Paul Ciaburri is a well-known Rochester resident, not only as a member of the community, but also as a Select Board member. Less well-known is his love for all things maritime, especially those items and subjects related to the use of tugboats during times of conflict – war.
We received word that something worth sharing with a wider audience was taking place at Ciaburri’s home. When we arrived we were awe struck by what we saw. A massive, 3,000-pound tugboat propeller with a 40-foot towering gleaming white flagpole had been erected.
Digging a bit deeper, we learned that tugboats, those work horses of industry and commerce, are very near and dear to Ciaburri’s heart. Now retired from Moran Towing, a tugboat company that has been navigating the eastern seaboard assisting in the moving of goods (and military personnel and materials) since 1860, he now had time to pursue a dream of building a memorial to honor tugboat history and all who worked the boats. His deep appreciation for the work carried out by tugboats is now front and center in his own yard.
As can be imagined, it took a team of friends and various trades to pull off such a mammoth task.
There were big rigs borrowed for moving the propeller to his property, a welder to permanently fuse the propeller to its shaft, and metal workers to manufacture flagpole parts and assemble them.
And yet we hadn’t reached the historical core of the story until Ciaburri spoke of his admiration for Edmond J. Moran, long time President of Moran Towing.
Moran was a Rear Admiral in the Navy and played a pivotal role in troop movement and strategic planning for the D-Day Invasion at Normandy. His obituary in the Chicago Tribune noted that he had served in both world wars and operated the family business for some 69 years.
The obituary reads, “His most notable contribution in WWII was in supervising a fleet of 160 British, United States, Norwegian, and Dutch tugboats in a strategy that outwitted the Germans who were expecting the Allied invasion to come at an existing port. Instead, the Allies towed railroad car barges across the Atlantic and assembled large concrete docks. The tugboats towed the barges and docks to the enemy-held beaches creating an instant port for the landing of ammunition, weapons, fuel, food, and other supplies. Moran later developed a similar plan for invading Japan.”
Moran would go on to rescue Allied ships and served as Deputy Director of the War Shipping Administration as well as other senior postings.
Moran was a highly decorated veteran receiving the U.S. Legion of Merit, the Victory and Navy Commendation Medals, the European Campaign Medal, the French Croix de Guerre with Gold Star, and the Order of the British Empire.
Ciaburri said quietly and sincerely of Moran, “He was a great man.”
We think that in spite of his numerous metals and acknowledgements of his courage and capabilities, the Admiral would look upon Ciaburri’s monument with pride and appreciation. And the flag currently flying over the Ciaburri property once graced the coffin of his father-in-law Kenneth Baird, a WWII veteran.
By Marilou Newell