Wyckoff Mayor Thanks Veterans on Memorial Day

Mayor Chris DePhillips gave the following address at the ceremony on Monday: 

Dear Members of the Township Committee; Master of Ceremonies Charles Ryan; Grand Marshal Raymond Zegel; Major Paul Bollenbacher; members of the Parade Committee; all the Veterans here today; and all Wyckoff Residents: 

Welcome to the 2012 Veterans Memorial Day Service. The setting for this service every year is the beautiful Wyckoff Reformed Church, which is the site of the Township’s awe-inspiring War Memorial.    This service is an annual event where we pause to remember Wyckoff’s War Dead.    Our Memorial Day service today honors Wyckoff’s Heroes from World I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War who made the supreme sacrifice.   The Township of Wyckoff thanks them and will never forget them.  

Memorial Day in Wyckoff speaks to what we are as a community—one that cherishes our freedom, our families, and our fundamental right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.   Freedom is Priceless, but for those Veterans who have gone before us, the Price for Freedom has been great—for them and their families.  Let us remember their sacrifice today and throughout the year.

Growing up studying World War I, World War II and the Korean Conflict, and hearing news reports as a child about the war in Vietnam, I often felt that war was something that occurred far away from our shores and would never reach our soil.

September 11, 2001, changed all that—war came not only to lower Manhattan; but also to suburbia where for a long time, a haze of grief hung over our neighborhoods here in Wyckoff, and throughout our neighboring towns.   9/11 personally affected many of us here today.    On this Memorial Day, let us remember and thank all those members of the Armed Services who fought for us in Iraq and Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11.   And, let us not forget that we still have military sacrificing for us every day in Iraq and Afghanistan—serving with distinction, so we can enjoy freedom here in Wyckoff.  

It is great to see so many kids here today celebrating this holiday and enjoying all that our wonderful township has to offer.  I ask all the kids—including my own—to take a minute to say thank you to all the Veterans here in our midst today—they are true heroes in our society.   

Finally, as the son of a Veteran of the Korean Conflict, I personally say thank you to all the Veterans here today.   You make me and all of us proud.

In closing, I say simply: May God Bless Wyckoff, and May God Bless America! Thank you.

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