Daniel Penny, the subject of a high profile manslaughter trial, was presented on Wednesday with the Semper Fidelis achievement award by the Marine Corps League at an Iwo Jima Day event in Boston, Massachusetts.
Penny was acquitted last year in the 2023 killing of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway.
Prosecutors asked the court to dismiss the main manslaughter charge to avoid a hung jury, and they ultimately found Penny not guilty of the lesser charge, Fox News Digital previously reported.
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Penny’s defense attorneys, Thomas Kenniff and Steve Raiser, traveled with him to the award ceremony and were also presented with appreciation plaques, according to a statement provided to Fox News Digital by Raiser, first reported by the New York Post.
The league honored Penny for “representing the Esprit De Corps of the Marines, defined by selfless service and sacrifice, when he risked his life by defending the people on that NYC train,” Raiser wrote in the statement.
His lawyers, in turn, “defended Danny from a prosecution that never should have been sought,” according to the statement.
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Outside of the State House, Brig. General Enoch “Woody” Woodhouse, one of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen, took Penny’s hand, looked him in the eye and said, “I’m proud of you, son,” according to Kenniff.
“That is a moment I don’t think any of us will forget,” Kenniff said.
The Marine Corps League’s John M. MacGillivray said the award goes to “worthy and inspirational recipients.”
“We believe that Daniel Penny and attorneys Raiser and Kenniff deserve such recognition and hope that they will consent to accept these awards,” according to MacGillivray.
“We were honored and humbled to be in the same room being honored alongside many veterans of prior wars, including an Iwo Jima veteran and a retired general who served as one of the Tuskegee Airmen,” Raiser wrote.
The three accepted the awards, and were photographed together following the Massachusetts State House ceremony.
Organizers said this year’s event, which recently commemorated the 80th anniversary of the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima, may be the last due to the dwindling number of Marine survivors still living.
The battle of Iwo Jima was one of the bloodiest in American history, claiming 7,000 lives and leaving 20,000 Marines wounded.
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More Medals of Honor were awarded for heroism in Iwo Jima, at a total of 27, than in any other battle, according to MacGillivray. The win pushed the Allies ahead in their mission to end World War II.
“This may well be the last time that we conduct this ceremony,” he wrote. “Therefore, we believe that the participation of Daniel Penny and lawyers Raiser and Kenniff will help to make this ceremony a success.”
Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
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