President Trump delivers a Memorial Day speech in Arlington National Cemetery.
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00:00Thank you very much.
00:19Thank you very much.
00:21Very special place and a very special day.
00:26Thank you to Vice President Vance, doing a
00:29terrific job.
00:30Thanks also to a man who has devoted his life to
00:34service members and veterans, Secretary of
00:36Defense Pete Hegseth, 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
00:56Chairman Cain, terrific military person.
01:01Members of the Cabinet, members of Congress, members
01:04of the United States Armed Forces, veterans, and many
01:08other distinguished guests.
01:10We gather today to honor the incredible service members
01:15who rest in glory in this cemetery and burial grounds
01:19around the world and in a thousand lonely places known
01:23only to God.
01:25In every hour of peril and every moment of crisis,
01:28American warriors have left behind the blessings of home
01:32and family to answer their nation's call.
01:36They've offered all that they had within them and given
01:39their last breaths to each and every one of us that we
01:44might live safe 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
02:00they have 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
02:14might die for others.
02:16They knew that.
02:17They asked nothing for it.
02:20They gave everything, and we owe them everything
02:24and much, much more.
02:29Each of the service members who have made the supreme
02:33sacrifice for our nation has also left an unfillable
02:37void and an unbreakable silence in the lives
02:41of all who love them.
02:44For the families of the fallen, you feel the absence
02:48of your heroes every day in the family.
02:51These are great families.
02:53These are wonderful families.
02:55In the familiar laugh no longer heard, the empty space
02:58at Sunday dinner, or the want of a hug or a pat on the
03:03back that will never come again.
03:07Every gold star family fights a battle long after the
03:10victory is won.
03:11And today, we lift you up and we hold you high.
03:18Thank you for giving America the brightest light in
03:21your lives.
03:21It's what you've done.
03:23We will never, ever forget our fallen heroes, and we
03:26will never forget our debt to you.
03:31This Memorial Day is especially significant as
03:34we commemorate 250 years since the first American
03:38patriots fell on the field of battle.
03:42Two and a half centuries ago, at Lexington Green,
03:46Concord Bridge, Bunker Hill, brave minute men and humble
03:51farm boys became the first to give their lives for a
03:54nation that did not yet have a name.
03:59With their deaths, men like John Brown, 23, Samuel
04:04Hadley, 28, and Abner Hosmer, 21, ignited the flame
04:11of liberty that now lights the inspires everybody and the
04:18entire world.
04:20Those young men could never have known what their
04:23sacrifice would mean to us.
04:25But we certainly know what we owe to them.
04:29Their valor gave us the freest, greatest, and most
04:33noble republic ever to exist on the face of the
04:35earth.
04:37A republic that I am fixing after a long and hard
04:40four years.
04:41That was a hard four years we went through.
04:44People pouring through our borders, unchecked people, doing
05:01things that are indescribable and not for today to discuss.
05:06But the republic that is now doing so very well, we're
05:10doing so very well right now, considering the
05:14circumstances, and we'll do record setting better with time.
05:18We will do better than we've ever done as a nation, better
05:21than ever before.
05:22I promise you that.
05:23In every generation since, at Trenton and Yorktown, at
05:35Vicksburg and Shiloh, and in faraway places with names
05:41like Chateau, Terere, Anzio, Iwo Jima, Quezon, Kandahar,
05:50really just a few chosen names.
05:54And these are names that have become so important on the
05:57altar of freedom.
06:00They plunged into the crucible of battle, stormed into the
06:03fires of hell, charged into the valley of death, and rose
06:09into the arms of angels.
06:12The sacrifice that they made was not merely for a
06:15single battle, a long-ago victory or a fleeting
06:18triumph decades or centuries past.
06:22Their sacrifice was for today, tomorrow, and every
06:26morning thereafter.
06:28Every child that lives in peace, every home that is
06:31filled with joy and love, every day the republic stands
06:35only possible because of those who did what had to be done
06:40when duty called, and the cost was everything to them and
06:46to their families.
06:48Our debt to them is eternal, and it does not diminish with
06:52time.
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
07:02cast in bronze.
07:04It's all around us, an American nation, 325 million strong, which
07:10will soon be greater than it has ever been before.
07:15It will be.
07:17And so today, we uphold the memory of our heroes, as
07:21people have done since ancient times, by telling their stories
07:26and exalting their names.
07:29Senior Master Sergeant Elroy Harworth was a young, beautiful
07:34man from Earhart, Minnesota, when he enlisted in the Air Force and
07:39was sent to Vietnam.
07:42Fifty-nine years ago this very week, Elroy and his crewmates
07:47climbed into the dark skies over Da Nang on a classified mission known
07:53as 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
08:04try and get it done in the face of extreme danger.
08:08And they knew how bad it was.
08:10As their C-130 closed in on its target and Elroy jockeyed his 5,000
08:17pounds of explosives into position, the aircraft came under
08:22unbelievably intense fire.
08:24They'd never seen anything like it.
08:27Try as they might, they were hit as the plane swung low and they went down
08:33deep in enemy territory.
08:35Elroy was just 24 years old when he gave his life for America, leaving
08:40behind a beautiful young wife who was seven months pregnant.
08:45That meant Elroy would never know the joy of meeting his son, Troy, or seeing
08:50him grow, and he would never have the pride to watch his son follow in his
08:56father's footsteps and serve two decades in the U.S. Army.
09:02Sergeant First Class Troy Harworth is with us today, joined by his wife,
09:08Sonya, and their son, John.
09:10The grandson, Elroy, never got to hold.
09:14Thank you, Troy, and thank you, John.
09:16And above all, thank you, Elroy.
09:19Thank you very much.
09:20Please stand up.
09:23Wherever you may be.
09:29Thank you very much.
09:34Great family.
09:37Corporal Ryan McGee of Fredericksburg, Virginia, knew from the time he saw the
09:42towers fall on 9-11 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
10:16cell near 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.
11:01Thank 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.
11:20Thank 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
12:05ISIS terrorists 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
12:40say your mom was a hero, and her love, her strength, and her spirit are always with us
12:47and always be 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.
13:02I just want to thank you, and thank you so much for being here in honor of your magnificent
13:08family member.
13:11Stories 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?
13:22The boys, I want to see those boys.
13:39Thank 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
14:12and 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.
14:40In 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.
14:54Can you imagine?
14:54I missed that four years.
14:56And now look what I have.
14:57I have everything amazing the way things work out.
15:01God did that.
15:08I believe that too.
15:09God did it.
15:15You 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.
15:27But 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 as
15:47I'm concerned, in any corner of this cemetery, at any resting place for our war dead, anywhere on
15:53earth, you'll find untold stories of equal heroism and heartbreak, unmatched patriotism and
16:00devotion and acts of selflessness 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
16:22moves the course of history and moves it always toward freedom, always.
16:27From Bunker Hill to Bastogne to Cantonese to Coral Sea, from Gettysburg to Guadalcanal
16:35and Concord to Kabul, America's best and America's bravest have fought, bled and died so that we
16:43could pick up the torch of liberty, raise it high, high, high, high, and carry it onward
16:50to places they could never have dreamed of before.
16:54Today, we honor their memory.
16:56We remember their gallantry.
16:58We just revere, in the highest sense, we just revere their incredible legacy.
17:05We salute them in their eternal and everlasting glory, and we continue our relentless pursuit
17:12of America's destiny as we make our nation stronger, prouder, 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.
17:32America, thank you very much, everybody. Great honor. Thank you.
17:35Thank you very much.