Vice President Mike Pence, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan, and Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speak at the Memorial Day wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in observance of America’s fallen military service members, May 27, 2019.
Transcript
Color, halt! Present!
Present!
Halt! (“Star Spangled Banner” military band music) Order!
Right shoulder! Halt! Present!
Present!
Halt! Present. Halt! (military drum roll music) (“Taps” bugle music) Order!
Right shoulder! Halt! (announcer speaking faintly) (“‘Til The Last Shot’s Fired” by Trace Adkins) Present the Colors, halt, forward march! Mark time. Left wheel, march. Colors, halt. Present! Arms! Order!
Steady.
Halt! Retire the poles, halt. One, forward. Forward, march. Mark time. Commence! Take charge of your units! First in call, march time, march! All hut!
All hut!
[Command] Forward, march!
[Command] Forward, back!
Forward!
Forward!
[Command] Halt!
Forward!
Forward!
[Command] Halt! (military drum beating) (jet engines roaring) (solemn orchestral music)
[Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the arrival of the Official Party and remain standing for the Invocation and the National Anthem. General Joseph F. Dunford Jr. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Honorable Patrick M. Shanahan, the Acting Secretary of Defense. (military fanfare music) Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Michael R. Pence, Vice President of the United States. (stately orchestral music) Ladies and gentlemen, Chaplain J. Jones, Command Chaplain Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region and the United States Army Military District of Washington.
Please join me in prayer. Eternal God, Lord of time and eternity, Lord of the living and of the dead, you have made yourself known to us, not only through your wondrous works of creation but also in your mighty deeds throughout the history of our nation. From the start of the American journey to the present hour, you have sustained us through days of adversity and prosperity, through times of war and peace. You have proven yourself strong to save us. Among all nations of the Earth, America has been uniquely and remarkably blessed. Today we remember with highest esteem and devoted respect, our fellow citizens who have fought and died in America’s wars as members of her Armed Forces. Many of these gallant Americans died before the guns of our enemies. Many of them died alone. All of them served for the sake of future generations of Americans, whom they themselves would never know. Most of these patriots are now long dead, but time will dim neither the glory of their deeds nor the sting of their loss. Comfort those who yet grieve their absence. Enable us to embrace fully the legacy of valor, duty, and sacrifice that these heroes quietly built. As their lives caused our flag to fly high and with honor, so may ours. Empower us to take up the Light of Liberty for which they have given all, so that on our watch, it may remain undimmed. This is our fervent hope and our solemn prayer, amen.
Please remain standing for the United States Coast Guard Band and vocalist Musician 1st Class Megan Weikleenget in singing our National Anthem. (military drum roll beating) ♪ O say, can you see ♪ ♪ By the dawn’s early light ♪ ♪ What so proudly we hailed ♪ ♪ At the twilight’s last gleaming ♪ ♪ Whose broad stripes and bright stars ♪ ♪ Through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ O’er the ramparts we watched ♪ ♪ Were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ And the rockets’ red glare ♪ ♪ The bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ Gave proof through the night ♪ ♪ That our flag was still there ♪ ♪ O say ♪ ♪ Does that star-spangled banner ♪ ♪ Yet wave ♪ ♪ O’er the land of the free ♪ ♪ And the home of the brave ♪ (attendees applauding)
[Announcer] Please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, General Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.
Mr. Vice President, Secretary Shanahan, distinguished guests, and most importantly, to the Gold Star Families who are here. It’s an honor to join you in solemn remembrance and reflection. Today’s generation of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen are proudly following the footsteps of an unending line of Americans who have answered the call to duty. As we pause to remember the fallen, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. A great leader of the British Empire once said, “Show me the manner in which a nation “or a community cares for its dead “and I will measure exactly the sympathies of its people, “their respect for their land “and their loyalty to high ideals.” We’re here today in the spirit of those words, to honor those who gave the last full measure of devotion and service to our nation, to reflect on the values and high ideals for which we stand, and to remember that what we have in our country is worth fighting for. The story of those remembered today is one of extraordinary sacrifice. It’s a story of lives cut short, of hopes and dreams never realized. It’s also a story of sacrifice for the families left behind, the anguish of parents, spouses, children, siblings, and friends. The sadness of the empty seat at the family table. But the story of those remembered today is also one of men and women who stood for something larger than themselves. It’s about men and women who embodied the most important values and traditions of our nation and it’s about men and women who made a difference. So today as we recall the stories of the fallen and as we remember the profound sadness of loss, we should focus on how these men and women lived. We should leave here resolved to live lives worthy of their sacrifice, resolve to strengthen our personal commitment to the values for which they stood and resolve to make a difference in service to our nation and our communities. If we do that, then those who are taken from us prematurely will be able to look down and know that we truly remember them. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of those still serving in uniform, thank you for remembering and thank you for bringing meaning to the sacrifice of the fallen. (attendees applauding)
[Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Coast Guard Band and the United States Army Chorus will perform “Mansions of the Lord.” ♪ To fallen soldiers ♪ ♪ Let us sing ♪ ♪ Where no rockets fly ♪ ♪ Nor bullets wing ♪ ♪ Our broken brothers ♪ ♪ Let us bring ♪ ♪ To the Mansions of the Lord ♪ ♪ No more weeping ♪ ♪ No more fight ♪ ♪ No friends bleeding ♪ ♪ Through the night ♪ ♪ Just divine embrace ♪ ♪ Eternal light ♪ ♪ In the Mansions of the Lord ♪ ♪ Where no mothers cry ♪ ♪ And no children weep ♪ ♪ We will stand and guard ♪ ♪ Though the angels sleep ♪ ♪ Oh, through the ages ♪ ♪ Safely keep ♪ ♪ The Mansions of the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, through the ages ♪ ♪ Safely keep ♪ ♪ The Mansions ♪ ♪ Of the Lord ♪ (attendees applauding)
[Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, the Honorable Patrick M. Shanahan, Acting Secretary of Defense. (attendees applauding)
Thank you. Mr. Vice President, General Dunford, Senator and Senator Dole, trusted allies and all Gold Star Families. Thank you for being here today to help us honor the fallen, those laid to rest here to find sacrifice, service and purpose. In their days, they guarded our freedoms. In our time, we discharged a sacred obligation to remember them; no words can capture the totality of their courage, patriotism, and love. Some things are beyond words and their silence speaks for itself. To those they leave behind, beloved spouses, children, family, and friends, we know not a day passes that you don’t think of them. Today, millions of your fellow Americans remember with you. Let them celebrate the life of your hero with you. They are here for you and so are we, your Department of Defense, your family, your friends. I said before, the sacrifice of our honored dead is beyond words, but let those of President Theodore Roosevelt capture just a fraction of their glory. “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, “whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; “who strives valiantly, who errs, “who comes short again and again, “because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; “but who does actually strive to do the deeds; “who knows great enthusiasms, great devotions; “who spends himself in a worthy cause; “who at the best knows in the end “the triumph of high achievement, “and who at the worst, if he fails, “at least he fails while daring greatly, “so that his place shall never be with those cold “and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Ladies and gentlemen, it is now my honor to introduce the Vice President of the United States Michael Pence. (attendees applauding)
[Mike] Thank you.
[Man] 20-20.
To Acting Secretary Shanahan, Secretary Wilkie, Members of the Cabinet, Secretary Esper, Secretary Wilson, General Dunford, honored guests, especially to the active duty members of our Armed Forces, our veterans and most of all to our Gold Star Families. We are honored by your presence. (attendees applauding) On behalf of a grateful nation, it is my profound privilege to be here on the hallowed ground of Arlington National Cemetery for the 151st occasion where we gather to pay a debt of honor and gratitude to the memory of those who gave their last full measure of devotion and as that General Order in 19, in 1868 said first, to renew our pledge to aid and assist those whom they have left among us. As is evident by all your presence here, by gatherings like this all across America you know. There is a day in November when we remember those who served and came home, but today is the day when all across America, we pause to honor and remember those who served our nation, but did not come home. It is Memorial Day in America. To all of you here and those looking on from afar, especially to the families of our fallen, we extend our deepest sympathies and we also bring the deepest respects and gratitude of the 45th President of the United States of America President Donald Trump. (attendees applauding) The President and the First Lady came here to Arlington just this past Thursday. And while his duties have taken him to the other side of the world, I spoke to him just a little while ago and I know his heart is here with all of you and with families across this nation for whom every day is Memorial Day. The Bible says if you owe debts, pay debts; if honor, then honor; if respect, then respect. And the debt our nation owes to those who rest here among these hallowed fields and in cemeteries, churchyards, and humble plots across the wider world is a debt we can never fully repay. For this is the day that makes possible all other American days. Without it, without the sacrifice we honor at patriots’ graves from the four corners of our land and overseas, there would be no other American days. What we celebrate today as Memorial Day began just three short years after the end of the Civil War. It was originally established here as Decoration Day to take place on May 30th, 1868, to honor fallen soldiers by decorating their final resting places with newly bloomed May flowers and that dear old flag they saved. And that tradition continues. Since that time here on the hallowed grounds of Arlington and in churchyards, national cemeteries, and town squares across the land, Americans gather to honor the lives and deeds of America’s greatest heroes and to assure their families that we will never forget and we will never fail to honor the service and sacrifice of their loved ones. (attendees applauding) We’re actually joined today by two leaders who have quite possibly done more to honor the memory of our fallen and support their families than any other living Americans. For his courageous service in World War II, for all they have both done to preserve the memory of the greatest generation and for their support of military families, would you join me in thanking Senators Bob Dole and Elizabeth Dole for their countless contributions to the United States of America. (attendees applauding) From the hour of our nation’s birth, our best and bravest have stepped forward to defend freedom. The unbroken cord of military service stretches into the mists of American history, from Bunker Hill to Belleau Wood, from San Juan Hill to Saipan, from the Coral Sea to Kandahar, heroic Americans have answered their nation’s call and paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Their duty was to serve. Our duty is to remember. History records that more than 40 million have served in the uniform of the United States and nearly one million Americans have fallen in uniform since our nation’s founding. Americans of every race and creed have fought and died for our freedom, but as I can tell from the faces of those gathered here, you know the numbers don’t tell the story. They tell nothing of the lives of promise cut short, of dreams unfulfilled, of families shattered. Words fail when heroes fall. So we do well on this day each year just to tell their stories and to let their words and deeds speak for them. David Kerr was born in Louisiana in 1893. He was a student at Columbia University, but he dropped out of college to fight in World War I. He deployed to France, volunteered to participate in an attack on Saint-Mihiel and two months before the guns fell silent at the 11th hour, the 11th day, in the 11th month, Sergeant David Kerr fell. After the war, the French government awarded him the Croix de Guerre with palm for his courageous service. But a day before the attack, Sergeant Kerr sent a letter to his mom. He wrote and I quote, “Tomorrow, the first totally American drive commences “and it gives me inexpressible joy and pride “to know that I shall be present to do my share. “Should I go under, I want you to know that I went without any terror of death “and that my chief worry “is the grief my death will bring to those so dear to me.” And then he ended saying, “I feel wonderfully strong to do my share well. “For my sake, you must try and drown your sorrow “in the pride and satisfaction that I died well “in so clean a cause as ours.” He ended, “God bless and keep you, my dear heart. “Be kind to little Elizabeth, I love you so well, David.” Today we remember the service and sacrifice of Sergeant David Kerr. William Robinson Evans Jr. was born in Indiana in 1918. He was an Eagle Scout. After graduating from college in Connecticut, he enlisted in the Navy’s Reserve Officer pilot program. He earned his Wings of Gold and was commissioned as an ensign in May of 1941. In September, he was assigned to a Torpedo Squadron on the USS Hornet. At 23, he was one of the squadron’s youngest pilots. On the 4th of June 1942, 15 torpedo planes from his squadron went into battle against overwhelming numbers of enemy fighters and they were all shot down. But their sacrifice and their courage that day helped change the course of world history. Ensign Evans received the Navy Cross posthumously for his heroism during the Air Battle of Midway. But two months before he was lost, he wrote to a friend these words, “Many of my friends are now dead. “To a man, each died with a nonchalance that “each would have denied was courage. “If anything greater good is born of this war, “it should not be valued in the colonies we may win “or the pages historians will attempt to write, “but rather in the youth of our country, “who never trained for war, “rather almost never believed in war, “but who from some hidden source have brought forth “gallantry which is homespun, it is so real.” And then he said, “I say these things because “I knew you liked and understood, boys, “and I wanted you to know they’ve not let you down.” Today we remember the service and sacrifice of Ensign Bill Evans Jr. (attendees applauding) John Floyd Cochrane was born in Michigan in 1941. First Lieutenant Cochrane served in the 409th Radio unit in Vietnam. He led a platoon and a man who served under him would say four decades later that he was one great guy. Lieutenant Cochrane fell to sniper fire on the 24th of October 1966, just six days before he was scheduled to meet his wife in Hawaii on R&R. In his final letter home, he wrote to his mom and dad these words, “Tonight I’m awaiting an attack. “Yes, that’s right. “Your only son who you didn’t raise to be stupid “is 11,000 miles away from home, “sitting beneath a shaded Coleman lantern on top of a hill, “waiting for a visit from our friend Charlie.” He later wrote, “I know why I’m here “and why I couldn’t be any other place.” He said, “I do believe that basic principles “are enough for a man to die for. “We are here because we actually believe “that our country is good enough to fight for “and if necessary, to die for.” (attendees applauding) Today we remember the service and sacrifice of First Lieutenant John Cochrane. (attendees applauding) Three men, three wars. And as we recall their sacrifices, we cannot help but be inspired by their courage. And make no mistake about it, their example is inspiring a new generation of heroes every day. Paul Kelly was actually the son of a Vietnam fighter pilot. He was commissioned in 1982 as an officer through the University of Dayton’s ROTC program, served in leadership positions with the Army National Guard. Colonel Paul Kelly was a man who built up all those who served around him. He was known as a dedicated husband to his wife, Maria, and a proud father of his two sons, John and Paul David Kelly. He was nicknamed the Senator because he was always shaking soldiers’ hands, no matter what their rank. He was a helicopter pilot, but he wasn’t the manning the stick on 20 January 2007, when he was lost in Iraq. 10 years later, on July 20th, 2017, 10 years after his father died in Iraq, his son Paul David Kelly enlisted in the Virginia National Guard and Private Paul David Kelly, his brother John, and his wonderful mother Maria are here with us today. (attendees applauding) You honor us with your presence. Your family’s three generations of service, are an inspiration to us all. These stories of heroes we know from beginning to end, but it’s important on this Memorial Day to remember that for some families of our fallen, there is an added burden. The burden of having their loved one resting in a place known but to God. Last year on this solemn occasion, our president promised that we would never stop searching for the servicemen and women who remain missing from wars and conflicts fought over the past century and we’ve never stopped. Last June, at his first historic summit in Singapore with Chairman Kim Jong-un, President Trump had our missing fallen on his heart. And as he began negotiations for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Donald Trump also secured a promise for the return of the remains of all fallen U.S. service members lost in North Korea. (attendees applauding) In August of last year, at Hickam Field in Hawaii, it was our honor to be present when 55 flag-draped coffins bearing the remains of Americans who fought in the Korean War returned to American soil. And I must tell you, for this son of a combat veteran of the Korean War, I will never be given a higher honor than to have been present when our boys were finally coming home. (attendees applauding) Some of the remains have been identified, but more work remains. This is just a beginning, but I can assure you and assure all the families of our missing fallen, we will never rest until every soldier is accounted for and resting on American soil. (attendees applauding) So to the families of the fallen here and looking on, who sacrificed more than we can comprehend, know that the hearts of every American are with you today and they’ll stay with you every day, as will our prayers. We mourn with those who mourn and grieve with those who grieve, but we do not grieve like those who have no hope, because our faith gives us hope and heroes give us hope. For no greater love has a man than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends. Today on Memorial Day we honor Americans who showed no greater love for the American people. (attendees applauding) We can never repay the debt of gratitude we owe to the men and women who have given all to preserve our freedom, but we can honor them, remember them, cherish their families, and this we will do not just this day, but every day. And so long as our nation continues to produce men and women of such selfless courage and patriotism, I know that freedom will ring for ourselves and our posterity. Their duty was to serve. Our duty is to remember. This Memorial Day, let every American renew our commitment to do our duty, to never fail, never fail to remember what they’ve done for us and never fail to honor and cherish the families they’ve left behind, and never fail to strive each and every day to be worthy of the freedom that they won for us all. May God bless our heroic fallen. May those who mourn our heroes be comforted until he wipes every tear from their eyes. May God bless the men and women of our Armed Forces. And may God bless America. (attendees applauding)
[Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing for the playing of Taps and the Benediction. Also please remain standing for the singing of Amazing Grace performed by the United States Army Chorus. (“Taps” bugle music) (birds chirping)
Resist evil always, strengthen the faint-hearted, lift up the oppressed, defend the helpless, honor God, fear no man. Above all, love and serve the Lord, amen. ♪ Amazing Grace ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound ♪ ♪ That saved ♪ ♪ A wretch like me ♪ ♪ I once was lost ♪ ♪ But now I’m found ♪ ♪ Was blind ♪ ♪ But now I see ♪ ♪ ‘Twas grace ♪ ♪ That taught my heart to fear ♪ ♪ And grace ♪ ♪ My fears relieved ♪ ♪ How precious did ♪ ♪ That grace appear ♪ ♪ The hour ♪ ♪ I first believed ♪ ♪ Through many dangers ♪ ♪ Toils and snares ♪ ♪ My heart ♪ ♪ Has already come ♪ ♪ ‘Tis grace ♪ ♪ That brought me ♪ ♪ Safe thus far ♪ ♪ And grace ♪ ♪ Will lead me home ♪ ♪ When we’ve been there ♪ ♪ 10,000 years ♪ ♪ Bright shining ♪ ♪ As the sun ♪ ♪ We’ve no less days ♪ ♪ To sing God’s praise ♪ ♪ Than when we first begun ♪ ♪ Amazing Grace ♪ ♪ How sweet the sound ♪ ♪ That saved ♪ ♪ A wretch like me ♪ ♪ I once was lost ♪ ♪ But now I am found ♪ ♪ Was blind ♪ ♪ But now I see ♪ (attendees applauding)
[Announcer] Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in place as the Official Party departs and the Colors are retired. (birds chirping) (upbeat military music)