I couldn't have had a prouder moment being a speaker at the Renaming Ceremony of the Rockville Library on Friday May 28th. The library will now be called the Rockville Memorial Library in memory of, and tribute to, local Montgomery County armed forces personnel who have fallen in service to our country.
There were at least seventy persons gathered; among them were veterans from various wars, family members, well-wishers, County Executive Isiah Leggett, Senator Jennie Forehand, members of the Montgomery County Commission on Veterans Affairs, Parker Hamilton, Montgomery County Director of Public Libraries and Edward Chow, Jr., Secretary of the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs.
In my speech, I emphasized that the renaming of the library served as a poignant reaffirmation of the County's commitment to our service men and women who live as our neighbors, and to all those who when they were called went "into battle with purpose, conviction, and courage to defend our interests throughout the world."
As the lone trumpet played softly in the open that day, and as I remember our veterans beyond this Memorial Day weekend, a quote by Bill Gray, Chair of the Commission on Veterans Affairs, is worthy of mention, "A veteran is someone who at one point in his or her life wrote a blank check to the U.S. for an amount up to, and including, his or her life." We will never forget their sacrifices.
There were at least seventy persons gathered; among them were veterans from various wars, family members, well-wishers, County Executive Isiah Leggett, Senator Jennie Forehand, members of the Montgomery County Commission on Veterans Affairs, Parker Hamilton, Montgomery County Director of Public Libraries and Edward Chow, Jr., Secretary of the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs.
In my speech, I emphasized that the renaming of the library served as a poignant reaffirmation of the County's commitment to our service men and women who live as our neighbors, and to all those who when they were called went "into battle with purpose, conviction, and courage to defend our interests throughout the world."
As the lone trumpet played softly in the open that day, and as I remember our veterans beyond this Memorial Day weekend, a quote by Bill Gray, Chair of the Commission on Veterans Affairs, is worthy of mention, "A veteran is someone who at one point in his or her life wrote a blank check to the U.S. for an amount up to, and including, his or her life." We will never forget their sacrifices.
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