Byrne’s Support of Veterans Has Earned Him Support for Re-election
As a third-generation veteran and someone who served our armed forces for three decades before retiring as a master sergeant, supporting candidates for public office who support our military veterans is something I remain focused on.
We are truly blessed to live in an amazing community that shows strong support for our military, but that was not always the case. I can recall a time in the 1960s and ‘70s when our veterans were not always supported. That’s why I feel it is important to support people like Assemblyman Kevin Byrne for office this November.
Kevin, while not a military veteran himself, has demonstrated his commitment to supporting our veterans. He was born and raised right here in our community. His direct connection to our veterans is his brother, who has served a 17-plus-year career in the U.S. Air Force, serving our nation all over the world including Afghanistan, Libya, Qatar and Okinawa – a reality that brings military service close to home.
Long before destruction of monuments became a political issue, our Putnam County Veterans Memorial Park was vandalized on Memorial Day weekend by a group of lowlifes who hurled paint on our precious monuments. Since then, our VFW, American Legion, Scouts and local groups such as the Elks have stood guard overnight on Memorial Day weekend to ensure that doesn’t happen again.
Kevin would come back every year as a college student, and for years after, to assist the scouts (being an Eagle Scout himself) and stand guard alongside us. At the beginning, political candidates who participated were a rarity, but Kevin was always there – long before he held elected office.
Currently, Assemblyman Byrne has never forgotten his roots and has served us well; the proof is in the results during his time in elected office. He has coordinated with local veterans’ organizations and has worked with both Republican and Democratic state representatives to support our military. He hosted a Voices for Veterans tour for the ranking member of the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee and his other Assembly colleagues who have military experience. He successfully fought to restore funding the Pfc. Joseph P. Dwyer Vet to Vet Programs in Westchester and Putnam counties as well as the Helmets to Hardhats program to assist post-9/11 veterans transition into the building trades – both which had been eliminated in Gov. Cuomo’s initial budget proposal.
Assemblyman Byrne also co-sponsored and supported legislation that expanded benefits for our combat veterans that enabled municipalities to establish specialty courts for veterans, which assured all state benefits were afforded to our veterans from the LGBT community for their military service. This is in addition to being a loud voice in the Assembly to pressure the governor’s administration to expand its tuition assistance program to assist our Gold Star families that we are forever in debt to.
Kevin truly brings a voice to Albany for our veterans, and I thank him. He has earned our support and I encourage our neighbors and fellow veterans to support him this November.
Jack Duncan MSG (Ret.)
Brewster
