Photo Credit: Judy Kopitar

Assemblyman Brian Bergen: Memorial Day Speech

Hawthorne, NJ

5/31/2021

Throughout America today, we honor the dead of our wars.  Soldiers who entered the fog of war and won for us every hour we live in freedom.

Their lives ended in places like Normandy, Iwo Jima, Heartbreak ridge, Hamburger hill, Beirut, Mogadishu and Fallujah.

They didn’t fight for glory, but to fulfil a duty. They didn’t yearn to be heroes. All of them wanted to live.

They yearned to see mom and dad again…to hold their sweethearts… and, to watch their sons and daughters grow.  At the end…the photos they carried were of the people they loved.

But they also loved liberty and were willing to fight tyranny at any costs.  In their youth and strength…they gave all that mortality can give…and now belong to history as the greatest examples of patriotism.

A day will come when no one is left who knew them.  When no mourner can stand before a grave remembering a face and a voice.  A son who grew-up too quickly… A mother determined for a better world for her children…a wise-cracking brother…or a devoted friend.

But, the day will never come when America forgets.

Our nation and the world will always remember what they did and for what they stood. Their victories to liberate – not to conquer – preserved the future of humanity.

They need no eulogy from me or any other man. They have written their own history with blood and courage.

We know they hear our words but don’t know if they feel the pride that wells in our hearts.  Nor comprehend the honors we bestow upon them for their sacrifice.  Yet something compels us to act as if they still understand.

We were cheated from the opportunity to look them in the eyes…shake their hands…and thank them for their sacrifice.  So we gather around monuments with their names etched in granite.  We march in parades.  And hold backyard barbecues remembering them.

It is fitting we do this today, but we must carry that lesson with us everyday.

This is something we all need to remember, and we want those who follow after to understand, that the freedoms we enjoy were paid with blood and flesh of men and women…and must never be taken for granted.

This is the challenge we face…to honor their sacrifice and to safeguard and pass on to our children the same liberties that were preserved for us.

God bless America.