President Donald Trump honored America’s “fallen heroes” on Monday by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and giving a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery.
A video shared on X, formerly Twitter, shows the president, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth participating in Monday’s ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery and saluting as the National Anthem was played in honor of America’s fallen service members.
After presenting a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the president gave a speech in honor of the many service members who have died defending the United States.
“We gather today to honor the incredible service members who rest in glory in this cemetery and burial grounds around the world, and in a thousand lonely places known only to God,” Trump stated. “In every hour of peril and every moment of crisis, American warriors have left behind the blessings of home and family to answer their nation’s call. They’ve offered all that they had within them and given their last breaths to each and every one of us, that we might live safe and breathe free.”
In his speech, Trump honored the “immortal deeds” of America’s fallen service members and expressed the nation’s gratitude for the “ultimate gift” that has been “selflessly given” by service members who died for their country. “They gave everything, and we owe them everything,” Trump said.
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The president described America’s fallen service members as “warriors,” adding, “And that’s what they are as great, great warriors picked up their mantle of duty and service, knowing that to live for others meant always that they might die for others.”
Trump emphasized that this year’s Memorial Day celebration was “especially significant” as the country celebrates “250 years since the first American Patriots fell on the field of battle two and a half centuries ago.”
“At Lexington Green, Concord Bridge, Bunker Hill, brave minutemen and humble farm boys became the first to give their lives for a nation that did not yet have a name,” Trump told the crowd at Arlington National Cemetery. “Those young men could never have known what their sacrifice would mean to us, but we certainly know what we owe to them. Their valor gave us the freest, greatest, and most noble republic ever to exist on the face of the earth.”
In conclusion to his speech, Trump said, “May God bless our fallen heroes, may God bless our Gold Star families, and may God bless the United States of America.”
