Governor's Weekly Message to Delawareans

Statement

In his weekly message, Governor Jack Markell reflects on the ninth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. He also honors the sacrifices made by our veterans as he prepares to sign a bill creating Vietnam Veterans Day.

"Those of us old enough to remember will never forget where we were on September 11, 2001 when a terrorist attack against our nation claimed thousands of lives," said Markell. "It's a date seared in our collective consciousness--memories as fresh today as they were years ago."

Each year on Patriot Day, Americans remember the victims who were killed in the attacks and honor the sacrifices made by hundreds of rescue workers. Flags flying on state facilities will be lowered to half staff beginning on Friday afternoon through Sunday in observance of Patriot Day.

The 144th Delaware General Assembly has also designated September 11th as Delaware Emergency Responders Day to recognize the important role that emergency responders provide throughout the first state and to urge citizens to cooperate with public safety personnel. House Joint Resolution 23, sponsored by Representative Deborah Hudson and Senator Patricia Blevins on behalf of all State Representatives and Senators, asks citizens to observe a moment of silence in remembrance of the 2001 attacks.

Governor Markell will also honor the sacrifice of our soldiers by signing House Bill 472, which establishes March 30 as Vietnam Veterans Day. State Representatives Bobby Outten, Earl Jaques and David Wilson and Senators Joe Booth, George Howard Bunting and Dori Connor sponsored the bill.

The legislation includes the following tribute to Vietnam Veterans: "It is fitting that we extend our admiration and heartfelt gratitude to those servicemen and women who served on the battlefields of Vietnam and returned safely, to those who returned home scarred of body and mind, and to those who were killed or are still missing."

At noon every Friday, a new video message is posted to the Governor's website and YouTube channel and is distributed to Delaware media outlets. Transcripts of the messages are posted and the audio version of the Governor's message is available on iTunes as a podcast for distribution to personal MP3 players and home computers. The Governor's weekly message is currently being carried on the air and posted on websites by various media outlets, and the direct link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ycv7eWxuybE

Constituents, media outlets and others are free to link to the Governor's video message on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/GovernorMarkell - or on his Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/governormarkell - or on the Delaware State website at http://governor.delaware.gov/information/podcast_video.shtml. All are also invited to follow him on Twitter -- http://www.twitter.com/governormarkell- and submit ideas through http://ideas.delaware.gov.

Source