 Good morning everyone. Thanks for your attendance this morning at today's Veterans Day commemoration. It's the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and we know that comes from the Armistice signed in World War I. I want to offer a special welcome to all of veterans here this morning. It's our day. I'd like to take, I'd like all of veterans in the audience to raise their hand. Now repeat after me. I know you're not going to fall for that again. Okay. But I'm sure every single person who raised their hands would do it again. Okay. I'd like to offer a most special welcome to my predecessor Michelle Caver. For the last three years she's kept this organization together and I can't state that enough. I'd like to also recognize Bob Colby. Okay. Former post commander and former state commander for the VFW. Hey boy. I'd also like to recognize the VFW auxiliary. We couldn't perform without them. They are an integral part of our organization and it's a pleasure to know every single one of them. Thank you men and ladies. Of course, I want to thank dignitaries for arriving here today. They will get a chance to address you personally. I also want to recognize our first responders, police, fire, and all the people working in the medical community right now trying to keep Vamontas alive and safe. God bless them all. Okay. I would like to introduce May Amaro Weinberger right now for his remarks. Mr. Mayor. No. Pardon me. We need to commence with the national anthem. My mistake. And we got Mary Boguswitz to sing our national anthem. Can you see us gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars. May Amaro. Good morning everyone. Thank you for that beautiful rendition of the national anthem. That included Larry Solt who just a couple years ago was part of the city team, a member of our parks recreation department on the trumpet there. Thank you Larry. Good morning. I want to thank each of you for joining us this morning and properly paying tribute to this important day and to the service members that are here with us. It is one of the great privileges of the mayor's office to be with you every year on the 11th day of the 11th month to reflect on the sacrifices and services of our veterans in Burlington and Vermont and across the nation. Our community has a proud legacy of military service and it is my honor to see the positive impact that of that service each and every day and in every part of our city in the presence of so many veterans in our community serving as coaches leaders and mentors who serve our community with the same courage honor and dedication that motivated their decisions to volunteer to defend their country. Among the community that I believe is extraordinary our military service members veterans and their families are exemplary. In them we see a model of courage dedication and selflessness. In them we can find inspiration to become part of something bigger than ourselves. This selfless spirit lit some of the hardest days of the last year and I do want to to reflect on them. Leading by example our VFW members open their doors for a warming station providing food, toiletries, clothing and most importantly community to some of the most vulnerable members of our community without another place to turn. Our National Guard members showed up time and again for their neighbors at at test sites, vaccination sites, hospitals and food deliveries. The tireless and tenacious work of our service members and veterans helped blunt some of the worst impacts of the pandemic and was one of the reasons Vermont pulled through this crisis so much better than so many other communities. In return for this exemplary and valuable service veterans deserve the full support of our community when they need it and one critical element of this support is making sure that all veterans have a home no matter what challenges they experience. A year ago after years of community work towards this goal we declared a functional end to veterans homelessness here in Chittenden County and we remain committed to this goal as our cows in crisis has intensified over the last year and no matter what the future holds. As we move forward together from a period of great uncertainty it is easier to have faith than what lies ahead knowing that at home or abroad in heater high water in moments of crisis and the eerie comms that follow there will always be Vermonters who answer their call to serve. Thank you to all our veterans. Thank you all for being here again. Thank you mayor. I'd like to introduce Senator Patrick Leahy who is currently the president pro-temporary of the senate chair of the appropriations committee and our senior senator from Vermont senator Patrick Leahy. Thank you. Commander thank you and I incidentally the commander like our myself as my son Mark served in the Marine Corps and it's two days three days since Marine Corps birthday so I wished him a happy birthday late and Commander happy birthday. Thank you senator. Semper fi. Semper fi. And if I'd forgotten to remind and send that to our same greetings for our son Mark I would have heard about it and it is so good to be here with you with the mayor my dear friend congressman Peter Welch no no senator could have a better partner in the house than I have with Peter Welch and we've known each other forever and I'm honored to be here with you today and this is the hundredth anniversary of the VFW post 782 let's have a round of applause for that you know that's pretty amazing and I think over the over the years I've been here myself and I've been here I think even when I was state's attorney a few times and I love being here because the VFW is a community bound together by the shared experiences of fighting a war far from home sometimes losing friends always coming home profoundly change and I've long admired the VFW's deep and abiding commitment to serve your fellow veterans in the wider community and your perseverance you are an example of what is the best and we saw it especially during this pandemic for many years we've worked together on toxic exposures the other ever expanding list of illnesses associated with it and your advocacy has made a difference for the veterans of Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and many other battlefields who have been devastated by mysterious illnesses and I'm proud of the progress we've made in this fight including expanding the list of diseases associated with toxic exposures some didn't want to admit that an authority should have known better and I'm glad that we had a number of members of congress both parties who fought with us to do that but I think that we need to do a lot more to ensure that soldiers exposed to toxic substances while serving receive the care that they need the care that they deserve the struggle to assure all veterans exposed to airborne hazards and open burn pits receive treatment that will continue but there's a lot more and we saw that right here in in Vermont and then the stigma over mental health that's slowly lifting we should do everything we can we should help to end this stigma but then we need to make sure that our soldiers and our veterans have the support and care they need you cannot accept in the most powerful nation on earth the suicide rates among our veterans homelessness and substance abuse every single one of us whether a veteran or not have a duty to help on that but you know I'll get money for this in congress but you're the people they can do it and here at the VFW you provide commander a community a place to belong and you've been doing this more recently veterans reach out to help another group those they met in Afghanistan veterans connected friends desperate to escape the Taliban and bring the family here I don't know how many phone calls around virtually around the clock my office and I were making over there as we're congressman Welch and others to try to make sure we got them back and look what happened we got 120,000 people to safety some of those families will be arriving in Vermont over the next several months well I'm the grandson of immigrants even though I was born in my prayer these Afghan families should be welcome please promise me you will welcome them when they come here I don't know how many times I've been here with you but I feel proud every single time thank you commander thank you very much senator I'd like to introduce congressman Peter Welch he's our congressman at lodge he's a member of so many caucuses that I can't even repeat them here um he has been focusing on environment and the climate we can't live without a healthy planet it's it's it's imperative that we get some of these issues resolved and he in congressman Welch is the former senator pro-temporal of the Vermont senate Peter thank you thank you very much thank you commander and senator lehi thank you for your your beautiful beautiful words and your extraordinary service all these decades for Vermont and mayor thank you so much this is a special occasion and I'm delighted that senator sanders our good partner in washington is being represented is being represented uh here today thank you you know uh it is moving that in the eleventh day the eleventh hour of the november remnant reminder of all that we've gone through as a country and how in Vermont literally from the revolutionary war to this to the civil war to iraq and afghanistan for monitors have stepped up and sacrificed on a per capita basis we lost more troops during the civil war than any other northern state and that tradition continued down through iraq and afghanistan and it really symbolizes just a commitment to service the commander in chief sends out the call and vermoners respond that has been an enduring part of our history and people like me who have not served have been the beneficiary of that willingness to serve that has been so much a hallmark of vermont and that's why i feel humble to be here today but i'm like the vast majority of americans who haven't served but who have received the benefit of those of you who have so i say on behalf of myself and i say on behalf of the vast majority of americans thank you from the bottom of my heart to veterans who have been willing to serve and inspire us to serve when they get home so thank you one and all you know but this is a special special veterans day it is the first time in 22 years of veterans day where we no longer have troops in afghanistan 22 years day in and day out our men and women in uniform and a lot of women were there in uniform served our country and here's what is inspiring to me the veterans in afghanistan have been the leaders in urging us in congress patrick me and bernie and the president to not leave those folks interpreters those afghanis who served our men and women in uniform to not leave them behind in a center lady said yes we got 120 000 out but many are still there and i continue to hear from veterans that we have to continue to make every possible effort we can to not leave them behind and how inspiring that is for us that commitment that men and women in uniform have to yes their country but to one another the person who was next to them out there in helman province that person who was next to them at baghru you don't leave people behind and that's why i think patrick what you said that we will welcome these afghans because we didn't leave them behind and we're going to welcome them here because they helped our men and women in uniform there so thank you patrick and you know the biggest responsibility all of us have especially those of us who serve in congress is to make certain that when the warrior comes home we take care of the warriors who are wounded and to just this week we lost another wonderful soldier westley black who was exposed to burn pits and who will be laid to rest tomorrow we must continue to make certain that those men and women in uniform exposed to burn pits get the benefit of health care without having to prove exactly when and where in house they were next to burn pits where all kinds of toxic stuff that's enough and they served our country so patrick i'm with you i'm doing everything we can on that and you know the mental health challenges when our soldiers get back you know when i again i haven't served so i say this with humility but listening to veterans who did they always talk about the people they were there with they never complain about what they had to do but when they come back they're alone we weren't there with them they don't have the solidarity that they had even in tough incredibly difficult times so yes we who benefited from service have to make sure that we do every single thing we can to help folks make that adjustment back here where they don't have that solidarity that they had in that unit that was cohesive and where they shared a goal to help one another to save one another to leave no one behind so yes the work continues and that's what veterans day reminds all of us who haven't served we have a duty to stand by those veterans who served us and patrick and bernie and i are committed to doing every single thing we can to make sure that the cost of the war has to include the cost of caring for the warrior thank you thank you congressman welch i'd like to introduce kathryn becker van hostage who is the state director for the office of senator bernie sanders thank you thank you all very much for having me here today on behalf of senator sanders who is up in san albins at a veterans day parade and ceremony there i'm particularly proud that vermont really does stand with veterans on veterans day and every day today across the state we have over 20 ceremonies honoring veterans we have staff across the state speaking on the senator's behalf at many of these and it's great that vermonters show up today to recognize our veterans and your service to our country equally i want to on behalf of senator sanders say thank you to the families we know that you serve right alongside your soldier your your airmen and your sailor and we are grateful for your service as well and your sacrifice i want to say congratulations to the vfw on celebrating 100 years vfws and service organizations play an absolutely critical part in providing community for veterans and their families for bringing a space a physical space where veterans can come together after your time in service is over share stories and communicate with one another in a really special way and i am really hopeful that through the senate appropriations process um and through some assistance with federal funding we can help our vfw here in burlington and our vso's throughout the state continue to do that really incredible work um i really quickly on behalf of senator sanders want to agree with both senator lehi and congressman welch for their comments around the benefits and the services that we owe to our veterans and i think it's important that when we talk about this we acknowledge that what we're talking about is the fulfillment of a contract veterans swore an oath in service of this country and in return this country said that they would be there for our veterans and for their families when they came home and so we as your representatives in congress have a responsibility a moral responsibility and truly a contractual responsibility to do exactly that as a former chairman and longtime member of the senate veterans affairs committee i know that senator sanders is dedicated to that he is dedicated to providing the health care services the compensation housing employment assistance to veterans but he also knows that this is a really truly good thing to do because our veterans are incredible members of our society if you want to hire a great employee hire a veteran as we travel around the country and in vermont and we look at our great va hospital and health care facilities one of the things that i'm always struck by and i know that senator sanders is incredibly proud of is the number of va employees who are veterans themselves they are wonderful employees they understand the experience of our veterans and they make the care provided they're all the better so thank you to all the veterans here today to your families and to all those who work every day as well as veterans day to make sure that our veterans are acknowledged and recognized in the way they truly deserve thank you okay now with the uh the help of larry salt we're going to pay a musical tribute to all the branches of the service hello everyone can you hear me in a few moments if i sound bad i'll back away from the mic now this is the part of the ceremony where the celebration comes in and so for those of you who are here early you have in your hands the blue sheet and it is a modified versions of the various songs that represent our armed forces our sixth branch hasn't quite collected themselves yet so they do not have a song so that's why they're not represented here so we're going to sing these songs in the way that we want to show our support to veterans veterans hopefully will sound off really loud and proud for the branch of service they represent and all of you hopefully will sound off loud and proud of the service that you say that you are grateful for so that it honestly represents our way of life the freedoms that we have are based on sacrifice often the case from those who served in the military and so this is one way that you can show your thanks and appreciation is to do something collectively and and ensure that it is memorable for all of us and maybe it'll inspire us to continue to work together in order to have a more perfect nation so with that said the best song is first first to fight for the right and to fill the nation's might and the army goes rolling along proud of all we have done fighting till the battle's done and the army goes rolling along then it's high oh bravo now we are going down just a little bit but i want you to still keep the energy high for the next branches of service it is tough to top the army song but let us let us in earnest give it a good go right in the spirit of camaraderie and being citizens of this great nation let's show our support for uh the coast guard who by the way uh the the name of their song is simper simper paratus it doesn't have a uh a origin story um in that there it's unknown who wrote it but simper paratus uh means always ready so the coast guard in honor of them let's show them that we are always ready to support them we're always ready for the coast our trust in the new surface storm and howling gale high shall our purpose be simper paratus is our guide our fame our glory to to fight to save or fight and die i coast guard we are for you wonderful i think senator lay he said he wanted to come up front to you heard me saying you would never invite me back my voice is so bad let's hear from larry solz and let me correct myself uh the coast guard actually does have an arthur to their song i didn't want to make too much fun of the uh of the coast guard because they get forgotten often and they do great things on a normal basis keeping our shores safe and secure but i will make make fun of the next branch of service the navy now they don't have a designated uh author of their song and um simper paratus may be um their uh their their motto always courageous um and so that so that's that's likely the candidate for for their motto anyway but the anchors away they're they're not quite sure who came up with that rendition and so without further ado because i think i've messed up some of the facts so all you fact checkers don't come find me because i i just realized i i i did not say that correctly however we'll drive on i should have had you up here brian our next branch of service their motto aim high we use the name fly fight when the air force everyone knows this but i think it bears telling one more time that the air force is so good because they started out under the army they're the u.s army air corps air corps right and that and they were in existence in the best way possible from july 2nd of 1926 to march 9th of 1942 so it's it's ingrained in them they're it's deeply rooted to do it the army way even though we call them air force their roots are in the army best branch of service all right so 1947 they went out on their own but keeping in mind that you never go too far from your roots from your beginnings off we go into the wild blue yonder climbing high into the sun here that comes zooming to me that fun give them your thumb down we die spouting our flame from and i forgot to ask coast guard we have any coasties in the house they're all down on the water they're all defending the shores of course of course okay the last and certainly least you know how many marines it takes to take down an army soldier there's not enough out here i'm feeling pretty good still gutsy so gutsy yes and i can't run quite as well kind of messed up here with my left foot uh semper fidelis always faithful is their model we all know it we all know how to say it except the marines don't they say semper fi they can't even remember the rest of their motto i think eating too many box of crayons have you heard that that they like to chew on crayons i'm not quite sure why lick windows lick windows yes that's a good one yes that's my army airborne paratrooper buddy in the vfw bob t bow i want to hear the windows rattle across the street on this next song yeah from the malls of mount tazuma to the shores of tripoli we fight our country's battles on the land as on the seasky avenue vfw post 782 come see me i'll be performing nice job michelle larry thank you okay we're gonna wind up things i i truly want to thank the mayor and his staff for tremendous continuous local support thank you mayor and i want to thank our congressional delegation for their timeless support of veterans issues by my count there's over a hundred pieces of legislation being worked on in congress right now and that's in both the house of representatives and the senate so they are working hard and they're sincere about making things right for the people who have served this country i'm very very grateful thank you gentlemen and ladies i'd like to close with a little reflection a reflection about veterans and this is a comprised of three words courage duty fortitude these are watch words that create the sacred bond between us and our veterans predecessors from the first colonial muster called in april 1636 in salem massachusetts to those service members on duty now are preparing to ets or demobilize that bond continues it continues so long as democracy freedom liberty equal justice under the law and our nation itself continue that concludes today's program all are invited to the post for an open house and a commemoration of our post centennial a hundred years of veterans camaraderie and support to the local community thank you and god bless you