City Hall Mounts Flag Display To Honor Veterans

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- City Hall is honoring veterans with a flag ceremony to usher in Veterans Week.

As WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported, the lobby of City Hall now features six flags that will be displayed prominently for the next two weeks.

The stars and strips are present, as well as the colors of the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard, as well as the POW-MIA flag.

"This is a ceremony," said retired Army Brigadier General and New York City Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Lori Smith. "It's a City Hall flag ceremony that really ushers in Veterans Week."

She noted that two U.S. soldiers were just killed in Afghanistan.

"It brings it home indeed," Smith said. "It's another poignant reminder that freedom is not free and it's up to each of us as citizens of this great nation to support those who have put everything on the line, past, present and future."

New York City's Veterans March – called America's Parade – will take place on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11.