Army Brigadier General Jack Hammond, retired, addresses the crowd near Haverhill Public Library. (WHAV News photograph.)
Haverhill City Councilor Colin F. LePage and Rep. Brian S. Dempsey. (WHAV News photograph.)
Haverhill observed Veterans Day Friday morning by honoring those who served in the armed forces, recognizing the recent peaceful transition of power and warning of conflicts to come.
At a gathering at the city’s Global Peace Monument on Ginty Boulevard, Veterans Services Officer Michael Ingram reminded the audience, the U.S. remains at war.
“There will be young men and women marching that currently serve or recently served in the armed forces. These remind us we are still fighting a war on terrorism in the middle east—the longest war our nation has fought in its history. And, we should reminder that we are still at war and we are still losing men and women,” he said.
Ingram acknowledged the various monuments and memorials around the city, but called for a new one to honor those who have perished in the war on terror. He named such recent fallen heroes as Army First Class Private Evan W. O’Neill, Marine Lance Corporal Dimitrios Gavriel and Marine Lance Corporal, Nickolas Schiavoni
Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini. (WHAV News photograph.)
Army Brigadier General Jack Hammond, retired, said this is the most dangerous time since World War II.
“The Russian bear has awoken from a 20-year slumber and is hungry. The Chinese are making aggressive overtures all across the South China Sea and building up their conventional forces. The hermit king in North Korea has the potential to do something stupid at the drop of a hat. Iran is asserting its primacy in the middle east and ISIS continues to represent a global, asymmetric threat.”
Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini said, while Haverhill does a better job taking care of its veterans than many places, it is not enough. He urged residents to “make every day Veterans Day.”
Army Brigadier General Jack Hammond…Thank you for your service!
Sir, although the threats you mention are real, the more dangerous immediate threat to the freedoms, safety and security of Haverhill citizens comes from it’s own elected liberal politicians.
You shared the stage with a self-proclaimed proud liberal mayor who during this presidential election went out of his way to violate the Constitutional Rights to free speech of a Haverhill citizen by threatening fines because this city taxpayer did not support the same candidate he did. The mayor used the power of his office for political purposes and acted as a totalitarian dictator in an effort to silence a Haverhill citizen. It is interesting to note that not one elected official in Haverhill city government spoke in support to allow this citizen to express his free speech rights.
When a 19 year old woman was recently dragged into the woods at a city park by two criminal trespassers in this country illegally and raped not one elected city official commented on the issue. This included many female elected officials, and included a female Haverhill State Representative who is not only a retired Army veteran, but unbelievably, is the State Legislature’s Vice Chairman of Public Safety. The danger this silence and inaction promotes for the sake of advancing a political agenda is significantly more relevant and real than those overseas threats.
When a misguided young man indoctrinated into the insanity of liberalism takes steps to allow criminal trespassers in this country illegally to participate in our democracy as City Councilor Andy Vargas did recently it poses a threat to the principals of this country. The erosion of the basic concept by liberals that America, and its people, come first is a major significant threat to our freedoms and safety. The destruction of the American culture and society from within due to out of control liberalism has done way more damage and harm than any outside foreign threat or entity.