Palmetto Veterans Day Parade Keynote Address

PALMETTO -- Once again the City of Palmetto put on a first-rate Veterans Day parade for a crowd of veterans and patriots gathered to honor those who have served their country's military. The following is a transcript of the keynote address given by Mayor Shirley Groover Bryant.

Good morning!

We are here to honor our nation’s veterans.  We all, as Americans, no matter our politics or attitude toward ongoing wars, want and need to express appreciation to our veterans, whether they served long ago in World War I, World War II, Korea or Vietnam, or are just now returning from Iraq or Afghanistan.  

Further, we need to teach and educate our youth as to the realities of the sacrifices that allow them so many freedoms.  Recently, the City of Palmetto was allowed to be one of the recipients of one of the 15 flags that have flown over ground zero. Not only were we honored to participate in the ”Follow The Flag“ program, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to have a part in helping to share the history and significance of the flags.  

So far, the flag has been on display in the Historical Park in Palmetto, at Manatee School For the Arts, and is currently on display at Braden River High School. Each location is taking this opportunity to teach youths about the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, some of whom were too young to remember that terrible day. After a year of traveling through the area and serving as a teaching tool, the flag will be flown back to New York and be displayed in the Ground Zero Museum, denoting every location the flag has visited.

Appreciation for our veterans should not be limited to just today. We need to make sure that our young people are taught about the wars that the United States has been involved in. They need to know the sacrifices that were made for all of us. Because of our veterans, I got to vote on November 2 and my voice was heard. I get to pray where and how I want, live where I choose, travel where I would like and so many other things that are taken for granted by so many of us. I recognize that these freedoms came at a price, and many gave their all to pay that price.  

I want to talk about the treatment of some of our veterans. Veterans should be honored and revered for their sacrifice. I have a dear friend who makes it his mission to travel around the state to escort the funeral processions of those who were killed while serving this country and to protect their families from being harassed by protesters as they bid good-bye to their loved one.  

Imagine being heckled as you are taking your loved one to their final resting place. Imagine that you have to be safeguarded from your own countrymen. This is an unacceptable perversion of the freedom of speech that our veterans fought and died for. Our veterans and their families do not deserve to be attacked and maligned at their darkest hour.  

We need to maintain a strong military, but not as an instrument of aggression, but to serve as a bulwark against outside aggressors. Someone close to me has a favorite Latin phrase, ”Si vis pacem, para bellum“ which loosely translated means "If you wish for peace, prepare for war."  There is no greater assurance of our liberties than our ability to defend those liberties when they are threatened.  

I pray that our country will support the maintenance of a strong military, for in that strength, we are more assured of having the peace we all desire. I pray that the conviction of faith on which our country was founded will grow ever stronger.   

Today all of us are united in respecting and honoring our veterans. Veterans, I salute you for your service, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.