Memorial Day - May 25th, 2020

Here, for your interest, are the remarks of our president, Thomas Principe, Brig. General (Retd.)and the wonderful prayer delivered by Chaplain MAJ Louis Nock, NYG, who is also a New York State Supreme Court Justice sitting in New York County.

Principe remarks: We are the Seventh Regiment, the first unit to be called National Guards in our nation, so named in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette, who named his French counterparts the Guards Nationale. The Seventh Regiment was beloved by our entire nation. They were the only military unit trusted to occupy Washington, DC during the Civil War.

The very first Medal of Honor recipient, COL Bernard Irwin, was a member of the Seventh Regiment, then he was followed by many others.

This monument was erected by the Seventh Regiment in memory of those members lost in World War I and those who served what was supposed to be “the war to end all wars,” but we needed soldiers even after the World War I armistice. General Douglas Macarthur said “The soldier, above all others, prays for peace.”

Please remember those who served before and those who currently serve, not just today, but every day. Please remember their commitment to our country and make your own commitment to stand up for them: they need your help.

On this special Memorial Day we would like to remember all who have served and are serving in any capacity to reduce the harm of the Covid-19 pandemic. The New York Army National Guard served and continues to serve in Covid-19 hotline call centers. In the first two weeks of the quarantine the New York Army National Guard answered 260,000 telephone calls. Three thousand six hundred New York National Guard men and women have served at drive-through covid test sites, assembling temporary hospitals and staffing them with National Guard medical personnel treating covid patients, and as of April 18^th the New York National Guard had packaged and delivered 1,398,947 meals to those in need.

We owe it to our military and their loved ones to remember; we owe it to them to tell the story of how and why they served; we owe it to them to honor the ideals they embraced in the past and they embrace today. This war activity still exists, but today it is against covid-19. What will it be tomorrow?

Our Chaplain will now deliver the Invocation, followed by a ceremonial laying of the wreath. [end of Principe remarks]

MEMORIAL DAY INVOCATION Monday, 25 May 2020 DELIVERED BY MAJOR (CHAPLAIN) LOUIS L. NOCK Regimental Chaplain, Veterans of the Seventh Regiment of New York AT THE 7REGT(NY)/107REGT(US) MONUMENT Fifth Avenue at East 67 th Street, New York, New York

Chaplain Nock: Thank you, General Principe; and greetings to you, Mrs. Principe, and to our friends assembled here today, and to all people of good will.

MY FRIENDS, LET US PRAY: Almighty and Merciful God: we humbly stand before Thee on this day of remembrance and in this time of great need for the world, to remember, and to invoke the merit of, those valiant souls who have done Thy work on Earth, in preservation of all that is good, and whose blessed memory is perpetuated by the august monument we visit this and every Memorial Day.

Psalm 18: “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust . . . .”

Those we commemorate today fulfilled the duty, and lived the experience, which has enabled all of us in this land, and many throughout the world, to live in freedom. We, their progeny, beseech God’s blessing for the salvation of their noble souls; but, equally as important, for the blessings upon today’s American heroes – both in and out of uniform – who protect us during this unprecedented public crisis.

As usual, the American Armed Forces have stepped up yet again to transition their remarkable talents, skills, and courage toward feeding the hungry and healing the sick, at risk of their own safety – as they always do, and as they always have done. O Lord, bless them all with continued and newfound good health and fortitude. And heal the sick in body and spirit.

Answer our prayer, O Lord, as You did unto Moses!, as set down in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 12, Verse 13: “Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, ‘O God, heal her, I pray!’” We, too, beseech You, O Lord, Heal us! Heal us! Heal the world! Hearken unto our prayer, O Lord, as You did unto Moses. And bless America’s soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, coast guardsmen, and militia men and women, and all who serve humanity.

And so, we invoke Thy blessing upon the world and upon our blessed country in the merit of those whom this monument honors, and in the merit of today’s American heroes. God bless the United States of America. In Thy Holy Name we pray --------- AMEN.

Veterans' Day - November 11, 2019

France, 2019

Providence chose to play a hand in The Seventh Regiment's Hindenburg monument Dedication Service. General Robert Glacel fully expected a small Dedication Ceremony at the 107ths Monument Ceremony which would only include himself; the Halle family and a few friends and locals.

But Providence was to prove otherwise. Shortly before, Bob was to learn that a group of officers and noncoms were visiting American battlefields and Cemetaries on behalf of the 42nd Division and the 27th Brigade NYARNG. Suddenly the Dedication Service included a Uniformed Color Guard with some of the soldiers wearing the same Unit patch that was worn by the men of the 107th Infantry Regiment on that battlefield one hundred years earlier. Please see the photos below.

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