President Donald Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery to commemorate Memorial Day and honored America’s fallen in remarks thereafter.
Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stood with the president during the ceremony. The Star Spangled Banner and Taps preceded and followed the president’s laying of the wreath.
Trump, Vance, Hegseth, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, then delivered remarks in the amphitheater.
“With reverent hearts, we honor those who fell so that our republic might stand, those who died so that our nation could live, those who gave up their sacred light on earth so that the sublime light of American freedom would shine forever and ever,” Trump said.
“This Memorial Day, we salute them, we exalt them, and we thank them for all that we have and for all that they gave. They gave everything. God bless our fallen heroes,” he added.
Trump vowed to Gold Star families that their loved ones who died for the United States will never be forgotten.
Vance spoke to the debt Americans owe their fallen, and the enormous sacrifices those soldiers made for the country:
Today is for those veterans who put on uniform, who went overseas and who never came home. When I think about the debt that we owe them, I think about all the things that they gave, which can’t be measured in dollars or in the things of this world, but are measured in things like weddings that they never got to attend, children that they never saw grow up, daughters and sons that they never got to hug and kiss again, loved ones, husbands and wives. They traded every moment from the moment where they gave their lives to the moment where they would ultimately meet their natural end, every single one of those moments they gave up that the United States might remain the freest and best country in the entire world. What an amazing thing. What an amazing gift.
In his remarks, Hegseth stressed that the United States and its freedoms were paid for with “American blood.”
“This solemn day, we must remember that our republic was forged and purchased with blood, American blood. So take pause today and consider the transformation these warriors went through for our nation. Share it with your kids and your grandkids. We must,” he said.
“Ordinary men, when called, can become our heroes. They fought not because they hate what’s in front of them, but because they love what’s behind them,” he added.
Addressing Gold Star families who lost a loved one in action, Caine promised that their family member will never be forgotten.
“To the Gold Star families here today, and those watching across this great nation, we know that for you Memorial Day is not a single date on a calendar, it’s literally every single day,” he said.
“You bear a burden that most of us cannot comprehend, but you do so with a grace and resilience that inspires an entire nation. We cannot replace what you’ve lost, but we can promise you this: your loved ones’ names will never be forgotten,” he added.
Caine said their names are “woven into the fabric of the story of our nation.”
