Memorial Day Parade 2008

Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes gave his annual Memorial Day address at the Liberty Monument in Englewood. The commemorative ceremony and Parade at the Veteran's Monument was organized by Englewood Resident and Historian, Olga Mosciaro.

Photo 1 left to right: Frank Lucianna who served in the Infantry and the 15th Air Force and received the Air Medal and Distinguished Air Medal, Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes and his daughter Jaclyn Wildes

Photo 2 left to right: Englewood Police Chief David Bowman, Grand Marshall MSG James O'Neil Cosby, Jr. U.S. Army (Ret), and Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes. Grand Marshall MSG Cosby is a member of Post # 58, a member of Shiloh Masonic Lodge #53 and a member of the First Baptist Church.

Mayor Wildes' Memorial Day Speech

Before I begin, let us take a moment of silence to direct our thoughts to America’s valiant troops serving in harms’ way worldwide. Their families and communities honor their commitment, readiness and bravery. And all of America wishes them home soon and safe.

More than 140 years ago, President Abraham Lincoln pledged these words at his second inaugural address:

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”[1][1]

The servicemen and women who have died in service to our country paid the ultimate price for our nation as Lincoln pledged. They lost their lives, so that we may stand here as Americans in a free America.

On Memorial Day, we take pause to remember the tragic price American soldiers paid in battle for what all Americans treasure.

They lost their lives for the bedrocks of our vibrant society: elections, freedom of press, freedom of conscious, freedom to assemble, due process of law.

Thus, every May we have a Memorial Day, so that we ensure those selfless souls who gave all they could, all anyone ever could, their lives, will not be forgotten.

We gather in solemn appreciation, and with the deepest gratitude we express our remembrance. You will not be forgotten. Your families’ loss will not be forgotten. From the Statue of Liberty to Pearl Harbor, we Americans live in the world’s oldest, proudest and greatest democracy. And as Americans, we owe the greatest debt to the soldiers who died for our country.

The other day I was reminded by a friend of her own family’s selfless personal sacrifice for our great democracy and treasured freedom. My friend, Linda, will never forget the heroic loss of her father in Vietnam. Her dedication to her father’s memory is reflected in the poetic words of her own daughter, Grace. On Mother’s day, Grace wrote a poem to her mom about her Grandpa called “Purple Heart.” Let me take a moment to read Grace’s touching words:

Purple Heart

My Grandpa was a major in the Marines
He died saving two young men
They gave our family his Purple Heart
Now as I hold it in my hand
I feel the pain
I feel the pain that my mother must have felt
She was only fourteen
Holding this Purple Heart
It's like holding a moment
Holding a memory
I hear stories of my Grandpa
He was a noble, kind man
He loved all and was willing to fight for what he believed in
Losing her father so young
Really impacted her life
He was in the Marines since she could remember
He wasn't home all that often
But when he was,
She was happy
I put down the Purple Heart and left the room
My mom entered
I poked my head around the corner
I saw her pick up my Grandpa's Purple Heart
She held it so gently in her hands
A tear rolled down her cheek
Then she smiled
That smile was a smile I had never seen before
She was looking at the Purple Heart as if it were her father
As if he were with her right then, that moment
As if she were able to be with her daddy again

In the latest war on terror, nearly 4,100 troops have died in Iraq and nearly 500 in Afghanistan[2][2]. Like Linda’s father and Grace’s Grandpa, these soldiers are heroes. Every single one of them is a hero. Let us remember the lives they lived and their service which lives on forever.

Our Grand Marshall today is Teaneck Vietnam Veteran, James O’Neil Cosby Jr. Master Sergeant James Cosby served a 24 year tour for the U.S. Army from the European Theater to the Tet Offensive in Vietnam to time spent in Japan. James Cosby’s ELEVEN medals, ribbons and badges stand as testimony to his extraordinary dedication and heroism.

On the shoulders of heroes such as these, America has taken the mantle of the free world. It has led, with its economic prowess, with its ideals of liberty, with its unmatched military. However, none of this would be possible, Abraham Lincoln’s words would ring hollow, without the knowledge that America would fight for its ideals. And if necessary Americans would die for our ideals.

For over two centuries, our noble soldiers have protected our liberty, and thus it has flourished. I firmly believe that those who serve in our armed forces are the greatest of any generation. This is true for the generation that fought and won WWII. This is true for James Crosby and all American soldiers who have gallantly served and died in our many wars.

To all the brave soldiers who fought to bring liberty and democracy to people they did not know who lived in a foreign land. We stand in awe and appreciation.

Each step in our world’s fitful lurch towards democracy, we owe, the world owes, and America owes, a debt of gratitude to brave soldiers like the ones mentioned today.

They fought to bring democracy to a desert of liberty. So that a people that have known only tyranny could taste the fruits of liberty. These things that we as Americans may take for granted living in America. And this is precisely my point. Memorial Day is a day when we realize we cannot take anything for granted.

- Today is the day that we mourn those who gave us all that we have.
- Today is the day we offer condolences for the families who lost their loved ones far, far, too soon.
- Today is the day we remember the impact of fathers who daughters have lost too young, grandpa’s that grandchildren never met
- Today is the day we appreciate the height of human achievement, the democratic society.
- Today is the day we remember its awful cost in the loss of American soldiers’ lives.

I close my remarks with John F. Kennedy who once said, “The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.”[3][3]

Whether it was liberating continents from totalitarianism or patrolling the neighborhoods of those who are persecuted, today we memorialize the lives that were lost in service. Today is the day we honor the greatest of every generation. Today is Memorial Day.

May God bless those souls who have died in service of our nation and may he bless our extraordinary city.


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[1][1] http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln78.html, Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.

[2][2] http://icasualties.org/oef/

[3][3] http://en.thinkexist.com/quotation/the_cost_of_freedom_is_always_high-but_americans/211630.html, http://www.cybernation.com/quotationcenter/quoteshow.php?id=36826
 

Paid for by Friends of Michael J. Wildes For Mayor, Assemblyman Arnold Brown, Treasurer

250 Allison Court, Englewood, NJ 07631