NEW YORK—Bill de Blasio attended his first Veterans Day memorial as mayor-elect Monday at Madison Square Park. The memorial hit home for de Blasio, whose father was a World War II veteran.
“For a lot of us it is very personal,” de Blasio said. “In my family, the service of our family members framed so much of our lives.”
During the election the New York Post uncovered the fact de Blasio’s father Warren Wilhelm, who lost part of his leg during the Battle of Okinawa, committed suicide after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. De Blasio, who had a troubled relationship with his alcoholic father, was just 18 years old when it happened.
On Monday de Blasio said the service his father and mother gave (she worked in the office of war information) as well as that of his wife Chirlane McCray’s parents, shaped his thoughts toward veterans.
“We have to devote ourselves every day to doing more for the men and women who have served and come back with such great need,” de Blasio said. “We have to prove our devotion to them every day by going farther.”
De Blasio said he wants to see more done for veterans in regard to employment and service opportunities once in office.
“My gratitude for each and every one of you is profound and I want you to know in the same way Mayor Bloomberg has insured the city of New York had the back of our veterans, I look forward to continuing and deepening that tradition,” de Blasio said.
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