Sen. Bill Larkin shared a personal vow with the Veterans Day audience. He said that he promised long ago to never go to bed without including in his prayers the veterans who made the supreme sacrifice.
The senator, a retired lieutenant colonel, had trouble getting through that statement. But he finished strong by addressing the veterans in the audience. “We not only thank you,” he said, “we thank God for you.”
Given the emotion of the moment, it was understandable that the senator forgot a “shout out” to his grandchildren, who were part of the Monday morning crowd at the monument. But no harm was done, Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney stepped up to the microphone and began his remarks by pointing to the Larkin grandkids.
Party lines were put aside on Veterans Day. The congressman, a Democrat, and the state senator, a Republican, stood side by side throughout the observance.
When it was Rep. Maloney’s turn to speak, he decried the current situation where veterans are having to wait or argue for the benefits they deserve. “They shouldn’t have to come home,” he said, “and fight their own government.”
The congressman was the fifth speaker on a program that began with Chaplain Joe Hanley offering the invocation, and the children from Butterhill Day School singing “God Bless America.”
The kids’ participation meant that almost every age group was represented. There were preschoolers as well as World War II veterans.
Mary Beth Greene Krafft, the deputy supervisor, approached the podium after the children were finished singing. She referred to Nov. 11 as “thank you day,” and urged the audience to say “thank you” throughout the year by helping organizations that help veterans.
Mayor Brendan Coyne observed that Veterans Day hasn’t been corrupted into another three-day weekend for shoppers. He said that he was grateful for the veterans’ demanding training, their heroism, and their sacrifice in being away from their families.
Last year, the NYMA cadets and superintendent participated in the ceremony. This year the cadets marched in the parade in New York City. And members of American Legion Post 353 replaced them when it was time to fire the rifles.
Before that, County Legislator Kevin Hines and Post Commander Peter Kurpeawski addressed the people who were standing or sitting on the opposite side of Main Street.
Mr. Hines cited the overwhelming approval on Election Day of the amendment that granted additional civil service credit for disabled veterans.
The commander began with a shocking statistic. “We’re losing more than one veteran a day to suicide,” he said. “More are dying by their own hands than by enemy forces.”
The commander recalled Sgt. Stubby, a dog who saved lives and boosted the morale of the troops in the First World War. “Dogs are vets, too,” Mr. Kurpeawski said. “They saved the lives of several of our men in Iraq.”
Before the placing of the wreaths at the monument, Mr. Kurpeawski urged the crowd to treat veterans as the “saviors of our country that they are.”
The observance ended with Abby Mayer’s moving rendition of “Taps” and Chaplain Hanley’s reciting St. Francis of Assisi’s prayer (“Make me an instrument of your peace”) as the benediction.
Several members of the crowd left for the reception and exhibit at the library. This reporter observed that there had been two renditions of “God Bless America.” The kids sang it and then the mayor repeated it during his remarks.
“You can’t sing it too often,” a Legion member replied. And everyone agreed.