Veterans Day Address | 2017

Smartin Mug3 0715
Mayor Steven W. Martin

[On Saturday, November 11, 2017, Paso Robles Mayor Steven W. Martin welcomed visitors to the Paso Robles District Cemetery to the annual Veterans Day ceremony at the Paso Robles District Cemetery.]

Good morning.
It is my honor as Mayor of the City of Paso Robles, to be here today. On behalf of our city and the entire Paso Robles City Council I welcome you to these Veterans Day ceremonies in this, the Paso Robles District Cemetery.
The United States Congress established “Armistice Day” on November 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. In 1938 it became “Veterans Day,” an occasion to remember all American veterans who have served honorably during war or peacetime.
We come together today to do just that: remember.
And so, we meet again, after 365 days and more than a half-billion miles circling the sun. We return to this place, to these chairs, to these faces. Time marches on. We’ve taken 98 such turns around the sun since 1919. Not all of last year’s faces completed the last trip.
We remember.
There may be some who ask “why do we do this every year? Why do we remember you who have donned the uniforms of our armed forces and served in every corner of the globe; in every season and climate; in times of peace and conflict?”
There are many answers to that question. One essential answer occurred to me.
“We pause every year at this time, every 365 days, in the cold November of our orbit, to remember you and all of your brothers and sisters in arms because of this: you remembered us.”
You saw a land filled with challenges and promises and you remembered us.
You heard the call to service and you remembered us.
And, as our nation, our world, hurtled through the darkness, you realized how cruel that darkness can be when people are deprived of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and you remembered us.
And so, today, we remember you. We remember your duty, your commitment and your sacrifice. We remember your service. And we thank you.
Because of you our nation continues its journey around the sun, through darkness and light, through history and into the future; confident in our vision of what lies before us, enfolded in the liberty that underlies our dreams, and grateful for what you have secured for us.
You remembered us. Today, we remember you and we say:
“God bless our veterans.”
“God bless our liberty.”
“God bless the United States of America.”
Honored veterans, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2017 Veterans Day ceremonies in the City of Paso Robles, California.
Thank you for being here. And thank you for remembering.