The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Cahill inducted into Veterans Hall of Fame
Posthumous ceremony honors community servant
HARTFORD — Former Winsted resident Robert T. Cahill Sr. was inducted into the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame at the Legislative Office Building on Dec. 6, 2019.
“Bob,” as he was known to everyone, lived on Glendale Avenue in Winsted for more than 10 years, while working for CL&P. His induction was based not only on his military service but on his involvement with community and veterans efforts on the local, state and national level.
Cahill enlisted in the U.S.
Army in March 1942 and served as an Aviation Cadet in the U.S. Army Air Corps, before he began his duties as a navigator in the Army Air Corps where he served honorably on active duty until Oct. 10, 1945 as a First Lieutenant.
Upon his return to civilian life, Lt. Cahill signed up for the Army Reserves (later the Air Force Reserves). He retired from military service as a lieutenant colonel in May 1978. Among his military honors were the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters.
Cahill’s time in Winsted can probably be considered the most personally dynamic and rewarding of his and wife Dorothy’s lives. His immersion into town life included memberships in the Jaycees, the Kiwanis Club and the local Chamber of Commerce. In addition to his memberships in these organizations, he successfully headed up the Residential Department at CL&P as a manager and, often times, outreach and community relations specialist.
During that time, his activities included a term on the Winsted Redevelopment Agency; a member of the Winsted Area Public Relations Committee of the Winsted Emergency Committee, whose task it was to compose a history around the flood of 1955; a spokesman for the Judges of the Jaycees Distinguished Services Award honoring Shafeek Nader; chairman of the judging committee of the Chamber of Commerce Christmas lighting contest, and a volunteer coach for Little League and “Farm League” baseball in Winsted.
Cahill coordinated student tours of Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts prior to its designation as a Strategic Command facility. He served on the Business and Friends Solicitation committee for the campaign to build a new St. Anthony’s elementary
school as part of St. Joseph’s Church in Winsted. He was elected and served as president of the Greenwoods School Parent Teachers Association in Winsted; acted as co-chairman and head of the industrial division of the Red Cross fund Drive; was cochairman of the Winsted Kiwanis Club; and was elected twice as resident of the Winsted Chamber of Commerce.
Cahil served as spokesperson for CL&P regarding local power outages and events of public interest. He was also chairman of the newly formed Winsted Area Industrial Foundation, whose purpose was to secure property for a proposed industrial site and encourage growth and promote jobs in the city. The foundation was established to be more of a civic betterment enterprise rather than a profit making venture for shareholders. Cahill served as general chairman of Winsted’s Laurel Festival, an annual event that highlighted and continues promote the city through a number of elaborate recreational events including a parade, the Laurel Ball, and the selection of a Laurel Queen. The festival continues annually.
Under a joint sponsorship of the Chamber of Commerce and the Winsted Jaycees, then-chamber president Cahill oversaw the first-ever Winsted Home Show, a three-day event held in the local junior high school. He was named Winsted Chapter Chairman of the Red Cross Fund Drive and oversaw the fund drive for the Winsted Chapter of the American Red Cross, successfully exceeding the goals that had been set.
He acted in the role of general chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Fund’s annual house-tohouse collection program. Collections exceeded prior years due to written appeals to individuals and local firms. He was voted in as the financial secretary of the Winsted Club; acted in the role of secretary of the Winsted Disaster Planning Committee; served as spokesperson for the Emergency Business and Industrial Committee following the flood of 1955, and helped coordinate temporary space for displaced businesses.
As a member of the Chamber of Commerce, Cahill headed up the Laurel Ball Committee; was Master of Ceremonies at the crowning of the Laurel Festival Queen in East End Park attended by several thousand people; and was elected on multiple occasions as the secretary of the Winchester Electrical Contractors Association. He was named by the board of the Gilbert Trustees to serve on a four-person committee to confer on behalf of the town to establish a branch of UConn in Winsted; headed a Kiwanis Club Committee to coordinate contractors and material suppliers for the reconstruction of baseball fields at the Central School and Mary P. Hinsdale School. He participated in a delegation representing Winsted to discuss Railroad service discontinuation to the area. He actively participated in a Plan to convert Winsted street lighting equipment to state of the art Mercury Vapor (MV) fixtures. The town was designated the first in the U.S. to achieve a code lighted status using MV streetlamps.
A subsequent “Brightest City Festival” three-day event culminated with a nighttime parade along Main Street. He was also appointed Liaison Officer to the United States Air Force Academy for Connecticut; and organized and chaperoned a delegation of educators and administrators for a tour of the USAFA campus in Colorado Springs, Col.
The Cahill family relocated to New Fairfield when he was promoted to another role with CL&P in Bethel, but they often said their hearts remained in Winsted.
The Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame was established to increase the awareness of the lifetime contributions of veterans after completion of honorable military service. The Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame is not a military hall of fame; instead it seeks to recognize veterans for the countless contributions to society. Those selected for induction are Veterans who honorably served their county through military service and who continue to serve and inspire their communities and the state.
Each year the committee selects inductees from applications received from across the state and nation. These Veterans have been leaders in a variety of areas such as arts, education, public service, volunteer activities, and community and business leadership. Most importantly, they have all made a significant impact on the lives of others and in their communities. To be eligible for the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame, the nominee must have served their country honorably in a branch of military service, but the focus is on the nominee’s continued serve to their communities, Veterans, state and nation after discharge.
The first class of the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame was inducted in November 2005. To date, 156 veterans are honored in the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame. Cahill’s Induction Certificate was presented by Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz to Robert Jr. on behalf of the family at the formal ceremony held on December 6th.