Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at Pre-Parade Ceremony

November 11, 2015

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Friends, I think Vince McGowan was being a little too modest about what he has done for all of us and how he has, with his leadership and so many other good people, sustained this parade and made it even greater. So, he may be modest, but we don’t have to be modest. Let’s give Vince McGowan a big round of applause for all he’s done.

[Applause]

I am so proud to join all of you – the 96th annual Veterans Day Parade, an incredible New York Tradition. I want to thank everyone at the United War Veterans for what they’ve done for years to continue and deepen this tradition. We are the largest Veterans Parade in the nation. We’re very proud of that fact, we’re proud of the fact that over 25,000 veterans from every conflict, all the way back to World War II, will be participating today. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers will be there to watch them and applaud them. We have a veteran’s community of over 200,000 New Yorkers who have served this country, so this should be the place where the eyes of the nation are, this day, to celebrate our veterans. We are so appreciative to Vince and now to the incoming president of the United War Veterans, Dan McSweeney, for their leadership. We have special guests today that are very proud of this city, whenever the Secretary of the Navy comes here - and he brought a great ship with him, named after this city and state. I want to thank Secretary Ray Mabus for his leadership. Let’s give him a great round of applause.

[Applause]

We have what a – what a honor and privilege for us to have, Medal of Honor recipients Paul Bucha and Ty Carter with us. Let’s thank them for what they’ve done for this country. And then today we were treated earlier to remarks from two men who are synonymous with public service in this city that served their nation respectively in the Korean War and World War II. And we thank them, Congressman Charlie Rangel and DA Robert Morgenthau. Let’s thank them for what they have done.

[Applause]

I personally have to say it is a special treat to have up here on the stage two people – it’s a great, great story, they both made a very big impact on this city and this nation in a lot of ways, and it turns out they flew missions together back in Italy in World War II, first, Roscoe Brown of the Tuskegee Airmen, we thank you Roscoe.

[Applause]

I said the other day, you don’t need to go the movie, just walk up to Roscoe and he’ll tell you all about it. And someone who’s changed American, fundamentally our culture, changed the way we think, used to fly those missions with Roscoe, you know him from television, Norman Lear, thank you for all you have done –

[Applause]

A real American hero. And finally, just want to say a couple of words, but one other acknowledgment, we’ve come a long way over the last year or two in this city to reach our veterans more effectively, and to reach farther through every borough to veterans in need. A lot of that comes from a human being who is a force of nature, General and Commissioner Loree Sutton, let’s thank her.

[Applause]

So I’m going to say this quickly. It’s cold out, but our hearts are warm today because we feel a lot about this day. And I always say to my family, we feel a lot because it could not be more personal. We’re a family that has the special privilege of having, in the time of World War II, that greatest generation – well both my parents, both of my wife’s parents were part of that greatest generation. And our two mothers served on the home front, our two fathers served in the army, and both brought back all the challenges that come with having fought in combat.

And so in my family there is a lot of pride in that history, and there is a lot of recognition of the challenges our veterans face. And we carry that commitment with us. We have to be consistent because if you’ve seen what it took to serve this country, and you’ve seen what it means after, the men and women who gave so much and then carry those challenges, in many cases, for years and decades ahead. I saw it with my father. I didn’t even understand the half of it until I got to adulthood. He was no longer here, but I learned more and more, I read a book that I commend all of, if you really want to understand, just a glimpse of what people go through in combat and in service to this nation, a book called “With the Old Breed” by Eugene Sledge. It’s a highly regarded account by a Marine who served in Okinawa - my dad was in the Army on Okinawa and went through very similar, extraordinarily difficult and painful experiences. But when you read about and see what our men and women in uniform go through, it’s humbling – it’s humbling to the rest of us. Even if we served in public service in another way, that level of service is extraordinary, and we have to honor it every day after.

And we have to recognize that those challenges don’t go away, so we can’t go away. We have to be there with the help. Whether that’s physical health services or mental health services, whether that’s housing or whether that’s jobs, we know that there is a lot to do. And I want to credit President Obama – he called us all to task, he said veteran homelessness, how could there even be a phrase “veteran homelessness?” it makes no sense that people who served this country could possibly end up homeless. We took up the President’s challenge – we’re working every day to meet that challenge by the end of this year, so there won’t be homeless vets in New York City anymore.

But we need your help. I’m going to make a pitch, because this is a day to celebrate, a day to honor, but it’s a day for action too. If you know of anyone who’s got an apartment that they can rent to a homeless vet, we’ve got the money, we’ve got the resources. We need the apartments. If you have an apartment, if you know anyone who’s got an apartment, let Loree Sutton and her team know or call 311. I want to make this urgent. You can put your actions where your words are and help us make sure that every vet has a good home. And for all of you who are employers, I don’t think I have to tell you that our veterans bring so much to every workplace. I was honored at our FDNY graduation for our new class just earlier in the week – 35 veterans, members of our new FDNY class, they are going to be great leaders in the FDNY. So when you can, hire a veteran, it makes all the difference, or hire a veteran’s spouse, because that family – that family needs that help and that opportunity.

[Applause]

We’re working every day. I’m proud of the fact that 1,700 vets who were homeless now have a home, but there’s more to be done. I’m proud of the fact that we’ve helped 2,300 vets and their spouses get to jobs but more need jobs, so we’re going to keep at it. And I mentioned physical health and mental health, and brothers and sisters, in this city we’re about to start a real discussion of mental health. My wife, Chirlane, is leading this effort and you’re going to hear a lot about it in the next few weeks. We have to make sure mental health services are not only available but they are talked about openly, they are embraced, we’ve got to de-stigmatize the challenges of mental health. My wife always likes to say, if you’ve got a broken leg, everyone understands it, they know you go to the doctor, you go to the emergency room, but if you have a mental health challenge there’s no shame in that – but where do you go, how do you get the help? We’re going to try and create that roadmap for every New Yorker who needs help.

Our veterans – our veterans deserve our support and our embrace. If their challenge is mental health, how can there be a stigma when it comes to people who have served us so nobly? So we have to be there for them, and you’re going to hear a lot more in the weeks to come about how we’re going to open the doors of mental health services to all our veterans. I know this is a passion of Loree Sutton, she’s done so much good work on this front, and you’re going to see a real change for our veterans and the big change that Vince referred to. There’s a lot to be done, and we’ve worked with the City Council, with Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, with Chair Eric Ulrich and so many others and we said let’s take this to the next level. The New York City, a city of almost eight and a half million people is now proud that we will have a Department of Veterans’ Services to reach each and every veteran need.

And I will say to our brothers and sisters in the federal government, it doesn’t mean the federal government shouldn’t keep stepping up, because we need more help from the federal government, we need the federal government to do better by our veterans every single day but we in New York City will do our share proudly. We thank all the advocates and all of the folks who serve veterans, who fought for a long time to build the idea that we should have that department, that dream has now been realized.

Brothers and sisters, I’ll conclude by saying it is a day to remember, that we now had almost 70 years since the end of World War II, and we honor that greatest generation. That phrase came into vogue for a good reason – I saw it with my own eyes because my parents came from that generation. But I don’t want that phrase to ever suggest that our next generation isn’t equally committed, doesn’t take on challenges, in some cases challenges even more complex. We know our men and women in service today are dealing with some realities in this world that their predecessors could never have imagined. Each generation is great, and each person who chooses to serve is great. Let our commitment to them be equally great. Thank you and God bless you all.

[Applause]