HEROES IN EVERY GENERATION
NEW YORK HONORS FALLEN FIGHTERS
Hundreds of veterans, city officials and active-duty service members in the city for Fleet Week marked Memorial Day on Monday with a solemn ceremony on the deck of the Intrepid on Manhattan’s West Side.
In between honorary threevolley salutes, a flyover by Navy jets and heartfelt remarks from veterans, Mayor de Blasio said in a sentimental speech that “it’s great” people enjoy the holiday by barbecuing and hitting the beach.
“But let’s remember why this day is here,” the mayor said from a stage set up before the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum by W. 46th St. “This day is to remember our fallen.”
De Blasio, fresh off campaign stops in Nevada as part of his long-shot 2020 bid for the White House, used the occasion to take a subtle swipe at President Trump by praising John McCain, the late Republican war hero who frequently butted heads with the commander-in-chief.
“I want to thank you, Lt. McCain, for what you do for our nation,” de Blasio said, turning to the late Arizona senator’s son, Jack McCain, who serves in the Navy and attended the event. “Lieutenant, I have to say, we also miss your dad so much. We miss his voice of conscience.”
Most attendants stayed clear of politically charged topics and focused on paying their respects for fallen U.S. soldiers.
“There is no doubt New York City is the Navy’s hometown,” said Adm. Bill Moran. “Countless generations, heroes, that served as guardians of our freedom and our way of life — we are the beneficiaries of their sacrifices.”
Susan Marenoff-Zausner, president of the Intrepid museum, recognized about a dozen former crew members of the venerable World War II-era carrier turned floating military museum who were in attendance.
“The steel and the rivets that hold this great ship together, they’re a direct connection to the lives of the men who served on board,” Marenoff-Zausner said. “We understand it is our responsibility to honor Intrepid’s gloried past, and it’s also the responsibility of all of us to remember all the servicemen and women who paid the ultimate price for us.”
After his speech, de Blasio tossed a wreath into the Hudson River commemorating U.S. service members who have lost their lives in ongoing armed conflicts around the world.
McCain followed, throwing another wreath into the river together with Loree Sutton, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Veteran Services, honoring service members lost in past wars.
In a stunning patriotic display, 46 service members in uniform then unfurled a 100foot American flag that puffed up in the seaside breeze.
“To me it means a day that we mourn and grieve all of those who gave their lives for a greater good,” George Arnon, a 75-year-old Marine veteran who served in Vietnam, told the Daily News after the event. “To those who think it’s a day to barbecue, that’s OK, but try to keep in mind that it’s also more than that.”
De Blasio’s McCain tribute carried unmistakable political undertones, considering the mayor’s bumbling 2020 bid for president and Trump’s widely reviled tendency to criticize the late Arizona senator.
Contrary to Trump, de Blasio said most New Yorkers respect McCain’s service.
“I represent 8.6 million highly opinionated people, but there’s something I think New Yorkers can agree on,” said de Blasio, who had returned to the city a day earlier after campaigning in Nevada for two days.
A spokeswoman for Trump’s 2020 campaign did not return a request for comment.
Some attendants welcomed de Blasio’s across-the-aisle praise for McCain, who died in August at 81 after a long battle with brain cancer.
“We should focus on what we have in common, just like what was said today,” John Fackre, a 74-year-old Vietnam War veteran from Long Island, said after de Blasio’s speech.