LIers attend NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade

Amid the sea of green filling Fifth Avenue, between the moan of bagpipes and rat-a-tat of drums, a fallen son from Long Island was remembered Saturday.

Marching in New York City's 251st annual St. Patrick's Day Parade, Daniel Murphy of Wading River proudly carried a small wooden case.

Inside was the Medal of Honor awarded posthumously to his son, Lt. Michael P. Murphy, a Navy SEAL killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2005. This fall, a destroyer will be named in his honor.

Being included in the parade had a certain resonance, Daniel Murphy said, noting that his son's Navy colleagues dubbed him "the fiery Irishman from New York."

Joining family and friends, Maureen Murphy was pleased that her son's sacrifice hasn't been forgotten. "It's wonderful," she said. "After seven years, people remember Mike and what he and the others did."

The somber remembrance came amid the usual celebration of Irish heritage, which drew hundreds of thousands of people to the 42-block parade route.

Marchers and onlookers alike sported all things green -- from shamrock-painted faces to martian antennas. T-shirts espoused Irish talents in, well, just about everything.

Parade watchers Melissa Mannarino, 8, of Elmwood Park, N.J., and her 5-year-old brother, Joe, had their hair dyed green for the occasion.

"I like the bagpipes," Melissa said. "When they blow on it, it makes a really loud sound."

Plenty of Long Island high school bands, police officers and veterans marched in the parade, including Andrew Kenny, a 66-year-old retired Nassau deputy police commissioner.

For the 25th year, he walked the route with fellow members of the Nassau police Emerald Society.

"You see people applauding and supporting the work you do," he said afterward. "Then there's other things, like seeing your kids and your grandkids grow up and walk with you."

Suffolk police Lt. John Hubbs, 67, who's been marching with his department's Emerald Society for 28 years, said the parade makes him think of family.

"I'm thinking of all my ancestors," he said as he marched. "Living or dead."

With Sophia Chang