Haley Stevens: “I am deeply honored to be at this podium today, to speak about anniversaries and the moral obligation of memory. Many…”

“I am deeply honored to be at this podium today, to speak about anniversaries and the moral obligation of memory. Many who have stood here before me have spoken from their own memory, telling their most personal of stories--the years of suffering, the loss of loved ones, survival and the anguish of haunting memories. I have no such stories to tell. My Jewish grandparents left Europe before the Holocaust, bestowing on my parents the gift of being born in this land of freedom. But I do stand here as the proud son of a brave young American soldier, decorated for the valor that led to his capture by Nazi forces. Imprisoned in a German POW camp for two years, he refused to hide the dog tag that bore the letter H (for Hebrew).”