A lifelong war protester, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio told a Veterans Day audience Monday that his family’s service during World War II has stayed with him “until this day.”
“In my family, the service of our family members framed so much of our lives,” de Blasio told hundreds of past and current servicemen and servicewomen gathered in Madison Square Park ahead of the annual Veterans Day Parade up Fifth Avenue.
“My father served in the Pacific of World War II in combat, in a number of key battles — including the Battle of Okinawa, where he lost his leg,” de Blasio said.
“And he carried the physical and emotional challenges ever after.”
De Blasio’s father, Warren Wilhelm, saw his life careen out of control after the war. An alcoholic, he took his life at age 61 — when de Blasio was just 18 — after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.