, an Army Meritorious Service Medal, and three Army
Commendation Medals. He was named the Connecticut Army National Guard Honor
Soldier of the Year in May 2008.
Chapman is
a former Captain and trainer with the Connecticut
Department of Correction (DOC), having retired after two decades of civilian
experience in 2002. He is also a member of the DOC Military Peer Support
Program, started by Commissioner (Ret.) Theresa Lantz, to assist DOC employees
and their families during deployments. He now is with the Department of
Homeland Security as a Transportation Security Manager at Bradley International
Airport. The Willington
resident is married to his wife of 30 years, Suzanne, and has two children. His
daughter works with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and
his son is a Newtown, Conn. Police Officer.
 Retired
Navy Captain William J. McGurk of Somers,
CT
Bill McGurk is a veteran of 28 years of service in the U.S.
Navy and Naval Reserve. He was commissioned as an Ensign in June 1963, upon his
graduation from Holy
Cross College.
His first assignment was aboard the USS FORREST SHERMAN where he served as Main
Propulsion Assistant and Electronics Material Officer. He participated in
Mediterranean and Northern European deployments, as well as two Caribbean
cruises and refresher training at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba.
Upon release from active duty, McGurk affiliated with the
Naval Reserve Surface Division 1-14M in Pittsfield,
Mass. He served as Naval Reserve
Commanding Officer of eight units at five Reserve Centers in two Readiness Commands.
Those Reserve Centers were: Pittsfield,
Mass./Albany, NY; Bedford, Mass.;
Boston, Mass; Quincy,
Mass.; and Providence, RI.
He also served on the staff of Commander, Naval Reserve Readiness Command
Region One, Newport, RI. McGurk is a graduate of the Naval Justice
School and completed the Naval War
College nonresident
curriculum in National Security Decision Making. He retired from the Naval
Reserve in 1991.
McGurk has
served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Rockville Bank since 1980 and
holds leadership positions in many community and industry associations. He has
been a member of the Manchester Community College Foundation for over 15 years,
10 of those as Treasurer. He has been an Eastern Connecticut Health Network
(ECHN) Trustee since 1995 and served as Chairman of the Board and
Vice-Chairman. A member of the State of Connecticut Community College Board of
Trustees, he currently serves as its Audit Chairman. He is a past Chairman of
the Bankers Advisory Board of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, a past
President of Connecticut Community Bankers Association, has served as a member
of the Board of the Bank Marketing Association, New England Chapter, and is an
Honorary Trustee of the New England College of Finance and a recipient of its
McLaughlin Award.
McGurk and his wife, Mary, have five children and two
grandchildren. He proudly has marched in several of the Connecticut Veterans
Day Parades, in his Naval Reserve uniform.
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