Trump Recalls Nation's Founding In Memorial Day Speech At Arlington National Cemetery

Forbes Breaking News

President Trump delivers a Memorial Day speech in Arlington National Cemetery.

Transcript

00:00Thank you very much.

00:19Thank you very much.

00:20A very special place and a very special day.

00:26Thank you to Vice President Vance, doing a terrific

00:29job.

00:30Thanks also to a man who has devoted his life to

00:34servicemembers and veterans, Secretary of Defense, Pete

00:37Hegseth, who's doing really well.

00:40He went through a lot, didn't he?

00:42But he's doing really well.

00:43He's a tough cookie.

00:44That's what we want, is a tough cookie.

00:53And we're grateful to be joined as well by Chairman

00:56Cain.

00:57Terrific military person.

01:01Members of the Cabinet, members of Congress, members of the

01:04United States Armed Forces, veterans, and many other

01:08distinguished guests.

01:10We gather today to honor the incredible service members who

01:16rest in glory in this cemetery and burial grounds around the

01:20world and in a thousand lonely places known only to God.

01:25In every hour of peril, in every moment of crisis, American

01:28warriors have left behind the blessings of home and family to

01:32answer their nation's call.

01:35They've offered all that they had within them and given their

01:39last breaths to each and every one of us that we might live

01:45safe and breathe free.

01:49This morning, we pay tribute to their immortal deeds.

01:53We share in the sorrow of their beloved families.

01:56And as one nation, we give thanks for the ultimate gift they

02:00have so selflessly given to all of us.

02:04These warriors, and that's what they are, is great, great

02:06warriors picked up their mantle of duty and service.

02:11Knowing that to live for others meant always that they might

02:14die for others.

02:16They knew that.

02:17They asked nothing for it.

02:20They gave everything.

02:21And we owe them everything and much, much more.

02:29Each of the service members who have made the supreme

02:33sacrifice for our nation has also left an unfillable void and

02:39an unbreakable silence in the lives of all who love them.

02:44For the families of the fallen, you feel the absence of your

02:48heroes every day, family.

02:51These are great families.

02:53These are wonderful families.

02:55In the familiar laugh, no longer heard.

02:57The empty space at Sunday dinner or the want of a hug or a pat on

03:03the back that will never come again.

03:07Every Gold Star family fights a battle long after the victory is won.

03:11And today, we lift you up and we hold you high.

03:18Thank you for giving America the brightest light in your lives.

03:21That's what you've done.

03:23We will never, ever forget our fallen heroes.

03:26And we will never forget our debt to you.

03:31This Memorial Day is especially significant as we commemorate 250

03:37years since the first American patriots fell on the field of battle.

03:42Two and a half centuries ago, at Lexington Green, Concord Bridge, Bunker Hill,

03:49brave minute men and humble farm boys became the first to give their lives

03:53for a nation that did not yet have a name.

03:59With their deaths, men like John Brown, 23, Samuel Hadley, 28, and Abner

04:07Hawes, 21, ignited the flame of liberty that now lights, the inspires,

04:16everybody, and the entire world.

04:20Those young men could never have known what their sacrifice would mean to us.

04:25But we certainly know what we owe to them.

04:29Their valor gave us the freest, greatest, and most noble republic

04:34ever to exist on the face of the earth.

04:36A republic that I am fixing after a long and hard four years.

04:41That was a hard four years we went through.

04:44Who would let that happen?

04:55People pouring through our borders unchecked.

04:59People doing things that are indescribable and not for today to discuss.

05:07But the republic that is now doing so very well, we're doing so very well right now,

05:13considering the circumstances, and we'll do record-setting better with time.

05:18We will do better than we've ever done as a nation.

05:21Better than ever before.

05:22I promise you that.

05:23In every generation since, at Trenton and Yorktown, at Vicksburg and Shiloh, and in faraway places

05:40with names like Chateau, Terere, Anzio, Iwo Jima, Quezon, Kandahar, really just a few chosen names.

05:54And these are names that have become so important on the altar of freedom.

06:00They plunged into the crucible of battle, stormed into the fires of hell, charged into the valley

06:07of death, and rose into the arms of angels.

06:12The sacrifice that they made was not merely for a single battle, a long-ago victory or

06:17a fleeting triumph decades or centuries past.

06:22Their sacrifice was for today, tomorrow, and every morning thereafter.

06:29Every child that lives in peace, every home that is filled with joy and love, every day

06:34the republic stands is only possible because of those who did what had to be done when

06:40duty called.

06:42And the cost was everything to them and to their families.

06:48Our debt to them is eternal, and it does not diminish with time.

06:53It only grows and grows and grows with each passing year.

06:58The greatest monument to their courage is not carved in marble or cast in bronze.

07:04It's all around us, an American nation, 325 million strong, which will soon be greater than

07:13it has ever been before.

07:15It will be.

07:16And so today, we uphold the memory of our heroes, as people have done since ancient times, by telling

07:25their stories and exalting their names.

07:29Senior Master Sergeant Elroy Harworth was a young, beautiful man from Earhart, Minnesota,

07:37when he enlisted in the Air Force and was sent to Vietnam.

07:41Fifty-nine years ago this very week, Elroy and his crewmates climbed into the dark skies over

07:49Da Nang on a classified mission known as Operation Carolina Moon.

07:57Their aim was to blow up a key enemy bridge.

08:00And while other crews had tried and failed, they were determined to try and get it done

08:06in the face of extreme danger, and they knew how bad it was.

08:10As their C-130 closed in on its target and Elroy jockeyed his 5,000 pounds of explosives into

08:18position, the aircraft came under unbelievably intense fire.

08:24They had never seen anything like it.

08:27Try as they might, they were hit as the plane swung low, and they went down deep in enemy

08:34territory.

08:35Elroy was just 24 years old when he gave his life for America, leaving behind a beautiful

08:41young wife who was seven months pregnant.

08:45That meant Elroy would never know the joy of meeting his son, Troy, or seeing him grow.

08:51And he would never have the pride to watch his son follow in his father's footsteps and

08:58serve two decades in the U.S. Army.

09:02Sergeant First Class Troy Harworth is with us today, joined by his wife, Sonia, and their

09:08son, John.

09:09The grandson, Elroy, never got to hold.

09:14Thank you, Troy.

09:15And thank you, John.

09:16And above all, thank you, Elroy.

09:19Thank you very much.

09:21Please stand up.

09:22Thank you, wherever you may be.

09:25Thank you very much.

09:34Great family.

09:37Corporal Ryan McGee of Fredericksburg, Virginia, knew from the time he saw the towers fall on

09:449-11 that he wanted to be an Army Ranger.

09:47He was an American guy, all American.

09:50He was a tough guy.

09:52He was the top of everything.

09:54In high school, he was captain of the football team and was voted friendliest and most charming

10:00by his peers.

10:02Ryan joined the Army soon after graduation, and after three tours in Afghanistan, he deployed

10:07to Iraq.

10:09He and his unit were tasked with hunting down a weapon facilitator and a suicide bomber cell

10:17near Baghdad, a vicious, vicious cell, killing many, many people.

10:22Sixteen years ago this month, they engaged the enemy in a firefight, and Ryan was mortally

10:28wounded.

10:30He gave his life at 21 years old, and today he rests until the end of time in the famed

10:35section 60 here at Arlington, where we have buried our honored dead from the war on terror.

10:43We are joined today by Ryan's mom, Sherry, and Sherry, all of America shares in your grief,

10:50and more importantly, we share in your pride and your wonderful son.

10:54And thank you so much for being here, Sherry.

10:56Thank you, Sherry.

11:11Thank you very much.

11:13On behalf of everyone, this crowd is so big she's hard to find.

11:18Once I saw her, she really stands out.

11:21Thank you, Sherry, very much.

11:23Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent grew up in Pine Plains, New York, before enlisting

11:30in the Navy in 2003, and she quickly became one of the rising stars.

11:35She was an absolute winner.

11:38As a linguist, translator, and cryptologic technician, Shannon worked alongside elite special

11:46force units like Delta Force and Navy SEALs to help them capture and kill terrorists.

11:53She was among the first women ever to do it, and she did it better than anyone.

11:58In January 2019, Shannon was on her fifth combat deployment, embedded with a team hunting ISIS

12:05terrorist terrorist through the streets of Syria when a suicide bomber detonated his weapon-killing

12:13senior chief Kent and three other wonderful, beautiful Americans.

12:20She left behind her husband, Joe, and their two sons, three-year-old Colt and 18-month-old

12:26baby Josh.

12:28Today, Shannon rests in peace on these grounds alongside her comrades.

12:33To her boys, Colt and Josh, who are here this morning, now aged nine and seven, let me say

12:40your mom was a hero, and her love, her strength, and her spirit are always with us and always

12:47be with you.

12:48She loved her boys.

12:50To Joe, the boys, Shannon's parents, Mary and Stephen, and her sister, Mariah, Shannon's

12:58name will live forever in the chronicles of true American patriots.

13:03I just want to thank you, and thank you so much for being here in honor of your magnificent

13:08family member.

13:10Stories like Shannon's, Ryan's, and Elroy's remind us of the real meaning of the day.

13:15And I want to just say, please stand up wherever you may be.

13:19The boys, I want to see those boys.

13:21Where are you?

13:22Where are you?

13:54Yeah, good-looking guys.

14:03Thank you very much for being here.

14:06All of you, thank you so much.

14:08We should never forget, even for a moment, that freedom is a gift of the highest cost,

14:13and peace is won at the most precious price.

14:16These extraordinary American heroes and their immense and ultimate sacrifices they offer,

14:22only the faintest glimpse at the infinite grace we have received from all who laid down

14:30their lives for America over the past 250 years.

14:34We're going to have a big, big celebration, as you know, 250 years.

14:38In some ways, I'm glad I missed that second term where it was, because I wouldn't be your

14:47president for that most important of all.

14:50In addition, we have the World Cup and we have the Olympics.

14:53Can you imagine?

14:54I missed that four years, and now look what I have.

14:57I have everything.

14:58Amazing the way things work out.

15:07God did that.

15:08I believe that, too.

15:13God did it.

15:14You know, I got the World Cup and I got the Olympics.

15:23The 250 years was not mine.

15:26I'd like to take credit, but I got the Olympics.

15:28I got the World Cup when I was president.

15:31And I said, boy, it's too bad.

15:32I won't be president then.

15:33And look what happened.

15:34I turned out, and we're going to have a great time.

15:37We're going to have a great celebration.

15:39But most important of all is the 250th anniversary.

15:42That blows everything away, including the World Cup and including the Olympics, as far

15:46as I'm concerned.

15:48In any corner of this cemetery, at any resting place for our war dead, anywhere on earth, you'll

15:54find untold stories of equal heroism and heartbreak, unmatched patriotism and devotion and acts of

16:03selflessness and courage so enormous, they defy comprehension.

16:08Most people can't even imagine it.

16:10Great poets have written that it's love which moves the sun and the stars.

16:15But here on the sacred soil, right where we are, we're reminded that it's love which moves the

16:22course of history and moves it always toward freedom, always.

16:27From Bunker Hill to Bastogne to Cantonese to Coral Sea, from Gettysburg to Guadalcanal and

16:36Concord to Kabul, America's best and America's bravest have fought, bled, and died so that

16:43we could pick up the torch of liberty, raise it high, high, high, and carry it onward to places

16:50they could never have dreamed of before.

16:52Today, we honor their memory.

16:56We remember their gallantry.

16:58We just revere, in the highest sense, we just revere their incredible legacy.

17:06We salute them in their eternal and everlasting glory.

17:10And we continue our relentless pursuit of America's destiny as we make our nation stronger,

17:17prouder, freer, and greater than ever before.

17:21May God bless our fallen heroes.

17:25May God bless our gold star families.

17:28And may God bless the United States of America.

17:32Thank you very much, everybody.

17:34Great honor.

17:52Thank you very much.

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