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Byrne Awarded Navy's Top Civilian Honor

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Gerry Byrne

Gerry Byrne

authorStaff Writer on Jan 13, 2025

The Department of the Navy has awarded Gerry Byrne, who has a home in Quogue, its top civilian honor, the Distinguished Public Service Award. The award was presented on January 3, in New York City by Carlos Del Toro, secretary of the Navy.

Established in 1951, the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award is presented to civilians for specific courageous or heroic acts or exceptionally outstanding service of substantial and long-term benefit to the Navy, Marine Corps, or Department of the Navy as a whole. It is the highest recognition that the secretary of the Navy may pay to a civilian not employed by the Department of the Navy.

Byrne is on the boards of numerous nonprofits, including The Intrepid Museum, The Bob Woodruff Foundation, The Fisher House Foundation, The USO, City Meals on Wheels, The Gotham Film & Media Institute, The Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research, Friends of the NYC Vietnam Veterans Plaza, The Creative Coalition, The Gotham Film & Media Institute, The Hamptons International Film Festival (Chairman – Advisory Board), The John A. Reisenbach Foundation, and The Armory Foundation. He is also on the Advisory Board of the Fordham University Gabelli School and the Board of NYC’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

In November 2012, Byrne launched, as founder/chairman, the first ever Veterans Week NYC, a series of events dedicated to honoring and supporting veterans and their families. In May 2017, he launched Veterans on Campus NYC, a veteran’s support consortium comprising all the NYC colleges and universities where veterans attend on the GI Bill.

A 1966 graduate of Fordham College, Byrne served as a Marine officer in Vietnam in 1968/69 and was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal with Combat V. He was inducted into the Fordham University Military Hall of Fame in 2022.

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