Politics & Government

Mayor John Malay's Memorial Day Speech

Mayor spoke before crowd at conclusion of Monday's Memorial Day Parade.

The following is a copy of Mayor John Malay's address at the conclusion of the township's Memorial Day Parade in Liberty Corner, held on Monday morning:

On behalf of the township committee and staff I welcome you to this Memorial Day celebration. Thank you to the Liberty Corner Fire Company for hosting this year’s event.

As I am sure you are all aware, as we enjoy this special day in our wonderful community, American men and women are placing themselves at risk on our behalf in Iraq, Afghanistan, off the shores of Libya and in a dozen other places around the world. They are sacrificing their safety and their comfort so that we here can be safe and comfortable.

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And thus it has always been. In my lifetime alone our country has sent its men and women to Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, the Balkans, the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.

My parents fought in World War II, my grandparents in World War I, and the list goes back from there. My father passed away last year at age 94, a World War II Navy veteran who celebrated every Memorial Day with his flag, right up to the end.

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This year marks the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War; a conflict that claimed more American lives than any other, but was fought so that the promise of our nation would be available to all Americans. We enjoy the fruits of that struggle today.

Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day and President Benjamin Harrison said of it, “I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning; I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day.  I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it.  We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did.”

And President & General Eisenhower said, “Americans, indeed all free men, remember that in the final choice a soldier's pack is not so heavy a burden as a prisoner's chains.”

So we should not only remember, we should celebrate the sacrifice of those Americans through the many generations who helped preserve our freedom. After you go back home to your picnics and barbecues, take a moment to raise a glass to those individuals, living and dead, whose actions made it possible for you to enjoy what you have. 

WS Cameron wrote, “Perform, then, this one act ... before this Day passes - Remember there is an army ... that never dies and never surrenders, but is increasingly recruited from the eternal sources of the American spirit...”  
God bless you all and God bless the United States of America."

_ John Malay, May 31, 2011


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