President Donald Trump on Memorial Day honored Americans who gave their lives in defense of liberty, saying, "Their sacrifice was for today, tomorrow, and every morning after."
Speaking Monday at Arlington National Cemetery after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Trump said, "We will never forget our debt" to such heroes.
"Every child that lives in peace, every home that is filled with joy and love, every day the Republic stands, is only possible because of those who did what had to be done when duty called and the cost was everything," Trump said.
"Our debt to them is eternal — and it does not diminish with time, it only grows and grows with each passing year. The greatest monument to their courage is not carved in marble or cast in bronze — it is all around us, an American nation 300 million strong, which will soon be greater than ever before."
Trump praised American "warriors," who "picked up the mantle of duty and service, knowing that to live for others meant always that they might die for others."
"They asked nothing," the president said. "They gave everything. And we owe them everything and more."
Joined by Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Trump placed a wreath at the monument.
"For the families of the fallen, you feel the absence of your heroes every day — in the familiar laugh no longer heard, the empty space at Sunday dinner, or the want of a hug or a pat on the back that will never come again," he said in his speech.
"Every Gold Star family fights a battle long after the victory is won — and today, we lift you up and we hold you high."
Trump added that every American generation has produced heroes who have defended the nation.
"In every generation since, at Trenton and Yorktown, at Vicksburg and Shiloh — and in faraway places with names like Château-Thierry, Anzio, Iwo Jima, Khe Sanh, and Kandahar — a chosen few have given all on the altar of freedom," Trump said.
"They plunged into the crucible of battle, stormed into the fires of hell, charged into the valley of death, and rose into the arms of angels."
"From Bunker Hill to Bastogne and Cantigny to the Coral Sea, from Gettysburg to Guadalcanal and Concord to Kabul, America's best and America's bravest have fought, bled, and died so that we could pick up the torch of liberty, raise it high, and carry it onward to places they could never have dreamed."
Administration officials in attendance at the cemetery included Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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