The City of Palm Coast gathered Monday morning at Heroes Memorial Park for a sharp, solemn Memorial Day Ceremony honoring the men and women who died in service to the United States.
Hosted by Mayor Mike Norris, the event brought together residents, veterans, Gold Star Families, public safety personnel, and community leaders for a morning of remembrance.
The ceremony featured the Presentation of Colors by the Matanzas High School JROTC, an invocation by Pastor Charles Silano, the National Anthem by Melanie DiMartino, and remarks from Norris reminding attendees of the day’s true cost.
“To our Gold Star families – we see you, we honor you, and we thank you for your sacrifice,” Norris said.
“You’re damn right we remember,” the mayor said, after tracing back a long line of family members who he said first landed on th continet in 1631 and have since died in many battles.
“We’re here to remember. To memorialize our fallen comrades, our family, our neighbors, the ones who paid in full… So today, we say their names. We tell their stories. We carry their memory — not just in speeches, but in how we live. Because if we forget them, then they died twice.”
A significant addition to this year’s event was the White Rose Tribute, led by Norris alongside Vice Mayor Theresa Pontieri and Council Members Ty Miller, David Sullivan, and Charles Gambaro. Following the tribute, Norris invited community members to approach the podium and speak the names of their fallen heroes aloud.
Eight members of the public participated in this personal portion of the ceremony, including Gambaro and Miller. Palm Coast City Manager Mike McGlothlin also came forward to honor two fallen heroes from his own family.
The moment served as a stark reminder that Memorial Day remains a heavy declaration of remembrance for those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The ceremony included the Presentation of Wreaths led by Norris, Palm Coast Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill, and Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly, with participation from veteran organizations and Gold Star Families. The Palm Coast Fire Department Honor Guard Pipe & Drums performed “Amazing Grace,” followed by a 21-Gun Salute from the Marine Corps League Detachment 876 and Taps by Tom Maize of the Palm Coast Community Band.
The morning concluded with an Honor Walk through the park, allowing attendees a quiet opportunity to reflect and pay tribute.
Mayor Norris’s speech is below in full.
Mayor Mike Norris’s Speech at Memorial Day Ceremony
To our Gold Star families — we see you, we honor you, and we thank you for your sacrifice. To our veterans, active-duty service members, and first responders. To City Manager Mike McGlothlin, members of the City Council, our state and federal representatives, Flagler County officials, and all distinguished guests. And to every citizen who took time to be here today — thank you for remembering.
There’s a TV series some of you might know. It’s called Marshall’s, it’s a spinoff of the Yellowstone series. In a recent episode, Kayce Dutton — the main character, a former Navy SEAL — said something that Cut Right through me. He said: “The best of us don’t come home.” Look around you. Every person here can confirm that fact.
We’re not out here in this May heat for nothing. We’re here to remember. To memorialize our fallen comrades, our family, our neighbors. The ones who paid in full. We as Americans know sacrifice. Palm Coast knows sacrifice. Every name on our Veterans Park wall is family like mine, a story, like the ones I’m about to tell. We Remember. My family certainly does.
My family arrived on this continent in 1631. If you’re doing math, that’s 395 years ago. My clan alone lost five members — men, women, and children — in 1760 during the Cherokee War.
We remember. We know the sacrifice. We’ve seen the war for independence. The birth of a new nation and the creation of a new government that has endured the test of time.
We Remember. My family lost my Great, great, great, Grandfather Elkanah Norris at second battle of Drewry’s Bluff in Virginia, during the Civil War in 1864, leaving behind only two sons to continue our family’s name and legacy. We remember the sacrifice.
We remember Soldiers like Dickie Norris, my great uncle, captured in North Africa in 1943 during World War II at the Kasserine Pass. His mother wasn’t allowed to see him for more than six months after he was liberated from a Nazi POW camp. We most certainly remember.
We remember Sailors like my grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Norris — a gunner on a US Navy landing craft when General MacArthur took the Philippines back from the Japanese in 1944.
We Remember.
We remember soldiers like my great uncle John Collier Norris — Who served with the 3rd Ranger Company in Korea and became one of the first “Snake Eaters” during the early years of the U.S. Army Special Forces. One of the first long tabbers as we call them.
We Remember.
Americans know sacrifice. Some families know it more than others. And I remember the sacrifice of Lieutenant Ben Colgan — my Officer Candidate School battle buddy. Ben was killed during the Iraq invasion in 2003, just months after we commissioned together in 2002. Ben had been a Special Operator, rising through the ranks, serving with the 1st Special Forces Group and 1st Special Forces Detachment – Delta Force before commissioning. No one would have ever pegged Ben as an operator. He was a short, stocky guy — more so than me. But man, could that dude run and my goodness he had a wicked sense of humor. He was a Warrior’s Warrior. Ben was killed by a white phosphorus IED on the 1st of November 2003. He left behind a wife and 2 daughters with a third baby girl due that December.
You’re damn right we remember.
“The best of us don’t come home.” So today, we say their names. We tell their stories. We carry their memory — not just in speeches, but in how we live. Because if we forget them, then they died twice. May God bless our fallen. May God bless their families. And may God continue to bless the United States of America.
Tony says
Looks like (chicken lady) Pontieri really dressed up for the occasion !!!
Ed Danko, former Vice-Mayor PC says
Last year at our city’s 911 evening event the “Chicken Lady” Pontieri showed up wearing her gym clothes. Clearly, “Tax & Spend Theresa” has zero respect for those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Current Vice Mayor, Theresa Pontieri says
It’s truly disappointing to see grown men resort to criticizing what a woman wore to a 9/11 remembrance event and a Memorial Day event instead of focusing on the purpose of the ceremonies: honoring the lives lost and the heroes who sacrificed everything.
I was wearing a firefighters union shirt — proudly showing support for the very first responders who protect our community every single day. Firefighters have endorsed me because they know I have consistently stood with public safety, not just during campaign season, but while serving in office.
What’s actually disrespectful is using a solemn commemorative event as an opportunity for petty political attacks. Especially from people who rarely show up to these events unless there’s a camera, a campaign sign, or political gain involved. Notably, Mr. Danko, you were missing from this year’s Memorial Day event.
I have always shown up for this community — for our police, firefighters, veterans, and residents — and no amount of immature name-calling or criticism of what I’m wearing changes that reality.
Ed Danko, former Vice-Mayor, PC says
Typical “Tax & Spend Theresa!” Always playing the “victim” while despertely trying to deflect from the facts.
Rita C says
Did you attend the event for a nations heroes, Eddie?
No, you didn’t because poor, pathetic little RINO, Eddie Danko doesn’t attend events where he can’t make himself the center of attention.
Run off little fella.
Callmeishmael says
She could have shown up wearing a toga and flip-flops and she still would have more class than you, Stanko.
That antifreeze chillin’ for you yet?
Ray W. says
For nearly a decade, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), among several other sponsoring U.S. representatives and senators, prioritized the Zadroga Act that now provides funding for medical care for those who showed up on 9-11 and came back again and again and survived and then later developed respiratory illnesses. But it was always her bill.
After years of her effort, a group of firefighters gave her a heavy firefighter’s protective jacket. After receiving the gift, she began wearing the jacket on the floor whenever she addressed the House in favor of the Act.
Finally, in December 2010, the House passed the Act. On January 2, 2011, President Obama then signed it into law. In 2019, President Trump signed into law an amendment to the Act making permanent the funding needed to medically treat those eligible under the terms of the Act.
My position is that honoring the many responding firefighters by wearing their gift on the floor of the House as she sought to protect those ultimately sickened by their having inhaled poisons emanating from the debris field was the right thing for her to do. Maybe some among us will argue that I am wrong!