It was a full house in Rye City Hall for Veterans Day 2025 on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. American Legion Post 128 Commander Fred de Barros lead the ceremony and speakers included Mayor Josh Cohn, Congressman George Latimer and State Assemblyman Steve Otis. The principal speaker was Rye YMCA Sabrina Murphy. The transcript of Murphy’s speech and the video of the entire event is provided below.
Rye YMCA Sabrina Murphy Veterans Day 2025 speech:
I want to express my appreciation to our public officials, our military representatives, and the many community organizations here today. Your presence reminds us that honoring veterans is truly a shared responsibility.
Today, we honor the men and women who have answered the call to serve. Because of your courage and sacrifice, we enjoy the freedoms that define our nation. We are profoundly grateful for all you have done-and continue to do-in service to our country.
The YMCA has a proud history of supporting our military, reaching back to the Civil War. In 1941, the YMCA was one of six organizations that co-founded the USO (United Service Organizations), providing morale and recreation services to troops during World War II. When the USO briefly deactivated in 1947, the Armed Services YMCA carried on the mission, ensuring that military personnel and their families always had community support.
The Rye YMCA’s military history continues that proud tradition today-supporting families, children, and veterans in our community.
I’d like to share a story that illustrates the impact of YMCA support. While CEO of the Bath, Maine YMCA, I befriended Navy Lt. Cmdr. Angie Gonzolas, a single mother of twin girls, served aboard the USS Zumwalt – an advanced Navy stealth guided-missile destroyer built at Bath Iron Works in Maine. While leading her ship’s crew in physical-fitness initiatives, Lt. Cmdr. Gonzolas relied on the YMCA for childcare for her daughters. That support allowed her to serve her country with excellence, knowing her children were safe and cared for. Her story reflects the resilience, dedication, and ingenuity of our service members-and the vital role our community plays in supporting them.
The USS Zumwalt, commissioned in 2013, was named after Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr. – a Navy leader known for his forward-thinking reforms and for championing equality for women and African Americans in the service.
The YMCA’s support of service members has sometimes come in unexpected forms. During World War I, the YMCA helped boost troop morale by providing recreation, care packages, and other services. One unforgettable story is of Mutt, a French Bulldog who served as a mascot and “trench runner” for the 11th Engineers in 1918. Mutt delivered cigarettes and small comforts to soldiers in the trenches, was wounded twice, and yet returned safely to New York. This story is considered to originate to the Rye YMCA, and reminds us that support comes in many forms – and every act of care matters.
And remembering service is not something we do only on Veterans Day. It is something we teach, something we pass forward.
At the YMCA and in our schools, we have the responsibility – and the privilege – to help young people understand the sacrifices that have shaped this country. I’ve had the honor of accompanying 8th graders to the battlefields of Gettysburg, where the lessons of courage, loss, and unity under fire are not just stories in textbooks – they are felt in the ground beneath your feet.
We have walked together through the Holocaust Memorial Museum, where silence speaks louder than any lecture. And we have stood at the war memorials in Washington, D.C., reading the names of those who never came home.
These trips are not history field trips – they are acts of remembrance. They remind our young people that freedom is not guaranteed; it is earned, through the sacrifices of those who served, and it is protected, when we remember them.
Veterans, active-duty personnel, and your families: the freedoms we enjoy today exist because of your courage and commitment. Through the YMCA, through our city, and through our community, we stand with you. We offer programs, resources, and a community that honors your service.
Thank you for being here today.. Thank you for your service.
And thank you for inspiring all of us to continue supporting those who serve-on the battlefield, at home, and right here in Rye.
Thank you.
