Purple Heart Hall gets new champion
Andrew Komonchak, marketing with heart.
Andy Komonchak never saw combat, but he”™s in a war to win the hearts and minds of the state and country to get national attention for the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in New Windsor.
Although the former Orange County Partnership marketing director was called to the draft board to serve in Vietnam, a double hernia was discovered during his physical and kept him from being outfitted with a uniform. He didn”™t see what happened overseas ”“ but he saw what it did to his friends and classmates who were there ”¦ and the way they were treated when they returned.
Komonchak was on hand to help promote the Hall of Honor in New Windsor for the Orange County Partnership when it opened in 2006.
“I was so emotionally moved by what I saw during the dedication and the inaugural tour of the hall, I knew I wanted to become more involved,” he said. And that he did, earning a seat on its 25-member board of directors, working to promote it and to help register Purple Heart recipients in his spare time.
When plans began to host a tribute to the  National Purple Heart Hall of Honor in June, 2010, Komonchak put his marketing expertise to work, helping to organize the massive event and creating a journal that has become a keepsake for all who attended. More than 1,300 veterans, from World War II right up to the ongoing War on Terror, along with their families, packed Anthony”™s Pier Nine, coming from all parts of the state and the country to be honored. The highlight of the day was a visit from General David Petraeus, who invited each Purple Heart veteran to the stage to receive a “commander”™s coin” and to be personally thanked for their service to the country.
“It was a humbling experience to be a part of that event,” said Komonchak. “It was also a life-changing experience. I knew I wanted to dedicate myself full-time to making the Hall of Honor a state and a national destination.”
He left the Orange County Partnership in mid-April with the blessing and good wishes of Maureen Halahan, its president, and is now director of development for the Purple Heart Hall of Honor., Inc. Â His mission is to raise $3 million needed to renovate the hall”™s interior and to add a wing that will pay tribute to each branch of the service. Komonchak has already received $500,000 in contributions, and his enthusiasm and heartfelt dedication to the cause is infectious.
Although the Hall of Honor is officially part of the New York State Parks and Recreation Department, it receives reduced state funding. Komonchak knows he”™s got his work cut out for him, but loves every minute of it.
Thanks to Alan Seidman, president of the Construction Contractors Association in Newburgh, Komonchak has been given an office in the CCA”™s Newburgh headquarters gratis. There, he”™s able to throw himself into his new job heart and soul.
Komonchak has every intention of hitting the $3 million goal in what he hopes will be record time and successfully marketing the Hall of Honor to the state and to the entire country, raising awareness and encouraging Purple Heart recipients to register. He hopes to draw more visitors to the place that honors the nation”™s combat veterans.
“We know there are 1.7 million Purple Heart recipients,” said Komonchak, “and to date, we have 170,000 registered. They all have a story, and we are a living history museum that wants to be able to preserve and to tell their stories for generations to come.”
Though some may feel the Hall of Honor belongs in the nation”™s capital, says Komonchak, “It”™s right where it belongs. This is the place where George Washington created the Purple Heart and gave it to the wounded troops during the American Revolution. There”™s no place more fitting than the Hudson Valley for this tribute to be.”
Komonchak says working with veterans, listening to their stories and being able to help promote the museum is “a retirement dream come true. I can”™t think of anything else I”™d rather be doing. And because my children are all grown with families of their own, I”™m free to travel at the drop of a hat. I can throw myself into this wholeheartedly and that”™s exactly what I”™m doing.”
Richie Lay, a Purple Heart recipient and former Marine who served in Vietnam, works alongside Komonchak when he is not behind his own desk as executive director of Leadership Orange.
“Vietnam vets were raised by a generation who went to war and were expected to come home and pick up where they left off,” said Lay. “There really is no way to pick up where you left off once you”™ve been in combat. The Viet vets have fought to open doors for all our veterans; because of them, our country and government has become very much aware just how much war changes a person. You just don”™t come home and go back to your ”˜regular life.”™
“The Hall of Honor is a tribute to the men and women who sacrificed for their country and a way for them to reach out to each other and for us to give them thanks for their service,” said Lay. “Knowing Andy, his No. 1 priority is putting the Hall of Honor on the nation”™s map.”