- 6/10/2025
President Trump speaks to troops at Ft. Bragg in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
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00:00I've been saying a long time we have the best nobody even comes close but they just gave me a
00:04display that you might be lucky not to see it because it's a little scary it was beautiful to
00:11watch let's hear it for the army army special operations and command and the 82nd airborne
00:18division and the 18th airborne core what a show it was and what a show it continues to be and
00:27Saturday is going to be a big day in Washington DC you know a lot of people said we don't want to
00:34do that I say yeah we do we want to show off a little bit you know recently other countries
00:40celebrated the victory of world war one France was celebrating really they were all celebrating
00:46the only one that doesn't celebrate is the USA and we're the ones that won the war without us
00:52you'd all be speaking German right now maybe a little Japanese thrown in but we won the war
01:01and we don't celebrate but we're going to celebrate on Saturday and we're going to celebrate from now
01:07on we're going to celebrate our greatness and our achievements this week we honor 250 years of valor
01:13and glory and triumph by the greatest fighting force ever to walk the face of the earth the United States
01:21Army for two and a half centuries our soldiers have marched into the raging fires of battle
01:31and obliterated America's enemies has never been anything like it there's never been a force like this
01:38and I rebuilt it I gave you so much money for four years it was crazy and we just we just approved
01:45our largest budget for military operations over one trillion dollars we've never even come close
01:55but our army is smashed foreign empires humbled kings toppled tyrants and hunted terrorist savages
02:07through the very gates of hell our soldiers do not rest until they win you know that better than
02:15anybody from June 1775 to June 2025 those foolish enough to challenge America's army have been met with
02:25unyielding strength unbreakable spirit and unstoppable overwhelming force time and again our enemies have
02:33learned that if you dare to threaten the American people American soldier will chase you down crush you
02:41and cast you into oblivion that's what happens unfortunately
02:45doesn't sound very nice but it's true isn't it the last sound you ever hear will be the
02:56chilling howl of black hawks and the dead of night the thunderous boom of artillery fire or the
03:03ferocious roar of a U.S. Army infantry brigade charging over the horizon that brigade is going to charge like
03:11you've never seen before and hopefully I can keep you out of that but if I don't you're ready is that
03:16right if I can keep you out of it if I keep you out of it that's okay but if we need it you're ready
03:23you know it's called peace through strength isn't it peace through strength for our adversaries there's
03:31no greater fear than the United States Army they all fear us and we have the greatest force anywhere on
03:37earth you know you read different stories that others are building and building and building
03:41we have a force like no other they said it would take five years to defeat Isis we did it in four
03:47weeks four weeks we let him go unlike other of your leaders I let him go and we had general
03:55raisin kane who's now the head of the joint chiefs of staff because I liked him he was a warrior he was a
04:01great warrior and now he's been rewarded for his incredible work but they said it would take five
04:07years we did it in four weeks someday I'm going to ask him to explain that one to me but it was the
04:14television generals that said that the real generals got out and fought and nobody fought like them ever
04:20but for the American people there's no greater pride because you are the righteous sword of American
04:27justice and the ultimate shield of American freedom this week we remember that we only have a country
04:34because we first had an army the army was first in fact the army was even before the country you know
04:41that right one year before the country after 250 years we still proudly declare that we are free
04:49because you are strong you are so strong we're safe because you are brave and America's flag will
04:57never fall because America's army will never ever fail never going to fail every branch of the armed
05:04forces has played a critical role in protecting our nation but no one has done more fighting bleeding
05:10and winning than the U.S. army nobody's done that the army has earned more combat medals and more battle ribbons
05:17than any other service and 70 percent of all of the medals of honor we give away medals of honor all the time
05:26at the white house to incredibly brave people but you have 70 percent of them army soldiers and especially
05:32our army paratroopers truly go all the way you know that expression all the way it's one of your beautiful
05:40expressions
05:41as president of the united states let me express my undying gratitude to
05:49our nation for every soldier here today for every veteran and their families those incredible families
05:57that are with us and all across america and for every patriot who has worn the uniform over 250 years
06:07can you imagine that we thank you from the absolute bottom of our hearts few places loom larger in army
06:15more than where we are gathered today the one and only fort bragg the one and only fort bragg
06:23but remember it was only that little brief moment that it wasn't called
06:34fort bragg it was by the biden administration not trump i had nothing to do with it you
06:40and we got we got it changed we said you know i came here numerous times and everybody
06:47they kept saying fort bragg fort bragg i said you know it's not the name but
06:51then i was making a speech i said what do you think i should call this place call it fort bragg
06:55i said fort bragg how you doing we won a lot of battles from this place and that's the way it is
07:01it wasn't even close when pete and some of the generals came to see me i said not even close
07:07not even close this is the home of the green brace the sky dragons and the all-american 82nd
07:16airborne we know what 82nd airborne division
07:19this is where the gis who won the second world war learned to pack their parishes and push howitzers
07:31and go right into those c47s with lots of arms and push them right out those big beautiful doors and
07:39wheel their bayonets and pry the enemy from the hedgerows of the french countryside france needed us badly
07:48we were there a lot of people needed us badly they still do maybe worse than ever
07:54it was here in the soil that the army forged the metal that held strong at baston it was here the
08:02mighty paratroopers earned their wings before they rained down death from above to liberate sicily
08:09normandy and even the netherlands that's right we saved the netherlands every inch of this base
08:17is steeped in the legacy of those warriors who have said with pride sir i trained at fort bragg sir
08:25that was pretty cool and that is why we restored the historic name of this very very special place
08:33i don't know if it could be the same place fort bragg is in that's the name and fort bragg
08:41it shall always remain that's never going to be happening again
08:45and for a little news for the fake news back there the fake news ladies and gentlemen look at
08:56them look at them all oh yeah what i have to put up with fake news
09:00what i have to put up with but they're all right they've been very nice today they were impressed
09:09with that display i can tell you that i think it took them a little by surprise but
09:13for a little breaking news we are also going to be restoring the names to fort pickett
09:22fort hood fort gordon fort rucker fort polk fort a.p hill and fort robert e lee
09:32we won a lot of battles out of those forts it's no time to change and i'm superstitious you know i like
09:44to keep it going right i'm very superstitious we want to keep it going so that's a big story we just
09:50announced that today to you for the first time they said why didn't you wait till saturday i said i
09:54can't wait i got to talk to my friends here today this is a record crowd you know you never you never
10:01had a crowd this big that's an honor you think this crowd would have showed up for biden i don't think
10:06so i don't think i don't think so maybe i'm wrong maybe i'm wrong i want to thank so many great leaders
10:15here today including secretary of defense pete hegseth has been great by the way pete thank you
10:21and he went through the wars you know pete went through the wars he had to get through a very hostile
10:30group of people that i think really don't want to see america be great again maybe or something but
10:35he uh he persevered and he got there and he's doing a fantastic job great job pete thank you very much
10:41secretary of veterans affairs doug collins a fantastic man thank you doug you're doing a great job
10:48doing a great great job way way up from the last administration veterans a veterans administration
10:58it's way up you saw the recent poll the people are happy they weren't happy a couple of years ago
11:05they were really happy five years ago but it went downhill from there we did so much we got you
11:11medical if you had to wait if you had to delay at all you go out to see a private doctor we pay the bill
11:16you take care of you don't wait for six months and end up getting very sick on something that could
11:21have been done with a little shot or a pill we did that then they wanted to drop that i said we're not
11:26dropping it but doug i'm proud of you i just heard some great things thank you very much
11:31the secretary of the army a really brilliant young guy went to yale can't have everything
11:38top student dan driscoll thank you thank you dan
11:45and we have your senators senator ted budd and senator tom tillis thank you fellas
11:57congressman richard hudson pat harrigan where's pat pat good pat you're doing great you guys are
12:12amazing and we have the big brass general andrew pappas general thank you thank you general
12:20john braja john thank you great job thank you for today general greg anderson thank you thank you
12:36thank you sergeant major of the army michael wymer
12:42and before going further i want to say a few words about the situation
12:51in los angeles california have you heard of the place where i've deployed thousands of national
12:58guard troops and hundreds of marines to protect federal law enforcement from the attacks of a
13:03vicious and violent mob and some of the radical left they say oh that's not nice well if we didn't do it
13:09there wouldn't be a los angeles it'd be burning today just like their houses were burning
13:13a number of months ago generations of army heroes did not shed their blood on distant shores only to
13:22watch our country be destroyed by invasion and third world lawlessness here at home like is
13:28happening in california as commander-in-chief i will not let that happen it's never going to happen
13:35what you're witnessing in california is a full-blown assault on peace on public order
13:43and a national sovereignty carried out by rioters bearing foreign flags with the aim of continuing a
13:52foreign invasion of our country we're not going to let that happen remember millions of people were
14:00allowed to come into our country totally unchecked and unvetted by stupid people or radical left people
14:06or sick people but regardless open border policy the dumbest policy yet i would say even dumber than
14:14men playing in women's sports transgender for everyone
14:21even dumber than that they're hurling bricks and cinder blocks at law enforcement did you see
14:30they're breaking up the sidewalks and the curbs breaking it up with big strong hammers these guys
14:36are professionals these are not amateurs they're breaking it up because they took the bricks away
14:41from them they came in with bricks red bricks that they could throw at our military and at the police
14:47in la who are very good but they weren't aggressive like our soldiers our soldiers really were
14:53aggressive but they all worked together but they came in with bricks they were taken away and they
14:59had hammers oh wow how did that happen and they're pounding the sidewalk i said what the hell is he doing
15:05and he's breaking it up and making it into concrete bombs in a way and they're dropping them on our
15:13military they're throwing them at our military pretty good arms they had too hits guys right in the face
15:19big chunk of concrete worse than a brick they're taking them up to the bridges and they're dropping
15:24them in the cars that are going by these are animals but they proudly carry the flags of other countries
15:32but they don't carry the american flag they only burn it did you see a lot of the flags being burned
15:38they weren't they weren't being burned by people from our country or from people that love our country
15:45people that burn the american flag should go to jail for one year that's what they should be doing
15:52and we'll see if we can get that done we're going to try and get that done we're working with some of
15:59your senators i know senator josh hawley is very much involved and i know the two senators from here
16:06i think you guys are you guys in favor of it boy would this be a bad time for them to say no
16:11i got you i got those two votes the agitators are throwing firebombs molotov cocktails lighting
16:21vehicles ablaze you saw all the cars that were burning mobbing police officers and ice officers who
16:27are the toughest people you'll ever meet and they love our country and they're getting really uh tried
16:34they want to stomp on them but they're too tough they don't allow it and attempting to infiltrate
16:39and occupy federal buildings wearing armor and face shields the best money can buy somebody's
16:44financing it we're going to find out through pam bondy and department of justice who it is they're
16:51already on it who's financing all this equipment very professional under the trump administration this
16:58anarchy will not stand we will not allow federal agents to be attacked and we will not allow an
17:04american city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy and that's what they are a lot of those people
17:11were let in here by the biden administration they just poured right in they came from prisons they came
17:18from jails from all over the world they came from mental institutions they were the leaders of gangs
17:23they were drug lords allowed to come into our country their countries threw them out their countries
17:29would bus them or drive them right to our border and say go in there you ever come back we're going
17:33to kill you and we got them and we're getting them out of here i want to applaud the courage and the
17:39strength of the incredible troops who are right now standing guard to protect federal property and
17:46personnel and uphold the supremacy of federal law that's what they're doing they're protecting our
17:53ice agents they're protecting the police in los angeles the head of the police in los angeles a good
18:01man i hear a good man but he was actually saying we really did need this help it had gotten away from
18:07them it had long gotten away and we gave it to him not only are these service members defending the
18:14honest citizens of california they're also defending our republic itself and they are heroes they're in
18:21they're the heroes they're fighting for us they're stopping an invasion just like you'd stop an
18:26invasion the big difference is most of the time when you stop an invasion they're wearing a uniform
18:31in many ways it's tougher when they're not wearing a uniform because you don't know exactly who they are
18:37in los angeles the governor of california the mayor of los angeles
18:43they're incompetent and they paid troublemakers agitators and insurrectionists they're engaged in
18:57this willful attempt to nullify federal law and aid the occupation of the city by
19:02criminal invaders that's what it is they're invaders no different their position is that
19:10the rioting will not stop unless ice withdraws from los angeles and ceases the enforcement of
19:16federal immigration law in other words they came in here illegally many of them came out of prisons
19:21and jails the most heinous people they came from all over the world they came from the congo and
19:27africa they came from asia they came from the prisons of these places they were put into the united
19:34states and allowed to stay here because we had a grossly grossly unfit president who listened to
19:44whoever was operating the auto pen and they allowed these people to stay and by the way i've known this
19:50guy for a long time he was never the sharpest bulb but you know what he was he wasn't a radical left
19:56lunatic he never dreamt about open borders he never said that when he was of sound mind which actually
20:03was a very long time ago so sad what they've done to our country i will say that without question
20:11however you're seeing the financial numbers we've now got the hottest country anywhere in the world
20:17and six months ago it was the coldest country we're being laughed at all over the world
20:23i was in saudi arabia qatar uae we brought back 5.1 trillion dollars into our country and all
20:33three leaders they're great leaders all three said you know you are presiding over the hottest
20:38country anywhere in the world and they said the exact same thing they said six months ago
20:44it was the coldest country i'll tell you change on a date you know what november 5th was it was the
20:50election of a president that loves you and that's when it all changed
20:54that's when it all changed
20:58within the span of a few decades los angeles has gone from being one of the cleanest safest the most
21:06beautiful cities on earth to being a trash heap with entire neighborhoods under the control of
21:13transnational gangs and criminal networks it's horrible what's happened so quickly
21:19as the entire world can now see uncontrolled migration leads to chaos dysfunction and disorder
21:27and you know what they have it in europe too it's happening in many of the countries of europe
21:34they don't like it when i say it but i'll say it loudly and clearly they better do something
21:39before it's too late very simply we will liberate los angeles and make it free clean and safe again it's
21:45happening very quickly the one big beautiful bill you've heard about it we call it the one big you
21:51know i was on one of the television shows i think deface the nation ladies and gentlemen deface the
21:56nation it's actually called face the nation for those of you that are smart enough not to know
22:01because you're better off not knowing but i was on one of the shows and i said uh we got to get a great
22:08bill they said would you like it to be one bill or would you like it to be seven or eight bills
22:12they said i want one big beautiful bill and the republican party liked that statement they call it
22:17one big beautiful bill so that's good and that's what it is it's great and it's currently before
22:23congress it provides all necessary funding for ice for border patrol and for the department of defense
22:29and i told you at a level that we've never had before over a trillion dollars we better get that bill
22:34approved otherwise your helicopters and your planes and your equipment's going to start to look a
22:40little bit old general you better push your favorite congressman you better push your these two senators
22:45i think they're in good shape however but we got to get it approved and those congressmen by you are
22:51all a hundred percent i don't even have to talk to them they've been so great
22:55so i want to sign this into law immediately and with the signing so many great things will happen to
23:01our country no tax on tips think of that
23:05no tax seniors on social security no tax on overtime it's going to they're going to pay for themselves
23:15and if you get a car and if you borrow money to buy the car we're going to let you deduct the interest
23:21payment if it's a new car made in america only if it's made in america if it's made in japan or china
23:26or any place else we're not really interested in your deduction i was elected winning all seven
23:33swing states the popular vote by millions and millions of votes in all counties throughout america
23:39by 2750 to 525 that's what i call a big number but this is a mandate from the people to restore the
23:49sovereign borders of the united states and that is exactly what we're doing not only the borders
23:54the financial institutions and our country itself we will not be deterred and the mob
24:02in los angeles or anyone else anywhere else will not succeed they don't even have a little chance
24:09and i will be calling you early as i see this happening because you know in theory i guess you
24:15could say a governor could call but they don't call they let their city burn like in minneapolis with
24:22this guy who ran for vice president against jd that was a good debate jd against this guy
24:27remember how bad he was that was one of the i said jd there's never been a man like you're competing
24:33against this is the worst i think he's running for president too can you believe it but he's a radical
24:38left lunatic and i'll never forget in minnesota that city was burning down minneapolis was burning down
24:49it was going to burn to the ground and he wouldn't call the guard and i waited for a long time and i
24:55called the guard and i saved it but i wish i would have called it the first day and i said you know
25:00if this ever happens again because i was thinking about running because the election was rigged and
25:05stolen we all know it they said we're going to run again and if i win which i hope remember too big
25:10to we're going to make it too big to rig but we did we won by millions and millions of votes so
25:16beautiful to watch that was such a beautiful 902 in the evening he said ladies and gentlemen
25:22donald trump is projected to be the winner i said well
25:26you think that was easy i don't think these ladies from north carolina think it was easy
25:33you know they followed me i don't know what happened to their husbands they're married to
25:37very nice people but they've been to what 138 rallies they said more and they're from north carolina it's
25:45nice that we have one nearby finally right they go all over the country i don't know what the hell's
25:51going on but they're great they're north carolina beautiful wonderful woman and we we appreciate like
25:56130 rallies or some crazy number are your husband satisfied with that are they okay oh here he is he
26:03showed up one of them showed up that's great congratulations great women actually the great patriots
26:11we will use every asset at our disposal to quell the violence and restore law and order right away
26:17we're not going to wait seven days and eight days and wait for a governor that's never going to call
26:21and watch cities burn and let me tell you but we didn't do this los angeles would burn it would be
26:28burning to the ground right now just like their houses burned to the ground just a few months ago
26:34and the only flag that will wave triumphant over the streets of los angeles is the american flag
26:41so help me god the american flag is the one that's going to wave triumphantly over the street
26:49and now let's get back to the true reason we're here today celebrating 250 years of unbreakable army
26:58courage this week we commemorate not just the starting point in army history but a turning point
27:07in the history of the world that's how important it is when the continental congress created the army
27:13and appointed its first commander named happened to be george washington did has anybody heard of him
27:19george washington uh are you okay darling are you all right you take your time please doctor please
27:26doctor doctor in the house thank you thank you very much
27:33these are great people they've been waiting here a long time
27:38general so you know we want to give them all the time they need right thank you very much
27:45great people in the world they are amazing amazing
28:05oh good thank you very much thank you
28:15okay honey thank you
28:21beautiful young person
28:24beautiful young person we have a lot of young people you know they have
28:30we won we won young people old people and everything in between it's sort of nice
28:35remember they used to say but trump doesn't have the young people we won
28:39we won everything
28:41thank you very much doctor great job
28:44when the continental congress created the army and appointed its first commander general george
28:50washington they sent the fierce spirit of a free nation into battle
28:54under a rallying cry that echoes to this day
28:57give me liberty or give me death
29:01have you heard of it quite a beautiful statement
29:04think of what that means give me liberty or give me death
29:09i know exactly what that means
29:10just three days after the birth of the army
29:14the great patriot founding father dr joseph warren
29:18was on the front lines as a soldiers stood totally outnumbered and outgunned at bunker hill
29:26they had a group of soldiers against them that was supposed to be in that day
29:30unbeatable warren's mother had begged him
29:35son please don't do it she said please please don't do it don't risk your life
29:40for even the patriot cause please
29:44and he replied wherever danger is dear mother
29:50there your son will be
29:52i will either set my country free or shed my last drop of blood to make us
29:58so so beautiful so the words are so beautiful
30:01at bunker hill warren kept his vow fighting and fighting and fighting and loving his country until he fell
30:08drenched in blood and gave his life
30:11at the very young age of 34 exactly 250 years later
30:17we are joined by dr warren's great great great great great grandson
30:23and it's seven generations down
30:26and now an iraq war veteran retired army specialist
30:32scott warren is here with his daughter
30:36sergeant e5 carrington sanders of fort erwin
30:40i want to just where are you where you where would you be in this big crowd
30:44thank you very much
30:48what an honor
30:49what an honor
30:52you look great too by the way
30:56you really look great thank you very much
30:59what a great family
31:01but you carry in your veins the love and devotion
31:04of a martyr for american liberty please stand
31:09just just put that hand up once more for the people because they want thank you very much you're looking good
31:16looking good good genes
31:18good genetics
31:20thank you both
31:22thank you very much
31:24the life of a soldier is not just a job
31:28it's a calling and a sacred tradition passed down from father to son brother to sister
31:34and one generation to the next that every hour of danger our noblest citizens have answered that call
31:42kiss their loved ones goodbye and run
31:45to the sound of guns you run to the sound of guns you're running right into them you're going to win
31:51when the british tried to reconquer our young nation in 1812
31:56one thousand americans at fort mchenry
31:59fought off a british invasion fleet five thousand strong they say it was unstoppable
32:05lieutenant francis scott key you all heard the name watched from baltimore harbor
32:12as the army kept old glory flying high
32:16many people died deeply inspired he wrote a poem
32:20in tribute to army courage and american pride known today as the
32:25star spangled banner or our national anthem great
32:30eight generations later we're joined by a descendant of francis scott key
32:36who has spent two decades in uniform major
32:39kyle key of army national guard fame please major where are you
32:47thank you thank you looking good too what's going on here these guys are
32:56they all come from a very fine strain of blood
33:01that's great genetics is right thank you both very much
33:05major key thank you for helping to keep this
33:09incredible land of ours free and the home of the brave and that's what it
33:14was through the decades that followed the army conquered
33:18the great frontier won the war that restored our nation and broke
33:22forever the chains of slavery
33:25a generation later the army's rough riders
33:28stormed up san juan hill with colonel
33:31theodore roosevelt and swept the last foreign empire from the american hemisphere
33:39forever forever swept
33:42in world war one our doughboys fought bravely in the valley of the marne
33:47and in the argonne
33:50there in 1918 a devout tennessee christian named alvin york
33:55you know that name
33:56and charged across an open field towards the german machine guns they were firing
34:01at levels at that time that nobody had ever seen before they were knocking down
34:07everything in their way including giant trees were coming down
34:10the enemy mowed down more than half of his platoon almost
34:17immediately the platoon was going down like nobody's ever thought possible
34:24but york pressed on into the jaws of death he slayed german after german and returned with
34:31132 prisoners from behind the enemy lines and
34:35he had the option of killing them and he didn't want to do that and that's okay isn't it right
34:41it's okay but he brought 132 back
34:45and his actions
34:47and the actions of that great day
34:50at crazy but great day sergeant york earned the congressional medal of honor and became one of the
34:56most famed and decorated heroes of the first world war
35:01very famous actually because of the movie that was made
35:05and we're joined today by sergeant york's grandson army colonel
35:09gerald york
35:11gerald
35:12thank you thank you gerald
35:15thank you very much
35:20it's a great honor to have you thank you gerald
35:26at his grandfather's funeral in 1964 gerald was told by
35:30the command sergeant major of fort bragg that it was about time
35:35he joined the army and he volunteered for combat in vietnam and gave the army 31
35:42of his best years no i think your best years are right now you look very good
35:47your best years are right now keep it going
35:49but colonel york we salute you we salute your family and
35:53the fame and the bravery of your family thank you very much appreciate you being here
35:58and in world war ii the army once again came to the free world's
36:06rescue among the millions and millions who volunteered was
36:10henry armstrong he enlisted six months before his high school graduation
36:15and did basic training right here at fort bragg
36:19by the next year he was in normandy
36:22he fought his way across france as part of patent's third army
36:27crossed the rhine into the heart of germany and helped liberate a nazi
36:31concentration camp he was a brave person
36:35command sergeant major henry armstrong is here with us today he's 100 years old
36:40a veteran of numerous world war ii battles and 41 years in the army
36:52thank you wow
36:55he's a great amazing people thank you very much great thank you very much
37:00he's joined by his grandson army major dennis armstrong
37:05and dennis i assume that's you right thank you dennis
37:10and dennis's wife captain shelley armstrong they love
37:14they love the military and they love our country thank you very much shelley thank you very much appreciate it
37:20and their son tanner where's tanner let me see oh he looks good too they all look good
37:26tanner might look the best actually thank you very much who's an active duty staff sergeant in the 82nd airborne right here in fort bragg
37:37he could right now run for office i think he's very popular in korea our warriors held the front
37:43front line in the battle against communism and liberated millions and millions into the light of
37:48freedom to vietnam we sent some of the toughest men who ever wore army boots and olive drab
37:56one of them was joe marm of pennsylvania he was 23 years old when his platoon was ordered to rescue
38:05soldiers surrounded by the enemy in the battle of ya drang lieutenant marm charged into heavy fire
38:14killing four enemy soldiers in the brush before sprinting across 40 yards of open field
38:20his teammates could not believe he was doing it actually they said he then tossed a grenade that
38:27killed eight vietcong gunners plunged into the trenches and killed still more before being shot in the jaw badly in
38:36the jaw he successfully cleared the way for his men to save their stranded comrades and frankly for his
38:43men to save their own lives he was unbelievable for his exceptional bravery lieutenant marm received
38:50the congressional medal of honor and retired as an army colonel after 30 years of service colonel marm
38:56is here today with his two sons will and walter both army rangers what a great family legacy please stand up
39:05how's your jaw feeling all right the jaw it's all right looks pretty good i wish mine looked that good it's very good
39:19thank you very much great family appreciate it real heroes
39:24in the modern era soldiers have charged into the darkest caves and ventured into the most
39:30godforsaken places to vanquish the forces of radical islamic terror
39:35from the face of the earth in 2007 chief warrant officer eric phillips was stationed at a
39:42remote outpost in the afghan mountains when a massive taliban force attacked from all sides
39:49he thought he was finished for three hours he led a hellacious counter assault to successfully repulse
39:56the enemy in close combat in the same deployment eric again repelled an attack by a vastly larger enemy
40:03force saving countless lives for his spectacular gallantry chief phillips earned the distinguished service
40:11cross and the silver star becoming among the most highly decorated warriors of any branch
40:18in the war on terror actually he is the most decorated and it's not even that close many many battles
40:27many many medals and he's with us today chief phillips you did us all proud please stand up chief phillips
40:36thank you thank you thank you very much thank you
40:45you are army strong thank you very much chief from the american revolution until today the story of
40:53the army is the tale of an unbroken chain of american patriots who gave all they had
40:59for this country it is the saga of epic men like washington and jackson grant and custer pershing and
41:07eisenhower patten and macarthur wild bill donovan and the great general william yarborough father of the
41:17green berets you know that the green berets you know that william yarborough it's the story of fabled
41:23units like the old guard the iron brigade the big red one the buffalo soldiers the harlem hell fighters
41:32the tuskegee airmen the screaming eagles and george pattens hell on wheels they called it hell on wheels
41:39when he was after you it was not good the weapons of war have changed with every generation but the
41:46unflinching loyalty of the american soldier has always remained the same the army has always stayed
41:53true to its motto this we'll defend you know that this we'll defend army warriors who have laid down
42:02their lives for america rest by the thousands and the sacred soil of arlington and gettysburg
42:09anzio and manila and to far off places known only to god we owe everything to them today we renew our
42:21devotion to the cause of liberty for which they so selflessly lived and fought and so bravely died
42:29there could be no greater tribute to their memory than to prepare the army to dominate america's enemies
42:35for the next 250 years and more than that that's why under the trump administration we're focused on
42:43restoring the spirit of the u.s armed forces no soldier ever volunteered for the army to be lectured
42:51about transgender diversity or inclusion you don't want to hear that transgender for everybody we don't
42:59do that america's patriots join the army to kick down doors storm beaches kill terrorists and win america's
43:07wars that's what we want and that's what you want
43:18and to that end we're making that record investment but not only in the army and the other forces also
43:25because you work together as a team and we're including in that and across the board now you
43:30don't have to take this if you don't want you could be great patriots say i don't want to raise
43:36i do not i will not accept it let it go back into our country let's give it to gara gavin newscom
43:42so he can waste it in los angeles no we don't want to do that but we're giving you across the board
43:48raise for every single service member in the u.s armed forces we're giving you across the board
43:53and you deserve it you know we spend so much money on things that we shouldn't be spending it on
44:03but i think those days are stopping mr senators and congressmen that are with us as part of our
44:09one big beautiful bill we are also investing over one billion dollars to update your on-base housing
44:16and we're building a state-of-the-art missile defense shield to protect our homeland and it's
44:21called the golden dome it's going to be all made in america we've done it for others we're now doing
44:29it for about time right we're doing it for ourselves after years of recruiting shortfalls this is to me
44:35maybe the most exciting things we're setting the strongest peace time recruiting records ever just
44:43think of this six months ago we couldn't recruit anybody to join the military nobody wanted to join
44:48it was six months ago and then we had the election of november 5th and now we have the strongest
44:55recruiting numbers in the history of our country can you imagine that can you imagine that
45:05we've already surpassed our recruiting targets for 2025 and we're not done yet and i'll tell you it doesn't
45:12it make you feel good when you had to hear six seven months ago that nobody wants to join the army they
45:18don't want to join our military frankly they didn't want to join our police our firemen they lost confidence
45:24they lost faith in our country and just a short number of months later we're setting all-time records
45:33in fact your job might be in jeopardy somebody else may come in and take it that was bad we'll get you out
45:38of here you have to be good we're getting the best people that you've ever seen we're getting people
45:44that like i don't think we've ever seen anything like it great people are coming in doesn't it make
45:49you feel good though you have something and you're doing something other people want to join you isn't
45:53that a great feeling now wasn't it a lousy feeling just a short time ago when they announced you know
45:59you're a soldier and you're proud of your country and you're proud of the army in your case and you're
46:06reading stories about nobody wants to come in and join the military right isn't that lousy
46:10even the ladies from north carolina were not happy with that but then we had a great election we was
46:16it was amazing too big to rig we had a great election and all of a sudden the people are pouring
46:23in and we have incredible people like pete and the others that are here dan uh i think they made a big
46:30difference i really do so thank you very much all of you guys i think you've really made a big difference
46:34the army will soon be stronger bigger and better than ever before and every new soldier that joins
46:42our ranks will kindle the same fighting spirit exemplified by the likes of sergeant major jim
46:49schmidt who's no longer with us at 15 years old after lying about his age because he wanted to get in
46:58so badly jim trained at fort bragg to fight in world war ii when jim's middle school wrote to ask if he
47:06would attend his eighth grade graduation he wrote back that will be impossible as i'm rather busy now
47:15i'm in the hinterlands hunting down germans and i have to say this and italians i know there are a
47:21couple of germans and italians here as a paratrooper he made the famous drops at sicily and salerno
47:29while still a young boy too young to be in the army kicked him out they found out about it they kicked
47:35him out they discovered he was way underage they said jim you got to get out of here you're a hell of a
47:40soldier but you got to get out but that didn't stop jim he enlisted in the navy but the moment he turned
47:4718 he came right back and he joined the 82nd airborne how about that
47:57he went on to fight at the chosen reservoir in korea rough place saw combat in vietnam and ended
48:05his career right back at fort bragg having earned two silver stars three bronze stars and two purple
48:12hearts with us today is jim's widow peggy and their beloved grandson army specialist christian forbes
48:20who is currently deployed at our southern border defending our country from an invasion whether we
48:26like it or not it's an invasion but i don't know if you've heard uh the invasion was 99.9 percent stopped
48:35do you hear that 99 could even be more right 99.999 percent stopped that invasion is stopped so
48:43i think he's in good shape specialist forbes i want to thank you for defending america
48:48and you've obviously done a good job because that invasion has been stopped and we appreciate you
48:53being here thank you wherever you may be thank you very much thank you very much right we stopped that
49:01sucker didn't we huh we stopped it thank you very much each and every one of you here today carries
49:08in your souls the love strength and courage of millions upon millions of army patriots who came
49:15before you your uniforms bear the same stars and stripes that our ancestors carried to victory
49:21at yorktown across the great plains and over our rockies up the missionary ridge down through the
49:29streets of paris that's right we went down the streets of paris we've got to help our allies don't
49:35we across the sands of north africa and onto the shores of omaha beach into the blood-soaked hills of
49:42korea and it was a west point graduate named buzz aldrin who first planted our great american flag on the
49:51face of the moon we know that now it's your turn to carry that flag forward and to add your own
49:57daring deeds into this chronicle of triumph and legends now it's your duty to shield the flame of
50:05freedom that was first lit 250 years ago by the heroes of concord bridge and bunker hill
50:14standing before you today i am more confident than ever that in the days ahead and every generation to
50:21come the u.s army will heap glory upon glory upon glory upon us all you will protect every inch of u.s soil
50:33and you will defend america to the ends of the earth wherever danger is there the u.s army
50:41will be another beautiful phrase whatever peril comes our way whatever menace threatens our people
50:49you will stand strong you will be proud you will charge hard and you will keep that flame lit that
50:57beautiful beautiful flame you're going to keep it lit you will hold the flag high and you will do
51:04something that's become quite a famous little phrase also but you're a hell of a lot braver than me
51:12you will fight fight fight and you will win win win thank you god bless you god bless our soldiers
51:19and god bless the u.s army thank you very much thank you everybody
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