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8/9/2024
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Azzinaro: Victory Day remains an important reminder of sacrifices made for peace
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STATE HOUSE – House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Samuel A. Azzinaro today offered a reminder of the meaning behind the Victory Day holiday that Rhode Island will mark on Monday.
“Victory Day is a commemoration of the end of a very difficult period for our world, our nation and our state, and ultimately the peace and freedom that prevailed. It’s a day to remember and honor the sacrifices made by so many in the name of protecting the world from regimes that threatened to annihilate entire populations, decimate democracy and oppress freedom around the globe. It is the victory of peace and freedom that we celebrate on that day,” said Chairman Azzinaro (D-Dist. 37, Westerly).
About 92,000 Rhode Islanders served in World War II. More than 2,200 of them lost their lives. Rhode Island sent a disproportionate number of sailors to the Pacific theatre in World War II. Civilians here mobilized as well. The textile industry made uniforms. The state’s jewelry industry made military medals. Ships were built in Providence and torpedoes in Newport.
“Over the years, other states have dropped Victory Day, but Rhode Island continues to honor it as a reminder of both the great sacrifices made and the peace that they enabled,” said Chairman Azzinaro. “Throughout our nation’s history, the wars we’ve won have been victories of an entire people over evil. In the Revolutionary War, it was a victory over tyranny. In the Civil War, it was a victory over slavery. In World War I, it was a victory over aggression. In World War II, it was a victory over the brutality of genocide, an evil that again rears up in places around the world today. May remembering that victory remind us the importance of standing up against such threats today and in the future.”
For more information, contact:
Meredyth R. Whitty, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-1923
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