Transcript: Mayor de Blasio Delivers Remarks at the Veterans Day Breakfast Reception

November 11, 2021

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Now, Commissioner, don't go away, don't go away. Don't go away, I need to say something. Everybody, I just want to give everyone advice this morning. We should all eat for breakfast with the Commissioner eats for breakfast, whatever it is. This man is all energy, all passion, all spirit. Let's thank him for what he does for New York City and for veterans everywhere. Thank you. 

[Applause] 

Also, tremendous use of visual aids during his presentation. So, first of all, we are blessed to be in good company all of us. You look around this room, it makes you feel good, makes you feel good about this country, makes you feel good about this city. There are a lot of challenges and, in some ways, it is become a little too fashionable to talk about our divisions. I look around the room right now, I don't see any divisions. I don't see any negativity. I don't see people who can't work together or find a common bond. In fact, I see a room full of Americans, of every background, every walk of life who are here in common cause. Look around for a moment. Look around, feel a little inspired by the presence of good people. And my advice to everyone is, if you want to live a more positive, happy life, just don't turn on the television news, don't pick up newspaper. And I mean that facetiously in one way, but I don't in another way. I mean to say, look at the goodness of the people, because we forget it sometimes, but I'm inspired right now.  

So, I ask you to do a simple thing as we gather this morning. Look around you, give your neighbor a round of applause. 

[Applause] 

I want to thank all my colleagues in elective office who are here, who I know share and had intense commitment to our veterans. I want to thank our Lieutenant Governor, who is making us proud every day, is working so hard for the people this state. Thank you, Lieutenant Governor.  

[Applause] 

I want to thank someone. I had the honor of working for this man some years ago and he always said after his heroic service in the Korean War, in which he had many a really tough moment, that, after that – never had a bad day after that. And he went on to serve this city in this nation with tremendous distinction. Let's thank Congress Member Charlie Rangel for all he has done for us. 

[Applause] 

And General Brown, our country thanks you. We thank you for your leadership. We are in good hands with you leading the Air Force. And I'll tell you something, these last couple of years with COVID, I don't think people have fully recognized how much the United States military helped hold us all together. Our nation was in tremendous doubt, pain, confusion, fear, but the military was always there. And we saw it firsthand here when the Comfort steamed into New York Harbor. We saw it when members of all the branches with medical expertise came to our hospitals and helped to relieve our health care heroes. We saw, in this city, the military arrive when we needed them and it was one of the things that allowed us to see our way through.  

So, again, in a time of many challenges, the armed forces continue to be one of the things that people across the board can respect and believe in. So, I wanted to ask you to salute also anyone in this room – anyone in this room who was part of the effort to fight COVID, to save lives, who was there for us in our hour need. Let's just give a round applause to everyone who was here for us. 

[Applause] 

Now, in my family, we have a special reverence for the military. I will tell you that Chirlane’s dad, in his professional life – after he served in the military, in his professional life, he served as a civilian employee at Westover Air Force base in Massachusetts. Anyone been through Westover over the years? A few of you, yeah. But the distinction I feel very proud of in my family, Chirlane and I are both children of the World War II generation. Both our dads served in the army in World War II. And both our moms served as well – Chirlane's mom at the Springfield Armory, my mom at the Office of War Information right here in New York City. Four parents all involved in the war effort, all of whom told us it was our duty to serve our nation in whatever way we could. And we carry that with us. And we carried a reverence for all of you who serve or have served.  

And we also saw the challenges and the pain. My dad came back. He was in one of the last days of the Battle of Okinawa. He had crisscrossed the Pacific in the army, landing after landing, came through, survived, and one of the last days of the Battle of Okinawa was hit by Japanese grenade and lost half his leg – came back, and every day thereafter, the war continued for him. Every day thereafter, he felt the physical pain. And I tell you, honestly, he felt the emotional pain, and he struggled. So, someone said to me once some years ago, World War II never ended for our family, and it was true. And it made me feel that when we think of veterans, we can't be halfway about it. And let's face it, I don't – we're all mature adults in this room. We know, for too many years, there were ceremonies for veterans without service to veterans. There were good words without good actions. Well, I saw in my own eyes that every veteran, whether they served in combat or not, they deserve our support deeply. And the needs are deep and the needs are real.  

When we created our Department of Veterans services, we did it, honestly, because not enough was being done. We did it, honestly, because although we honor and respect everything the federal government does for our veterans, we all know it's not enough. So, we set ourselves to ending a scourge, something that literally should be impossible – the notion of veteran homelessness should be an impossibility in a society that honors those who serve.  

[Applause] 

That battle's not over, but I'll tell you something, through the extraordinary efforts of so many people in this room, we have reduced homelessness among veterans deeply. We need to get it to zero. We need to get it to zero. We need every veteran to have a home. We owe every veteran a home. 

[Applause] 

We need to get veterans the help they need, including when it takes an honesty and openness that hasn't always been part of our society in general. My wife, Chirlane, has led the way destigmatizing the challenges of mental health. I always say, it's part of the human condition. If you broke your leg, if you had the flu, you wouldn't feel embarrassed about it. No one should be embarrassed that we have a human reality sometimes that's a mental health challenge. Our vets deserve support – physical health and mental health support.  

And, lastly, our vets deserve – the thing that I think always shows respect is when you invest in someone, I'll tell you something. I've hired a lot of veterans over the years and I've never been disappointed. So, I always say to people you want to support veterans? Hire them. Hire them. Give them a job. Give them opportunity. You will get a great, great outcome for everyone.  

[Applause] 

And that's why New York City is launching something great today – first in the nation employment tool to connect veterans to the jobs they deserve. And again, every employer out there, you will be very happy you made this choice. This new initiative is called VetConnect. It is going to help veterans get the support they deserve and the opportunities they deserve. But it’s going to help workplaces to be better. I'll tell you something, even among our uniformed services in this city, so legendary – our Fire Department, our Police Department, everything in this city that is known and respected all over the world, you can always tell the members who served in the military first. There's a little extra discipline. There's a little extra focus. They know how to salute right. You can always tell. And they bring to everyone else a leadership and example that makes everyone better. 

So – I like that. You got the salute thing, okay.  

[Laughter] 

So, as I conclude, I want to say this, and it's a little bit cheesy, but I think it's true. So, we have a day – we have a day when we honor veterans. That's right. That focuses our energies. That focuses our attention. It's a day to celebrate, appreciate. It's a day to remember, but it should just be the starting gun for the whole year of the things we do to help our veterans. There’s a beautiful, beautiful message that General Eisenhauer gave troops on the eve of D-Day. And you hear it and you think about those going into battle – one of the greatest battles of human history that changed the course of literally all our lives right here and everyone alive on the planet today. That battle, that momentous moment, he said to the troops, “The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you.”  

To every veteran in this room, to every veteran in this city, to every veteran in this country – we march with you. Thank you. God bless you all. 

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