Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard, City of Mount Vernon Hosts Veterans Day Ceremony
Mount Vernon, NY (11/11/2022) - Today, the City of Mount Vernon hosted a Veterans Day Ceremony at City Hall in Council Chambers. The event started shortly after 10 a.m. and there were many veterans and civilians in attendance. The national anthem was sung by Dejamion Mcdowell, and the pledge of allegiance was recited by the Mount Vernon Girl Scouts. The purpose of today’s ceremony was to “Honor those who Promote, Protect, and Preserve Democracy.”
Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard shared a few words at today’s ceremony, “Choosing service is not an easy thing. You have to leave family, friends and your community and go to places you’ve never been before. You make friends and you lose friends and many of our veterans do not come home. Days like this we take out special time to thank our veterans for their sacrifice, persistent and standing up for American values. Thank you for lifting the flag not only locally but around the world. “
Director of Veterans Service Carlos A. Diaz thanked all veterans in attendance for their service. He added “The veterans who served before us paved the way for us to have the resources that we do. Take the time to recognize veterans in our community and be nice, it may really make a difference.”
Comptroller Darren Morton reflected on the members of his family that served our country proudly dating back to WWI. He would go on to say “Today we pay our respects to those who have given up so much to give us our liberties. To all veterans who are here and no longer here thank you.”
Councilman Ed Poteat took a moment to reflect on his older brother’s service. Councilman Poteat would go on to say, “As councilman I have a tough job the mayor has a tough job and the comptroller has a tough job, but our jobs hail in comparison to our veterans, and I am grateful for the great job you guys do."
Andrea Molina USMC Veteran shared some words with the crowd, “I'd like to acknowledge the veterans in the room, don't forget your training carry yourself like the citizen that we all know you are. Treat everyone the way you'd like to be treated you might be the change to save someone's life.”
Terrence Stewart USMC Veteran, spoke briefly at today’s ceremony, “I do an outreach program and work 7 days a week. We are brothers and we must remember we are our brother’s keepers. Hold them tight and keep them safe. Remember that one day it could be one of us. Thank you all for attending and I thank all veterans for your service.”
Jean Bacquie USAF Veteran, walked us through some of her experiences while serving and share some of her highlights as well. She mentioned the joy she felt from serving her local Veterans Service Agency (VSA), “I consider this day an honor to be here and be present. For me to serve my veteran community at the VSA was an honor, I thank Director Carlos Diaz for giving me this chance, God Bless America my home sweet home."
On behalf of the City of Mount Vernon, to all veterans, thank you for the selfless sacrifices you've made to protect this country. We hope you all have a very Happy Veterans Day.