Goshen World Cup watch party honors fallen Orange County officer

Rory Brady and his family are turning a World Cup watch party in Goshen into a tribute for Maj. Thomas Kennedy, the New City native and West Point graduate killed in Afghanistan in 2012. The gathering Friday night at Delancey’s is meant to raise awareness for The TK Foundation, which supports Gold Star families while keeping Kennedy’s name in Orange County conversation.

Doors open at 8:45 p.m., and the event begins at 9 p.m. with Team USA vs. Paraguay. The night will include a cash bar, and anyone who follows the foundation on Facebook will receive a free beer, a small incentive tied to a larger goal: drawing neighbors into a cause rooted in military loss, family memory and public service.

Kennedy was Brady’s cousin, and Brady has described him as a central figure in his life growing up. The two shared sports, family ties and a close bond that Brady says still shapes the mission of the foundation. Kennedy died on Aug. 8, 2012, in Sarkowi, in Kunar province, Afghanistan, after an insurgent detonated a suicide vest. He was 35.

Kennedy had been assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, at Fort Carson, Colorado, and was a member of West Point’s Class of 2000. He was killed alongside Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, 45, of Laramie, Wyoming. Kennedy had served two tours in Iraq and received the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Presidential Unit Citation and Valorous Unit Award; he was also awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart posthumously.

The TK Foundation says its mission is “to honor the sacrifice of fallen heroes by providing unwavering support, resources, and a lasting community” for the families they leave behind. That includes Gold Star families, which America’s Gold Star Families defines as those who have lost an immediate family member because of active-duty military service. With New York State promoting 2026 World Cup viewing events in the Hudson Valley and Long Island, Brady’s party shows how a popular sports night can become a local act of remembrance, using a packed room to keep a fallen soldier’s legacy present in Goshen.