May 26, 2025 - The Benny Show - Benny Johnson
01:34:06
Participants
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| Speaker | Time | Text |
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The relationship is getting icy. | |
| Later this morning, President Trump will honor America's fall in at Arlington National Cemetery. | ||
| But also on his mind are the tens of thousands of soldiers who've lost their lives in the Ukrainian-Russian War. | ||
| And he's blaming Vladimir Putin for dragging it on. | ||
| I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. | ||
| He's killing a lot of people. | ||
| And I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. | ||
| I've known him a long time. | ||
| Always gotten along with him. | ||
| But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people, and I don't like it at all, okay? | ||
| We're in the middle of talking, and he's shooting rockets into Kiev and other cities. | ||
| I don't like it at all. | ||
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The tough words come a week after Trump and Putin had a two-hour phone call when the Russian president supposedly agreed to immediately start ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine. | |
| But then Russia went and launched several large aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities over the weekend, including over 350 drone strikes last night. | ||
| On Truth Social, Trump said, I've always had a very good relationship with Vladimir Putin of Russia, but something has happened to him. | ||
| He has gone absolutely crazy. | ||
| Likewise, President Zelensky is doing his country no favors by talking the way he does. | ||
| Everything out of his mouth causes problems. | ||
| I don't like it, and it better stop. | ||
| Trump says he's considering putting more sanctions on Russia, while elsewhere in Europe, he's agreed to delay the 50% tariff on the EU after getting a call from the European Commission president. | ||
| She asked for an extension on the June 1st date, and she said she wants to get down to serious negotiation because I told you specifically, I told anybody that would listen, they have to do that. | ||
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On Truth Social, again, Trump says he agreed to the extension and the new deadline for the EU to make a deal is July 9th. | |
| The commission president says Europe is ready to begin talks immediately to save its close relationship in trade with the U.S. Good morning. | ||
| Good morning! | ||
| Good morning! | ||
| Today is Memorial Day, and we have a very special live for you today. | ||
| This wasn't something that we were planning on doing. | ||
| We didn't know that President Trump would be making remarks. | ||
| Donald Trump is inbound to Arlington National Cemetery right now, at this very moment. | ||
| And we're going to cover those remarks live, and we're going to bring them to you because today is a very special day. | ||
| Today is an important day. | ||
| It's a day that we have to all be reminded. | ||
| Exactly what is the purpose of everything that we do here? | ||
| The purpose of everything that we do is to pass on our values, to create a country that has a culture that can be imparted to our children. | ||
| The only way that that happens sometimes is good men die for that, right? | ||
| And so we honor them today. | ||
| This is the awaiting ceremony, a live shot where President Trump will be making Remarks. | ||
| We have a bit of news to cover while we await the president's arrival. | ||
| His entire administration is there. | ||
| The names of people who are in attendance is almost too long to mention. | ||
| ALX is gathering that up right now, but pretty much his entire cabinet is there. | ||
| The secretaries of the Army, Navy, Commandant of the Marine Corps. | ||
| And, of course, the entire Pentagon brass will be in attendance. | ||
| And so while, again, we weren't planning on going live today, we were in the studio anyway and saw this announcement and said, let's do it. | ||
| President Trump has been clearly rocking over the last few days, bringing us real patriotic zeal. | ||
| And we thought, why not punch forward? | ||
| Because that is the point here, isn't it? | ||
| To be able to pass on our values. | ||
| To our children, ladies and gentlemen, some people who didn't get a chance to meet or see their children or to live past their teenage years have been eternally memorialized in Arlington National Cemetery. | ||
| You'll hear President Trump very, very soon. | ||
| Klein, I'm going to need my window up, and let's rock and roll, please. | ||
| So this is our graphic for today. | ||
| Some of you may be on a beach. | ||
| It's certainly where I'm planning to head with my children after we Do this, a little bit of studio work, and then an interview, this live, and then head out. | ||
| Don't forget their day on the beach so that you could have yours. | ||
| What is Memorial Day? | ||
| Well, let's check in on the Arlington National Cemetery website right here for what Arlington Cemetery, where President Trump will be speaking soon, describes Memorial Day like this with a quote from Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Whitman, 1868, no doubt a lieutenant colon from the Civil War. | ||
| That nation which respects and honors its dead shall ever be respected and honored itself. | ||
| Memorial Day is a federal holiday held in the last Monday of May. | ||
| It's nation's foremost annual day to mourn and honor its deceased servicemen and women. | ||
| Originally called Decoration Day, it is formalized by a Memorial Day order. | ||
| Issued by the Grand Army of the Republic Commander-in-Chief John A. Logan in 1868 after the Civil War. | ||
| The modern proclamation calls for America to observe Memorial Day by praying in accordance with their individual religious faith for permanent peace. | ||
| Isn't that beautiful? | ||
| Isn't this what President Trump is trying to bring about right now? | ||
| Wouldn't that be the greatest way to honor our dead? | ||
| Is to not have more dead? | ||
| Do not take more lives? | ||
| And do not sacrifice more of our greatest treasure, the treasury in this country, our national debt be damned. | ||
| The greatest treasure of this nation is its fine, patriotic, upstanding young men and women who fight and die. | ||
| I'm always reminded that I think there were three, maybe four women who died at Abbey Gate with Joe Biden's suicidal withdrawal and surrender of Afghanistan. | ||
| It's heartbreaking, truly. | ||
| We remember them today. | ||
| Permanent peace. | ||
| Boy, it really makes you wonder how many of the wars that America has been entangled in over its short 250-year history even needed to happen, right? | ||
| It's something that we're deeply in favor of, stopping wars. | ||
| We heard yesterday that there was an assassination attempt on Vladimir Putin as Ukraine launched 27 different drones to try and blow up Putin's helicopter and kill him. | ||
| And kick off World War III, which would be an absolute inevitability. | ||
| So we just don't want that. | ||
| We don't want war in the Middle East. | ||
| We don't want war in Israel. | ||
| We don't want war in Ukraine. | ||
| We're not on the side of anyone, to be quite honest. | ||
| Frankly, we just kind of, you know, when it comes to war, they try and tell you that like one side is the side of the angels. | ||
| It's always a lie. | ||
| It's not true. | ||
| Pretty much just two demons fighting each other most of the time. | ||
| It really is what it is. | ||
| The angels is on the side of not. | ||
| Going to war. | ||
| And not plowing our greatest treasure, our young patriotic men, deep into the soil of some other nation. | ||
| That is not good for our country. | ||
| That is the costliest part of war. | ||
| We are against it, ladies and gentlemen. | ||
| In the early waning years of the Civil War, and immediately afterwards, communities in the North and South, black and white, decorated soldiers'graves. | ||
| With floral honors in springtime decoration days, the practice... | ||
| Strewing, correction, strewing, not sewing, strewing flowers on graves had been documented. | ||
| Classical Roman times to Western Europe in the 19th century. | ||
| May 5th of 1868, Grand Army of the Republic, powerful organization, the Union Veterans, led by Major General John Logan, issued a General Order 11 Memorial Day Act, the issuance formally established Memorial Day as a decoration day. | ||
| On which the nation would remember war dead and decorate their graves with flowers and flags, you see. | ||
| In subsequent decades, competition flourished to claim when and where the first such gathering occurred. | ||
| In one way or another, a recent scholarship, however, points to the ladies of Columbus, Georgia, in 1866, who lobbied for a clearly defined Memorial Day for the flowers and the graves of Civil War dead. | ||
| So that's the background of Memorial Day. | ||
| And obviously it is accelerated today, also known as Decoration Day, where we decorate the graves. | ||
| And of course you'll see in some of these larger military cemeteries, obviously decorations on every grave, including flowers but also American flags planted and so on. | ||
| maybe some of you were part of the planting of American flags on these graves today, a very regular activity. | ||
| I wanted to just take a... | ||
| a man who's a complete legend, who passed away and is with the Lord last night. | ||
| He's a prophetic man. | ||
| Phil Robertson was a good and peaceful man. | ||
| A man who brought salt, a lot of salt, lemonade, and light to the world. | ||
| Obviously of the dynasty fame, but a constant evangelist for his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and a patriot. | ||
| He passed away last night, again, at the age of 79. He's with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in heaven right now. | ||
| And a massive shout-out to Phil Robertson, somebody that I wish I'd gotten to know much better and not just met in passing, you know, backstage of these. | ||
| At certain events and things. | ||
| Legends will never die. | ||
| He had a seven-second Trump rally speech. | ||
| The only time that he spoke at a Trump rally speech in Monroe, Louisiana. | ||
| The great Phil Robertson. | ||
| Legends never die. | ||
| Here we go. | ||
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I got it down to this. | |
| If you're pro-God and pro-America, And pro-gun and pro-duck hunting. | ||
| That's all I want! | ||
| All right. | ||
| What a legend. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, rest in peace and our prayers out to the Robertson family. | ||
| Obviously, our prayers out to every military family as well. | ||
| You most likely, as an American, sadly know someone who perished in a war. | ||
| Perhaps the Korean War. | ||
| Perhaps World War II. | ||
| Many in Vietnam. | ||
| 55,000 Americans in Vietnam. | ||
| 10,000 Americans in recent years in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. | ||
| It is a fighting land that we live in. | ||
| We are a fighting people. | ||
| We honor those who fight for us. | ||
| The greatest honor that we can possibly give them is to not allow their memory to fade off. | ||
| Let's ensure that our nation is as strong as possible so we don't have to fight these stupid wars, so we don't have to fight evil. | ||
| Evil can be crushed by strong nations, good and Christian nations. | ||
| This is what President Trump was saying this weekend at West Point. | ||
| He spoke at the West Point Military Academy, and he had this to say. | ||
| It went totally viral on our page. | ||
| Millions of views, 10,000 reposts, 63,000 likes. | ||
| Let's go, President Trump. | ||
| Each of you on the field today is among the most talented members of your generation. | ||
| You could have done anything you wanted. | ||
| You could have gone anywhere. | ||
| You could have gone to any school. | ||
| This is one of the hardest schools to get into. | ||
| I think what you're doing is better. | ||
| Instead of sports teams and spreadsheets and software, you chose a Life of service, very important service, instead of stock options. | ||
| And I do that stuff. | ||
| It's sort of boring. | ||
| Honestly, compared to what you're doing, it's real boring. | ||
| You chose honor and you chose sacrifice. | ||
| And instead of business suits and dress shoes, you chose muddy boots and fatigues, keeping yourself in shape. | ||
| Because West Point cadets... | ||
| You also have the bravest hearts and the noblest souls. | ||
| You're amazing people. | ||
| All right. | ||
| What a beautiful commentary from President Trump. | ||
| You chose honor and sacrifice instead of business suits and dress shoes. | ||
| You chose muddy boots and fatigues. | ||
| You are amazing people. | ||
| Don't you love having an administration that treats the troops? | ||
| Our service members, as amazing people, look at this time-lapse of Vice President J.D. Vance shaking the hands of 1,000 Naval Academy graduates today. | ||
| Real leadership is back. | ||
| Just a reminder that this is the kind of event that Joe Biden fell directly ass-backwards on a stage right onto his face. | ||
| It was this event. | ||
| How demoralizing is that? | ||
| By design. | ||
| How demoralizing must that be? | ||
| By design. | ||
| Those evil bastards. | ||
| Truly, the longer you think about it, the moreβI'm not saying you should feel bad for Joe Biden. | ||
| I'm justβbecause Joe Biden was clearly in on it. | ||
| But what they wrought upon our nation, there was clearly a conspiracy, a criminal conspiracy theory around Joe Biden to halt the news that he had terminal cancer, something we wouldn't wish on anyone, but nonetheless could never do this job. | ||
| This is a tough job. | ||
| J.D. Vance, we're happy to report, didn't once fall over after shaking thousands of graduates' hands. | ||
| So J.D. Vance was at the Navy Academy. | ||
| President Trump was at West Point. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, Phil Robertson is with the Lord. | ||
| The military has released an epic ad featuring Pete Hegseth and President Trump as well. | ||
| This is the military's message on Memorial Day. | ||
| Come and join our sacred tribe. | ||
| Here we go. | ||
| No more distractions. | ||
| No more electric tanks. | ||
| No more gender confusion. | ||
| No more climate change worship. | ||
| We are laser focused on our mission of warfighting. | ||
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We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars we end, and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into. | |
| It's called peace through strength. | ||
| You look into the eyes of these young Americans who are giving up the best years of their lives in a uniform to serve their nation, they are incredible. | ||
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Through our power and might, We will leave the world to peace. | |
| Our friends will respect us. | ||
| Our enemies will fear us. | ||
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And the whole world will admire the unrivaled greatness of the United States military. | |
| We will replenish the pride of our armed forces, end the recruitment crisis. | ||
| We don't fight because we We hate what's in front of us. | ||
| We fight because we love what's behind us. | ||
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God bless you. | |
| God bless our own forces. | ||
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God bless our men and women serving overseas. | |
| And God bless the United States of America. | ||
| Completely freaking badass. | ||
| Get chills watching that. | ||
| President Trump has been announced as his arrival is imminent. | ||
| Donald Trump. | ||
| Has arrived, but is not on camera yet at Arlington National Cemetery. | ||
| What you're going to see here is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. | ||
| Okay, we can listen in here. | ||
| President Trump is going to be doing a wreath laying here. | ||
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unidentified
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You're the good guy. | |
| the calls here of the color guard. | ||
| The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is a place of complete and total silence. | ||
| Arguably, some of the most hollowed ground in all of military history. | ||
| The remains of soldiers. | ||
| From wars past who could not be identified based on their injuries. | ||
| It is guarded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 4 weeks out of the month and 12 months out of the year by an honor guard who lives in the building, who lives in the tomb, technically, who live in barracks inside of Arlington National Cemetery, inside of this. | ||
| A beautiful marble structure that you will see here in the shop. | ||
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unidentified
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Okay. | |
| The changing of the guard is a sacred ceremony through sleet and snow and rain, freezing temperatures. | ||
| The guard remains, and here we see marching up to the memorial itself for their military brass. | ||
| The president, again, has arrived, and we wait for Donald Trump on camera. | ||
| President Trump will be laying a ceremonial wreath at the tomb, as is tradition. | ||
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President Trump will be laying a ceremonial wreath at the tomb. | |
| Raisin Cain is present. | ||
| He is President Trump's new Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Military, Raisin Cain. | ||
| We had an excellent meeting with Pete Hegseth. | ||
| of the previous ad that we just played, Fame, in Washington, D.C. I'll fill you in on some of those details momentarily. | ||
| Raisin Cane, an Air Force general, not the chicken place. | ||
| As has been noted in my producer chat, to ensure that there is a distinction. | ||
| The old guard is the name This looks like some of the President's detail there walking through, being escorted through. | ||
| The Old Guard is the name of the Sentinels, is what they are called. | ||
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The Armed Forces Honor Guard and the United States Army Band are formed and waiting as the President moves to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to place the wreath. | |
| Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the playing of the national anthem. | ||
| The wreath-laying taps and while the president observes a moment of silence. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Present! | ||
| Out! | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| The reason is now being placed by the president. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Order! | ||
| Right shoulder arch! | ||
| The president has paused for a moment of silence. | ||
| Please be seated March! | ||
| March! | ||
| Walk time, left wheel, march. | ||
| Colors halt. | ||
| Present. | ||
| Arm. | ||
| Order. | ||
| Arm. | ||
| Retire the colors. | ||
| Colors. | ||
| Left wheel, march. | ||
| Right step. | ||
| March. | ||
| March time. | ||
| March. | ||
| Commander! | ||
| Commander! | ||
| Take charge of your unit. | ||
| Merging zone. | ||
| Marks. | ||
| Time. | ||
| About. | ||
| Fish. | ||
| Mark. | ||
| Or. | ||
| About. | ||
| Eight. | ||
| Or. | ||
| About. | ||
| Eight. | ||
| Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh | ||
| Oh Oh Oh | ||
| Oh Oh | ||
| Oh Oh Oh | ||
| Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh | ||
| Oh Thank | ||
| you. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Dear God, as we gather here on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery, we pause to remember and honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our great nation. | ||
| Today our hearts overflow with Deep appreciation for the men and women who selflessly place themselves in harm's way to safeguard the freedoms we hold so dear. | ||
| Their courage, both seen and unseen, have shaped the fabric of our nation's history. | ||
| With each step they took, they paved the way for a future defined by liberty and opportunity. | ||
| And so, dear God, if you will allow us... | ||
| Grant us the wisdom to not only recognize their commitment to service, but give us the capacity to live lives worthy of their efforts. | ||
| And finally, dear God, may we find a certain level of of solace and peace in the knowledge that their precious memory lives on in the hearts and minds of all Americans. | ||
| For it is in your mighty and holy name we pray and we all say together amen and amen. | ||
| Please remain standing and join the United States Marine Band and Staff Sergeant Hannah Davis in the singing of our national anthem. | ||
| Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? | ||
| But stripes and | ||
| bright Please be | ||
| seated. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, General Dan Kane. | ||
| Well, good morning, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Secretary Hegseth, Department of Defense leaders, my fellow Joint Chiefs of Staff. | ||
| Distinguished guests, veterans, fellow Americans, and most importantly, Gold Star families, welcome. | ||
| Welcome to this most hallowed ground on this most special day. | ||
| We gather here today under thankfully non-rainy skies that stretch over a free nation and among these beautiful white marble headstones in this special place. | ||
| That represents brave men and women who gave us the gift of a perfect example. | ||
| The gift of selfless sacrifice for something greater than themselves. | ||
| Since the founding of our great nation, over one million of our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, brothers, and sisters have donned the cloth of our nation and never come home. | ||
| Every one of them believed that defending our great nation when duty calls is a righteous and worthy cause. | ||
| And they were right. | ||
| It is. | ||
| Their perfect example brings us back to places etched in our warfighter memories. | ||
| Places with names like Valley Forge, Gettysburg, Normandy, Inchon, Coast, We're also reminded of the many places we've never heard of, on and under the sea, on land and in the air, where incredible acts of valor and sacrifice were followed by a knock on a door. | ||
| It is in those families left to carry on whose loss Forever lives on in their hearts and in their memories, but also in the sustaining pride of being an American Gold Star family that we find incredible courage and strength. | ||
| Families with last names like Sather, Duthman, Gilbert, Brown, Barber, Henderson, Zembiek, Jones, Wheeler, Kent, and so many others. | ||
| It's in the lives of the fallen and their families that were left by a standard to live by, a charge for us all to keep, a charge to carry the torch forward with duty, courage, and love of country. | ||
| Their legacy is entrusted to us, the living. | ||
| It is our responsibility to carry that weight and to live in a way worthy of their sacrifice. | ||
| And to never forget what they did for us. | ||
| General George Patton once said it best on a day like today when he said we should thank God that such men lived. | ||
| I know I sure do. | ||
| Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Mr. Secretary, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here on this Memorial Day to honor those we lost in the service of our nation and their families who carry on so bravely. | ||
| May we never forget our fallen and their families. | ||
| May we never forget our deployed forces and their families. | ||
| And it is now my sincere honor and privilege to introduce the 29th Secretary of Defense, a combat veteran himself who's knelt before battlefield crosses, who's seen up close the courage and sacrifice we're here to honor today, and who never ever forgets that the gifts given here Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Pete Hegseth. | ||
| Raksa, President Trump, Vice President Vance, Chairman Cain, Gold Star families, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us today to remember our fallen warriors. | ||
| We gather here to honor our very best, gone in their youth. | ||
| To properly do so, we understand who they are and what they fought for. | ||
| It is our simple duty to them. | ||
| You know, throughout time, civilizations have honored the powerful, the well-connected. | ||
| And the well-born emperors and kings have built magnificent shrines to their own royal greatness. | ||
| Yet in America, with our great experiment in self-government, it is fitting that the most honored and closely guarded tomb in the land is that of an anonymous soldier of an unknown rank. | ||
| When the first unknown soldier was selected for burial in 1921, he laid in state at the Capitol Rotunda. | ||
| Throngs of Americans paid their respects. | ||
| When the tomb was dedicated on November 11th, Veterans Day, the unknown received the Medal of Honor. | ||
| It's a uniquely American tradition that we honor anonymous sacrifice above worldly greatness. | ||
| While we don't know the unknown's identity, race, or creed, we know his story. | ||
| It's the story of every soldier Every warrior. | ||
| It's a simple story. | ||
| As old as war. | ||
| A young man with hopes and dreams and loves who's called by his country leaves behind his hometown, his parents, his siblings, his sweetheart. | ||
| All that he knows to go fight a war that he may or may not understand. | ||
| He's called to go through hell and back. | ||
| To sleep in a trench to eat out of a tin cup or on the hood of a Humvee. | ||
| To pray as bullets and bombs thunder around him. | ||
| To fear for the bullet or the mortar or the IED or the RPG with his name on it. | ||
| He does it willingly and stoically because he loves his country, his brothers in arms and his family. | ||
| This is the story of the unknown. | ||
| The story of the fallen soldier who we have gathered today to honor. | ||
| It is the story of the American warrior. | ||
| He answered the call, fought, and died for this republic. | ||
| The ultimate sacrifice of a free people. | ||
| You see, the American soldier fights not because he hates what's in front of him, but because he loves what's behind him. | ||
| We honor his selfless sacrifice, his courage, His duty and his love. | ||
| As Jesus taught his disciples, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. | ||
| This love is a gift given freely, and yet this gift comes with responsibility to those living. | ||
| We owe a duty to those who have fallen in war. | ||
| They have paid a debt we can never repay, and for that we owe gratitude and remembrance. | ||
| We owe at least this, to remember their sacrifice and honor their memory year after year, salute after salute, ceremony after ceremony, parade after parade, prayer after prayer, that by our remembrance we keep lit the eternal flame of their heroic deeds in defense of our nation. | ||
| And we owe eternal vigilance. | ||
| Eternal vigilance, the price of freedom. | ||
| These men died for something. | ||
| The hope of a free, secure and peaceful republic. | ||
| That is our inheritance and we must steward it and hand it down to our kids and our grandkids. | ||
| We must live worthy of it. | ||
| These men dreamt of a future in which their children would not fear of attack. | ||
| No enemy could threaten their peace. | ||
| No war could require them to take up arms. | ||
| The duty we owe these men is peace, which only can be achieved through strength. | ||
| And because we strive for peace, we must prepare for war. | ||
| That's the job of the Chairman and I and so many others at the Defense Department. | ||
| Each and every day, we will never, on behalf of those who've given so much, we will never be complacent. | ||
| We owe these men nothing less. | ||
| Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. | ||
| So on this Memorial Day, in honor of the unknown soldiers and the known, let us rededicate ourselves to God and country. | ||
| To our great republic 249 years on, we stand on the shoulders of great men and on the shoulders of those great men in those graves, and may we live worthy. | ||
| of it. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| God bless our warriors and may God bless our fallen. | ||
| And amen. | ||
| Amen. | ||
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Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Marine Band with the United States Navy Band Sea Chanters will now perform "This Land is Your Land." and. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| I called and rambled, and then I followed my footsteps to the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts, and all around me a voice was sounding, this land was made for you and me. | ||
| The sun came shining, and I was strolling, and the wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling. | ||
| As the fog was lifting, our voice was singing. | ||
| This land was made for you and me. | ||
| This land is your land, this land is my land. | ||
| From California to the New York Island, from the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters, this land was made for you and me. | ||
| Nobody living can ever stop me As I go walking that freedom highway Nobody living can make me turn back This land was made for you and me. | ||
| This land is your land, this land is my land. | ||
| From California to the New York Island, from the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters, this land was made for you and me. | ||
| You and me. | ||
| You and me. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, Vice President J.D. Vance. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Well, thank you, everyone. | ||
| Thank you to that incredible choir and band. | ||
| And thanks to General Kane and Secretary Hegseth for your powerful words. | ||
| Thank you, most importantly, for everything that you do for our nation's warfighters and for those who have given their lives to this country. | ||
| We remember you today. | ||
| And certainly to our Gold Star families who are so thrilled and so grateful to have you with us in attendance. | ||
| This is a sacred place, an eternal resting spot for our nation's sons and daughters. | ||
| We gather in solemn commemoration of their sacrifice and the sacrifice made by all those who gave up their lives in service to our beloved country. | ||
| In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson laid the cornerstone of the memorial amphitheater we gather in today. | ||
| Buried within it was a copper box. | ||
| Which contained mementos of profound significance to the amphitheater's designers and to our entire country. | ||
| There were four things. | ||
| An American flag, a Bible, a copy of our Declaration of Independence, and a copy of the U.S. Constitution. | ||
| And the objects they chose to dedicate to posterity, those Americans remind us of the values we hold timeless and dear as a nation and as a people. | ||
| But those values didn't spring from any stonework or time capsule. | ||
| They were lived out day after day by the people buried in this hallowed cemetery. | ||
| Each life honored here in Arlington was once full of the ordinary moments and quiet dreams, of early sunrises, of good days and bad days, of celebrations and disappointments. | ||
| They stood not apart from us, but among us. | ||
| Ordinary men and women who chose to shoulder an impossible burden. | ||
| And when we consider what they gave to us, it's common, of course, to focus on their debts. | ||
| on the courage to give in that moment what very few are willing or able to sacrifice. | ||
| But the real tragedy Every moment between their sacrifice on the battlefield and what would have been a natural death. | ||
| Because we know they sacrifice not just their physical life, they sacrifice the moments that make that life worthwhile. | ||
| They sacrificed a child's embrace. | ||
| They sacrificed walking their daughter down the aisle, of seeing their husband or wife after a big promotion of sharing a meal with the family at Thanksgiving. | ||
| For my fellow Americans, especially those watching on television, consider the sum of all the moments that make a good life. | ||
| And now appreciate that countless strangers, people most of you never met, They gave up those moments in their own life so that we could enjoy them in ours. | ||
| And that is what Memorial Day is all about. | ||
| I once heard a Marine Corps colonel that I served with, he said this in 2005, not long after a very tough deployment to Iraq. | ||
| He said this about his fallen men, that they were the best looking, they were the kindest, they were the smartest, they were the most devoted. | ||
| They were the very best of us. | ||
| To them, we owe everything. | ||
| And today, in the peace they bequeathed us, we honor them. | ||
| As the Book of Wisdom tells us, but the righteous one, though he die early, shall be at rest. | ||
| For the age that is honorable comes not with the passing of time, nor can it be measured in terms of years. | ||
| They laid down their lives for Americans they would never meet, for generations yet unborn, for a nation that would not exist absent their incredible courage. | ||
| Now, we know their families in particular have given so much. | ||
| And in particular, I want to speak to the Gold Star families, to the families who have lost a son, a daughter, a husband, or a wife, to every child here who misses your dad or your mom. | ||
| No. | ||
| That your loved one to us is a hero. | ||
| And though we cannot know your pain, please know that I speak for the entire nation when I say that we are grateful to them and to you for a debt none of us can possibly repay. | ||
| Now, all of us will honor the fallen and their families in our own way. | ||
| But allow me to suggest two ways of honoring their sacrifice, two ways that I try to honor their sacrifice every day. | ||
| First, we ought to commit ourselves and expect from our leaders to treat the lives of our troops as the most precious resource. | ||
| The very best way. | ||
| The very best way to honor the fallen. | ||
| is to only ask the next generation to make the ultimate sacrifice when they absolutely must. | ||
| We must be cautious in sending our people to war. | ||
| The second way that I try to honor the fallen is to commit ourselves to being worthy of their sacrifice. | ||
| If you're a husband, be the best husband you can be. | ||
| If you're a mom, be the best mom that you can be. | ||
| If you're a citizen, be the very best citizen that you can be. | ||
| Because together, let us build a better country, a more perfect union, and strive to be the kind of nation worthy of the sacrifice of the people that we honor today. | ||
| On this Memorial Day, let us remember that we have been given a great gift, often by people none of us ever met. | ||
| Let us cherish that gift and make ourselves worthy of it. | ||
| May God bless those who gave that gift, and may he bless the country they sacrificed for. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you. | |
| And now, without further ado, let me please introduce your president, the people's president, the president who knows what these men and women, what they sacrificed for, and who honors them every single day in the job that he does, President Trump. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| Very special place and a very special day. | ||
| Thank you to Vice President Vance, doing a terrific job. | ||
| Thanks also to a man who has devoted his life to service members and veterans, Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who's doing really well. | ||
| He went through a lot, didn't he? | ||
| But he's doing really well. | ||
| He's a tough cookie. | ||
| That's what we want is a tough cookie. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| And we're grateful to be joined as well by Chairman Cain, terrific military person, members of the Cabinet, members of Congress, members of the United States Armed Forces, veterans, and many other distinguished guests. | ||
| 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. | ||
| In every hour of peril, in 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. | ||
| This morning we pay tribute to their immortal deeds. | ||
| We share in the sorrow of their beloved families and as one nation we give thanks for the ultimate gift they have so selflessly given to all of us. | ||
| These warriors, and that's what they are, is 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. | ||
| They knew that. | ||
| They asked nothing for it. | ||
| They gave everything and we owe them everything and much much more. | ||
| Each of the service members who have made the supreme sacrifice for our nation has also left an unfillable void and These are great families. | ||
| These are wonderful families. | ||
| 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. | ||
| Every Gold Star family fights a battle long after the victory is won, and today we lift you up and we hold you high. | ||
| Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving America the brightest light in your lives. | ||
| It's what you've done. | ||
| We will never, ever forget our fallen heroes, and we will never forget our debt to you. | ||
| This Memorial Day is especially significant as we commemorate 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. | ||
| With their deaths, men like John Brown, 23, Samuel Hadley, 28, and Abner Hosmer, 21, ignited the flame of liberty that now lights the inspires everybody and the entire world. | ||
| 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. | ||
| A republic that I am fixing after a long and hard four years. | ||
| That was a hard four years we went through. | ||
| Who would let that happen? | ||
| People pouring through our borders unchecked. | ||
| People doing things that are indescribable and not for today to discuss. | ||
| But the republic that is now doing so very well, we're doing so very well right now, considering the circumstances, and we'll do record-setting better with time. | ||
| We will do better than we've ever done as a nation, better than ever before. | ||
| I promise you that. | ||
| In every generation since, at Trenton and Yorktown, at Vicksburg and Shiloh, and in faraway places with names like Chateau, Terere, Anzio, Iwo Jima, Quezon, Kandahar, really just a few chosen names, and these are names that have become so important on the altar of freedom. | ||
| 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. | ||
| The sacrifice that they made was not merely for a single battle, a long-ago victory or a fleeting triumph, decades or centuries past. | ||
| Their sacrifice was for today, tomorrow, and every morning thereafter. | ||
| 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 to them and to their families. | ||
| Our debt to them is eternal, and it does not diminish with time. | ||
| It only grows and grows and grows with each passing year. | ||
| The greatest monument to their courage is not carved in marble or cast in bronze. | ||
| It's all around us, an American nation, 325 million strong, which will soon be greater than it has ever been before. | ||
| It will be. | ||
| And so today we uphold the memory of our heroes as people have done since ancient times by telling their stories and exalting their names. | ||
| Senior Master Sergeant Elroy Harworth was a young, beautiful man from Earhart, Minnesota, when he enlisted in the Air Force and was sent to Vietnam. | ||
| 59 years ago this very week, Elroy and his crewmates climbed into the dark skies over Da Nang on a classified mission known as Operation Carolina Moon. | ||
| Their aim was to blow up a key enemy bridge, and while other crews had tried and failed, they were determined to try and get it done in face of extreme danger, and they knew how bad it was. | ||
| As their C-130 closed in on its target and Elroy jockeyed his 5,000 pounds of explosives into position, the aircraft came under unbelievably intense fire. | ||
| They'd never seen anything like it. | ||
| Try as they might, they were hit as the plane swung low and they went down deep in enemy territory. | ||
| Elroy was just 24 years old when he gave his life for America, leaving behind a beautiful young wife who was seven months pregnant. | ||
| That meant Elroy would never know the joy of meeting his son Troy or seeing him grow. | ||
| Sergeant First Class Troy Harworth is with us today, joined by his wife, Sonia, and their son, John. | ||
| The grandson, Elroy, never got to hold. | ||
| Thank you, Troy, and thank you, John. | ||
| And above all, thank you, Elroy. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| Please stand up. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Wherever you may be. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you very much. | |
| Great family. | ||
| Corporal Ryan McGee of Fredericksburg, Virginia, knew from the time he saw the towers fall on 9 /11 that he wanted to be an Army Ranger. | ||
| He was an American guy, all American. | ||
| He was a tough guy. | ||
| He was the top of everything. | ||
| In high school, he was captain of the football team and was voted friendliest and most charming by his peers. | ||
| Ryan joined the Army soon after graduation, and after three tours in Afghanistan, he deployed to Iraq. | ||
| He and his unit were tasked with hunting down a weapon facilitator. | ||
| And a suicide bomber cell near Baghdad, a vicious, vicious cell, killing many, many people. | ||
| Sixteen years ago this month, they engaged the enemy in a firefight, and Ryan was mortally wounded. | ||
| He gave his life at 21 years old, and today he rests until the end of time in the famed Section 60 here at Arlington, where we have buried our honored dead from the war on terror. | ||
| We are joined today by Ryan's mom, Sherry. | ||
| Sherry, all of America shares in your grief. | ||
| And more importantly, we share in your pride and your wonderful son. | ||
| And thank you so much for being here, Sherry. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Sherry. | |
| Thank you very much. | ||
| On behalf of everyone, this crowd is so big, she's hard to find. | ||
| Once I saw her, she really stands out. | ||
| Thank you, Sherry, very much. | ||
| Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kent grew up in Pine Plains, New York, before enlisting in the Navy in 2003. | ||
| And she quickly became one of the rising stars. | ||
| She was an absolute winner. | ||
| As a linguist, translator, and cryptologic Technician. | ||
| Shannon worked alongside elite special force units like Delta Force and Navy SEALs to help them capture and kill terrorists. | ||
| She was among the first women ever to do it, and she did it better than anyone. | ||
| In January 2019, Shannon was on her fifth combat deployment, embedded with a team hunting ISIS terrorists through the streets of Syria. | ||
| When a suicide bomber detonated his weapon-killing senior chief Kent and three other wonderful, beautiful Americans, she left behind her husband Joe and their two sons, three-year-old Colt and 18-month-old baby Josh. | ||
| Today, Shannon rests in peace on these grounds alongside her comrades. | ||
| To her boys, Colt and Josh, who are here this morning, Now aged nine and seven, let me say your mom was a hero, and her love, her strength, and her spirit are always with us and always be with you. | ||
| She loved her boys. | ||
| To Joe, the boys, Shannon's parents, Mary and Stephen, and her sister, Mariah, Shannon's name, Will. | ||
| Live forever in the chronicles of true American patriots. | ||
| I just want to thank you, and thank you so much for being here in honor of your magnificent family member. | ||
| Stories like Shannon's, Ryan's, and Elroy's remind us of the real meaning of the day. | ||
| And I want to just say, please stand up wherever you may be. | ||
| The boys, I want to see those boys. | ||
| Where are you? | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| They're good-looking guys. | ||
| Thank you very much for being here. | ||
| All of you, thank you so much. | ||
| We should never forget, even for a moment, that freedom is a gift of the highest cost, and peace is won at the most precious price. | ||
| These extraordinary American heroes and their immense and ultimate sacrifices they offer. | ||
| Only the faintest glimpse at the infinite grace we have received from all who laid down their lives for America over the past 250 years. | ||
| We're going to have a big, big celebration, as you know, 250 years. | ||
| In some ways I'm glad I missed that second term word was because I wouldn't be your president for that most important of all in addition we have the World Cup and we have Can you imagine? | ||
| I missed that four years, and now look what I have. | ||
| I have everything. | ||
|
unidentified
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Amazing the way things work out. | |
| God did that. | ||
| I believe that, too. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| You know, I got the World Cup and I got I'd like to take credit. | ||
| But I got the Olympics, I got the World Cup when I was president. | ||
| And I said, boy, it's too bad. | ||
| I won't be president then. | ||
| And look what happened. | ||
| I turned out that we're going to have a great time. | ||
| We're going to have a great celebration. | ||
| But most important of all is the 250th anniversary. | ||
| That blows everything away, including the World Cup and including the Olympics, as far as I'm concerned. | ||
| In any corner of this cemetery, at any resting place for our war dead, anywhere on earth, you'll find untold stories of equal heroism and heartbreak, unmatched patriotism and devotion and acts of selflessness and courage so enormous they defy comprehension. | ||
| Most people can't even imagine it. | ||
| Great poets have written that it's love which moves the sun and the stars, but here on the sacred soil, right where we are, | ||
| From Bunker Hill to Bastogne to Cantonese to 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, high, high, and carry it onward to places they could never have dreamed of before. | ||
| Today we honor their memory. | ||
| We remember their gallantry. | ||
| We just revere, in the highest sense, we just revere their incredible legacy. | ||
| We salute them in their eternal and everlasting glory, and we continue our relentless pursuit of America's destiny. | ||
| As we make our nation stronger, prouder, freer, and greater than ever before. | ||
| May God bless our fallen heroes. | ||
| May God bless our gold star families. | ||
| And may God bless the United States of America. | ||
| Thank you very much, everybody. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Great honor. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing for the playing of taps and the benediction. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the playing of taps and the benediction. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the playing of taps and the benediction. | ||
| Please stand for the playing of taps and the benediction. | ||
| Let us pray. | ||
| Dear God, as we prepare to leave this place but not your presence, may we never forget the fallen nor take for granted the liberties that they secured for us long ago. | ||
| Help us to continue to honor their lives through our words and actions, carrying their spirit forward with love and kindness. | ||
| And dear God, now please, if you will, go in front of us to guide us. | ||
| Be behind us, Lord, to catch us. | ||
| And please, please, stay around us to sustain us. | ||
| Now, henceforth, and forevermore. | ||
| It is in your name we pray and all say together on this Memorial Day. | ||
| Amen and amen. | ||
| Amen. | ||
| Please remain standing for the singing of God Bless America, performed by the United States Marine Band and the United States Navy Band Sea Chanters. | ||
| Let us pray. | ||
| Let us pray. | ||
| God bless America, my home sweet home. | ||
| God bless America, land that I love. | ||
| Stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above. | ||
| From the mountains to the prairies to the oceans like with foam. | ||
| God bless America, my home sweet home. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in place as the official party departs and the colors are retired. | ||
| Nice. | ||
| Everyone cheering for Trump. | ||
| J.D. Vance, Pete Hegseth. | ||
|
unidentified
|
J.D. Vance, Pete Hegseth. | |
| And there they go. | ||
| And that, ladies and gentlemen, is our programming for Memorial Day. | ||
| We hope that you spend the rest of this day with the reason that this day is so important. | ||
| Your family. | ||
| The whole purpose of a day like this is to ensure that your children, or you, doesn't have to be put into the dirt to fight for some other country. | ||
| To fight for anything other than threats to this nation here at home. | ||
| Peace through strength. | ||
| Ladies and gentlemen, that is the goal. | ||
| And we honor our sacred service members in this nation by remembering that, by not going on wars of adventurism and traveling around the globe looking for fights, but looking for peace. | ||
| That is what a moral nation would do. | ||
| That is what President Trump is trying to do. | ||
| And it is the best way to remember, on a day like this, what it's really all about. | ||
| It's about passing on our value system and ensuring that we thrive as a country by remembering those who fought so valiantly and sacrificed some everything to ensure that we have a shot. | ||
| And that's it. | ||
| So what are you going to do with your shot, ladies and gentlemen? | ||
| We know what we're doing. | ||
| We're fighting with everything we got to ensure that we leave a better country, a more stable country, a stronger country, a more moral country to our children. | ||
| And that's going to be our legacy here on this program. | ||
| A very happy and sacred Memorial Day, Decoration Day, as it was originally called, to you. | ||
| We hope that you place a flag on a soldier's grave. | ||
| Perhaps you have one in your family. | ||
| Most Americans do. | ||
| And I just want to say thank you for helping us memorialize here on Memorial Day, fighting for our value system to keep this country strong and moving and leave it better than we found it. | ||
| That's what it's all about. | ||
| God bless you on this Memorial Day. | ||
| It's your boy, Benny. | ||
| Thank you for watching. | ||
| See you tomorrow. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Oh, wow. | |
| Wow. | ||
| Oh, wow. | ||
| On your TV screen, stand up strong, battle through the night. | ||
| The Benny Show's here bringing liberty to life. | ||
| From the speeches to debates, Benny's sharp like a blade. | ||
| Coming through the lies, watch the truth cascade. | ||
| With the warrior's heart, this man never fades. | ||
| You know it's primetime when Benny invades. | ||
| From saving the nation to stories untold. | ||
| The Benny Show's a storm, see the truth unfold. | ||
| Stay in the loop, let freedom take hold. | ||
| Salt in all the libs, soul never sold. | ||
| It's the Benny Show, where the truth gon'be. | ||
| Faith and freedom on your TV screen. | ||
| Stand up strong, battle through the night. | ||
| The Benny Show's here bringing liberty to light. | ||
| Liberty to light. | ||
| Bringing liberty to light. | ||
| Liberty to light. | ||
| Bringing liberty to light. | ||
| Cut me through the lies, watch the truth cascade. | ||
| With the warrior's heart, this man never fades. | ||
| You know it's prime time when Benny invades. | ||
| From saving the nation to stories untold. | ||
| The Benny shows the storm, see the truth unfold. | ||
| Stay in the loop, let freedom take hold. | ||
| Salt in all the libs, soul never sold. | ||
| It's the Benny show, where the truth gon' be. | ||
| Faith and freedom on your TV screen. | ||
| Stand up strong, battle through the night. |
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