Fund-raiser honors WWII veteran

By ANN ZANIEWSKI Of The Oakland Press

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard honored a World War II veteran Wednesday at a lunch that raised money for the next phase of a memorial that honors fallen police officers and firefighters. 

The event was beside the Michigan Fallen Heroes Memorial near the Sheriff ’s Office in Pontiac. 

On the 63rd anniversary of D-Day, Clawson resident Scotty Maconochie, 86, received a plaque with a small container of sand from Omaha Beach. Maconochie was a member of the 1st Infantry Division, which landed on the beach in June 1944. “I’ll treasure this as long as I live,” Maconochie said, looking at his plaque. 

While serving in the Army, he turned down the Purple Heart twice because he said the injuries he received from shrapnel were just “scratches,” and that his friends who died during the invasion are the true heroes. 

Maconochie volunteers to speak to young people going through Sheriff ’s Office boot camp classes. 

Bouchard called Maconochie “one of my personal heroes.” 

People attending the cookout were asked for a minimum donation of $5 and ate hot dogs under a green-andwhite-striped tent. The money raised will improve the Michigan Fallen Heroes Memorial, which consists of a bronze sculpture of a firefighter and policeman in front of a granite wall etched with hundreds of names of people who died in the line of duty. 

Bouchard would like to add ground lighting, enhanced landscaping and eventually a computer kiosk, where people would be able to look up a name, find the panel where it is engraved and learn details about the person’s life.