Retired city policeman Robert Conroy will be the grand marshal for this year's St. Patrick's Day parade, officials announced today.

Mr. Conroy, of Oakland, was a police officer for 38 years and a decorated Army veteran of World War II. He saw active duty in Italy, Africa, France and Germany and spent nine months in a German prisoner-of-war camp. He returned from service with a purple heart, silver star and bronze star.

Mr. Conroy is the father of four, including the late Patricia Conroy, one of three city firefighters who died in a Brushton house fire in 1995.

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