2021 Memorial Day Keynote Speaker Announced For Darien

DARIEN, CT — Sharad Samy will deliver the 2021 Memorial Day keynote speech on May 31, town officials announced this week.

The speech is scheduled to take place in Spring Grove Veterans Cemetery at 11:30 a.m. following the Memorial Day parade.

According to a news release, Samy served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1997 to 2008 as a major and judge advocate in the Bronx, N.Y., and Germany. He was deployed to Djibouti, Africa, in connection with Operation Enduring Freedom, where he settled death claims and advised on humanitarian relief operations in the Horn of Africa.

Samy currently serves as a major in the Connecticut National Guard and as General Counsel to The Common Fund for Nonprofit Organizations, which provides stewardship and investment management of funds of education organizations and other non-profit organizations, according to town officials.

Samy is a board member for the Karam Foundation, which helps Syrian refugees in the U.S. and abroad. He also serves on the board of directors for Lawyers For Children America, which provides pro bono legal counsel to children in neglect and abuse cases, town officials said.

Samy is a trustee for the state Department of Veterans Affairs and serves on the community engagement board for the state Division of Criminal Justice.

Locally, he served on the town's Board of Assessment Appeals from 2012 to 2017. He is an active member of Darien VFW Post 6933 and volunteers in the Wreaths Across America fundraiser.

Samy and his wife, Katherine, are Darien residents. They have three children.