Honored veterans, family members of our honored veterans and distinguished guests, on behalf of the City of Laguna Beach I welcome you to the Veterans Day ceremony for 2023.

As we do every year, we come together today to offer thanks and to pay our respects to our veterans for their service and their sacrifices. Because of their service and their sacrifices, we stand here today surrounded by beauty in a country where we are safe and where we are free. To each of you veterans here today I say thank you for preserving our freedom and protecting our country so that we can live with our families in peace.

I am sure that like many of you did, I awoke this morning thinking of the veterans I have known. My dad was a World War II veteran who passed away in 2020 at the age of 98 and a half. He was in the army and fought in the Philippines. His favorite president was Harry Truman so, if he were here today, he would be very pleased to know that I am centering my remarks today on a quote from Harry Truman.

Truman said, “America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.”

Courage, imagination, determination. These are the qualities that our veterans have employed for over a century to keep our country safe and to provide all Americans an opportunity to pursue happiness and realize their dreams.

We must honor, respect, and thank our veterans for their great service to our country. We can best honor them by emulating them in our daily lives. We do this when we show courage, imagination, and determination in facing the challenges and difficulties of daily life.

Unfortunately, cynicism, intolerance and divisiveness are far too prevalent in our country today. These sentiments are the enemy within. They weaken us as a country and make us more vulnerable as a nation.

Just as our veterans fought overseas to defend our country and preserve our freedoms, we must fight here at home to combat cynicism, intolerance and divisiveness and allow people of all backgrounds and beliefs to live in peace and harmony.

In the last five years, there has been a 95% increase in hate crimes and incidents in Orange County according to the Orange County Human Relations Commission, with much of that increase happening in schools. Orange County is not unique as hate crimes have increased across our country in recent years.

We cannot let cynicism, intolerance, divisiveness, and hate prevail.

Our courageous veterans and fallen soldiers have defeated our enemies abroad. Let us not defeat ourselves at home and squander the great gift that our veterans have given us in defending our country. We honor our veterans when we work to promote cooperation and understanding in our communities and respect for those with different religious or political beliefs or lifestyles.

I urge each of you to honor our veterans by doing what you can do to make your community a better place to live, a kinder place, a more understanding place. None of us can change the world alone but many of us working together can make our small corner of the world better.

I salute our veterans and thank them for setting the example for all of us with their courage, imagination, and unbeatable determination. It is a great honor to be here with them and with all of you. Please join me in a heartfelt round of applause for our veterans with us today and across our country.

- Mayor Bob Whalen