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The honor and recognition is bestowed each year on a veteran from each Senate District who has not only valiantly served our country in the military but also has led a distinguished civilian life.
During his fourth year of a plumbing apprenticeship in 1965 and at the height of the Cold War, Samuel L. Reddic was drafted into the U.S. Army and stationed in a tense and divided Germany.
A skilled marksman, Reddic achieved sharpshooter qualification, earned a National Defense Service Medal, and was honorably discharged in 1971 at the rank of Specialist 5.
He returned home to finish the final year of his apprenticeship. In 1981, Reddic was shot six times by a would-be robber, but survived the attack and continued working for 19 years with two bullets still lodged near his spine.
Ten years after resuming civilian life, Samuel moved to Yonkers and continued working as a plumber for the New York City Board of Education and as a member of his UA Plumbers Local 1.
He is one of the first African-American plumbers in NYC, and a union member for 50 years.
Reddic serves as Commander of the Samuel H. Dow Post in Yonkers where he works to help local veterans and recruit new servicemen and women to join the post.
He also served on the executive board of the Hudson River Community Association.
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