PRINCETON, N.J. –
The U.S. Army Reserve’s 99th Readiness Division hosted the annual Presidential Wreath Laying for President Grover Cleveland March 18 at Princeton Cemetery.
“President Cleveland led a distinguished life,” said Maj. Gen. Troy D. Kok, commanding general of the 99th DIV(R). “He was the only president in the history of our nation to win two non-consecutive terms.”
Also speaking at the event were Mr. Bob Maguire, civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army for New Jersey, and Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert.
“President Cleveland will be remembered for protecting the power and autonomy of the executive branch,” Maguire said. “His record-breaking use of the presidential veto earned him the deserved title of, ‘The Guardian President.’”
“Grover Cleveland was an honest man in a time of opportunism,” Lempert added. “He took on graft, he took on the patronage system, and he took on the party bosses of his time; he was known for his honesty, integrity and courage.”
Kok also noted that in 1908, the year Cleveland died, the Army Reserve was born.
“As we commemorate President Cleveland’s passing, let’s remember another significant event that occurred the same year – the birth of the United States Army Reserve,” Kok said. “For the past 110 years, the Army Reserve has played a key role in defending our nation.”
Kok said that Army Reserve Soldiers have been in every major conflict since World War I, and that more than 300,000 Army Reserve Soldiers have deployed since Sept. 11, 2001.
“The Army Reserve provides Soldiers everywhere, in America and across seven-eighths of the Earth’s surface, covering 30 countries and 20 time zones with nearly 200,000 Soldiers,” he explained. “America’s Army Reserve is the most capable, combat-ready and lethal federal reserve force in the nation’s history.”