Milton Patch l July 7, 2010

Thanks to a nomination by a Milton resident, Norfolk District Attorney Bill Keating was given "The Patriot Award" from a Department of Defense volunteer organization on Tuesday morning, "for contributing to National Security and Protecting Liberty and Freedom."

Keating was nominated for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve's Patriot Award by Marine Corps Reserve Lt. Michael Devin, Milton, who works as a victim/witness advocate in the Quincy District Court. The ESGR is a Department of Defense volunteer organization.

"When I learned about this award, I could not think of an employer more deserving," Devin said at the award ceremony.

Devin worked for District Attorney Keating before joining the Marines. After his stint on active duty, he moved over to the Marine Corps Reserve to stay with the group of Marines he has been training, and training with, for a deployment to Afghanistan in 2011.

When Devin moved into the Reserves, he needed a day job – and an employer that understood his commitment and his responsibility to the Marines.

"When I interviewed to come back to the DA's office, I said I would be able to work for two weeks, then I had to disappear for seven," Devin said in a press release from the District Attorney's office. "That was no problem."

There would be schools for him to attend in the run up to deployment, more obligations, more weeks away. "None of it was a problem. Whatever I needed, that is what I got," said Devin.

David St. Germain, the State Vice Chair of ESGR was joined by retired Hingham Police Chief Joachim-Ingo Borowski – who is also a retired Sergeant-Major and active ESGR volunteer – to present Keating with the award.

"This award recognizes that there is a part for each of us to play in supporting our men and women in uniform," Keating said in the same release. "This is not recognizing high office or political position, it is about the decisions we make in our day-to-day civilian lives to support those who have chosen to serve this country."

Keating was also recently given the President's Public Service Award by the Boston Bar Association for his years of work helping returning combat veterans.

In addition to Keating's recent recognition for his work supporting returning combat soldiers, he is also the past recipient of the AmVets Pilgrim award and the Veterans Service Agents' Distinguished Service Award. More recently, he served on the Special Legislative Commission on the Hidden Wounds of War.

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