The New Hyde Park members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion gathered on the lawn of New Hyde Park Village Hall on Nov. 11 Veterans Day, on a sunny, but chilly and windy day, to remember its war veterans.

Petruccio continued, "President George W. Bush in a speech in 2003 said, every veteran has his or her own story of entering military service. Many enlisted on Monday morning after Dec. 8, 1941, or at the beginning of other conflicts. For some, military life began with an initiation at an academy. For others, it began with a letter from the United States government. Yet when their service is complete, veterans of every era, every background and every branch have certain things in common. And those shared commitments and experience formed bonds that last a lifetime.

"Every veteran has lived by a strict code of discipline. Every veteran understands the meaning of personal accountability and loyalty and shared sacrifice. From the moment you repeated the oath to the day of your honorable discharge, your time belonged to America; your country came before all else. And whether you served abroad or at home, you have shared in the responsibility of maintaining the finest fighting force in the world.

"Veterans who took the oath and served in battle have known the hardships and the fears and the tragic losses of war. These memories follow them through life and are sometimes hard to bear. Yet our war veterans, wherever they fought, can know this: In the harshest hours of conflict, they serve just and honorable purposes.

"Americans are a peaceful people, and this nation has always gone to war reluctantly, and always for a noble cause. America's war veterans have fought for the security of this nation, for the safety of our friends and for the peace of the world. They humbled tyrants and defended the innocent and liberated the oppressed. And across the earth, you will find entire nations that once lived in fear, where men and women still tell of the day when Americans came and set them free.

"America's mission in the world continues and we count on the same kind of people to carry it out. Today, in assignments around the world, more than 1.4 million Americans are on active duty, earning the title of veteran by serving in the cause of freedom. In the years since our country was attacked, the men and women of our Armed Forces have engaged the terrorist enemy on many fronts. They've confronted grave dangers to defend the safety of the American people. They have liberated two nations, Afghanistan and Iraq, delivering more than 50 million people from the hands of dictators. Those who serve and fight today are adding great achievements of their own to America's history. America is grateful for their daring, grateful for their honor and grateful for their sacrifice."

Petruccio continued, "On the 40th anniversary of D-Day Ronald Reagan spoke about the heroic deeds of the Army rangers.

"Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs, some of you were hardly more than boys with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.

"The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge, and pray God that we have not lost it, that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt."

Petruccio ended his speech by saying, "This distinction between force for liberation and the use of force for conquest is of paramount importance as we face a prolonged struggle in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is in this hostile environment where the next generation of veterans is coming from."

Petruccio returned to join Deputy Mayor Robert Lofaro, trustee Donald Barbieri and Village Justice Christopher Devane beneath the huge, majestic American flag. The program continued with a gun salute, the playing of Taps by Marilyn Obertis and a rendition of the National Anthem sung by Angela Powers.

The VFW then gave Certificates of Appreciation for Americanism to Kathleen McGuire, who attends the University of Hartford. Her father John accepted the plaque in her absence. McGuire did the project for her Girl Scout Gold Award.

Another Certificate of Appreciation was also given to Ralph Oral, of Ralph's Citgo Service Station for proudly flying the American Flag at all times.

At the end of the program the New Hyde Park Village Historian Florence Lisanti came to the microphone to give a brief history of how the rock, that displays all the names of the New Hyde Park veterans, came to be.

She explained that at the time the rock was transported, from the Sand Pits in Port Washington, to the spot it where it now stands on the New Hyde Park Village Hall grounds, the building was a New Hyde Park school. It was in 1916 that Philip Christ, of New Hyde Park, was the Town of North Hempstead Supervisor and after the president of the school board and it was he and the school board who orchestrated the transport of the rock as a memorial to the New Hyde Park veterans where it stands to this day.

The group then all went to Marcus Christ Hall for refreshments.