Transcript: Mayor Eric Adams Delivers Remarks at Annual Mayor's Veterans Day Breakfast

November 11, 2022

Commissioner James Hendon, Department of Veterans’ Services: It is my pleasure to introduce the 110th mayor of the City of New York, New York Police Department captain retired, New York state senator emeritus and former chair of the Senate Veterans Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee, and Brooklyn borough president emeritus, mayor of the City of New York. Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Eric Leroy Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. This is probably one of the most significant days in our city, if not our country, where we turn a conversation into an actual declaration. It's one thing to say we support our military, our men and women who adorn the uniform, as we sit under the tree of freedom that they watered with their blood. It can't be just something we articulate, it's something that we believe. As I drove over here this morning, I reflected on the day during the sixties when I was a little boy and we got the call that my uncle, my mother's brother, was killed in Vietnam. And that day became so real for me that the conversation of the war left the television station and it entered into our living room. And I rededicated my life to how important it is to be part of this great country.

And it broke my heart when I read a survey that stated that 52 percent of Americans said they would not defend this country if it was attacked by a foreign enemy. But let me tell you something, I'm one of the 48 percenters. I'll protect this country throughout my entire life. And when I wake up in the morning, I wake up every morning and say the same thing: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And so even when bombs burst in air and that red glare give proof through the night, that our flag is still there. Those bombs don't have to be physical. It could be the bombs of COVID. It could be the bombs of financial uncertainty. It could be the bombs of losing our employees or employment. It could be any bomb. One thing we can be sure of, that flag will continue to fly because of the men and women who sacrificed their lives to make sure that flag flies.

And to anyone foreign or domestic, there is only one country on the globe with dream is attached to its name. There's no German dream, no Polish dream, no French dream, but dammit there is an American dream. And this dream is alive and it is well every day. And so the men and women who fight to protect this country, we honor you, we respect you, and we recognize your sacrifice and services. And there's someone else we recognize. When I retired from the Police Department, I remember my mother collapsing in my arms because of those 22 years she watched Eric and my brother Bernard serve this city. We honor the family members — the family members that watched their loved ones go abroad. The family members that watched their loved one on the frontline defending this country. The family members that lose their loved ones to battle. We honor you, family members. We know what you represent. We know how much you give, how much you sacrifice. Each time your loved ones serve this country, you too serve this country. And we thank you for what you do as well.

And so I'm happy today to march and walk on behalf of the men and women that served this country. And our administration is still with those men and women. You have Commissioner Iscol, Commissioner Hendon, Commissioner Molina. So many of the men and women who fought abroad are now here fighting for you every day. And because of them, I can probably say New York is not coming back, New York is back. Thank you very much.

###