Matthew P. Donovan, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, hosts the unveiling ceremony of the Gold Star Memorial at the Pentagon, October 29, 2020. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Mark A. Milley will be the guest speaker.

Transcript

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes. Thank you so much for being here virtually via defense dot gov or military one source. Facebook Page or the Pentagon Channel. We’re so glad that you could be with us now it normal circumstances. This hall would be filled with our special guests. Today you are our special guests and especially if you are a Gold star family member, we are most honored and grateful that you would join us. Thank you. The program is about you. The Gold Star families display is now permanent and located in the heart of the Pentagon, right where our gold star families must always be in our hearts and our minds in all decisions made in this building Officiating. Today’s event is the ceremony Host Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, Thea Honorable Matthew P. Donovan to my left and participating. The program today is the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, to his left and concluding our program today will be gold star wife and senior adviser to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Miss Jane Horton. They will each be providing remarks and I asked him to remain standing as we begin our program with the national anthem performed by Gold star sister Maria Smith, followed by the invocation offered by Gold Star father Reverend David Horton. Maria approved. So oh, say, can you see by the dawn’s early light what so proudly we held at the twilight’s last gleaming whose broad stripes on bright stars through the perilous fight or the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red lad glad rare. The bombs bursting in there gave proof through the night that our flag one still there. Oh ho say, does that star spangled, Then our yes way for the Land of the Free and the home of the Pray alone, he let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father. On this special day, we honor those who have given their lives for their country on foreign battlefields and here it home. They responded to the call to serve and made the ultimate sacrifice, defending the ideals in which they believed, defending their brothers and sisters in arms and defending their nation. May their courage be honored and remembered, made their example influence current and for future generations made their legacy be one of love and sacrifice and made their souls be embraced by you as scripture remind us in the words of Christ, greater love hath no man than this. That a man lay down his life for his friends. Lord, comfort all the Gold Star family members of all the men and women who have been lost in conflict to us. The deceased are not just military personnel, but also rather father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter and friend Help all these families remember the good times and look forward to being reunited with their loved ones in your heavenly kingdom Someday, where there will be no more mourning. As we dedicate this gold star families, Pentagon display, we pray our gold star families and friends have all they need each day. Hold them, Lord, until their tier stop and they can breathe again. Give them the faith they need for each day until they see their loved one again in heaven. May this display ever stand as a lasting memorial, serving as a reminder of the tremendous price paid for freedom and to not forget our fallen and their families. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. May be seated. Thank you for your powerful implication, Reverend Horton, I’m sure carrying in your heart your son, Specialist Chris Horton, and thank you for your stirring performance, Maria of the national anthem in honor of your sister, Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Kemp. Thank you both for being here. Our first speakers. The Undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, who leads all policy guidance and oversight for nearly six million service members, their families and D o t civilians, including oversight for casualty affairs and Gold Star families. This is a massive portfolio of responsibility, but nothing is more important than the work our office does. Standing with our Gold Star families in their time of tragedy, the honorable Matthew P. Donovan assumed leadership of Pienaar in December 2019 after serving as undersecretary of the Air Force and more than 30 years in uniforms, both enlisted and officer ranks as one of our nation’s top fighter pilots. We turn the time now over to Mr Donovan for opening remarks, sir. Thank you, Charlene. Very warm. Welcome to our Gold Star families watching the ceremony today. And of course, welcome to all of you who care about our Gold Star families. It’s an honor to join the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Mark Milley, and Miss Jane Horton today for the ceremony to officially open the Gold Star families Pentagon display Where will become part of the Pentagon’s public walking tour? This is an important occasion as we honor with this new display and show our great respect and love for our military families who have lost treasured sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. I’m honored to represent the department defense as we unveil this display today, representing the heart and soul of not only our department but our nation. Over the years, the Pentagon has become a living museum. All through these quarters, we have world class historical displays recognizing significant moments in the individuals throughout the history of the Department of Defense. The display you will see today we’ll do just that as we honor our Gold Star families. The official history of our Gold Star family dates back to World War One, when military families put service flags in their window featuring a blue star for every immediate family member serving in the war. If their loved one was killed in action. The stars color would be changed. The goal in 1918. The Gold Star tradition grew as President Woodrow Wilson approved the recommendation by the Women’s Committee of National Defenses. Toe wear a black armband with a gold star in 1947 that the department defense officially created. The Gold Star lapel button, which Miss Horton is wearing. This button features a gold star and a purple circular background. It could only be worn by the immediate family of service members killed in combat these air Gold star families whose lives take on new meaning to preserve and honor the memory of their loved ones. One such examples. Colonel Rebecca Eggers standing proudly with us in this room. Gold Star wife to captain Dan Eggers with the third Special Forces Group in Afghanistan, Rebecca has sacrificed so much to still be in uniforms, not the least of which is missing their son’s graduation. While deployed to Iraq. Today, both their sons air following in their father’s footsteps while studying at The Citadel. As we continue to strive to improve the lives of all of our military families were pleased to let our Gold Star families know that we’re moving forward with a unique resource for them on military one source. Soon Gold Star families will be able to access a password protected portal on the site where they will find resource is specific to them. This will be interactive and informative and will assist us to better help you with your needs. Thank you to all who made this displace possible this display possible and special thanks to Jane Horton for her drive and passion to bring this project to fruition thanks to all of you for being part of this virtual ceremony. Thank you, sir, for your remarks and for making this event and display and the Gold Star families such a top priority in the Department of Defense. I am now pleased to introduce the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, who serves as the principal military adviser to the President, the Secretary of Defense and the National Security Council. Ah, Princeton University graduate with post graduate degrees from Colombia and the U. S. Naval War College General Milley has served 40 years in the US Army. He is a Massachusetts native with a well known love of his Boston teams, but he is even more well known for his career long special attention to our gold star families. Thank you. So for being here, the time is yours. Thanks, Charlene, for that. And thanks, Secretary Donovan for putting all of this together. I want to thank Pastor Horton and Jane for being a driving force behind this memorial. In this display that’s about to take place. I wanna thank Mariah. I know that Shannon, her wonderful sister who gave her life on a special operation in Syria, eyes looking down and blessing this entire ceremony in tow. Colonel Eggers, I knew Dan, And thanks so much for what you do is a mom and a spouse and a soldier. Uh, it’s remarkable what Gold star families doing thanks especially to all the gold Star families watching from across the nation. Thank you all for participating in the ceremony. The Gold Star is a symbol symbol of your loved one. A symbol of the one that you lost. And as mentioned, they were Children, fathers, mothers. They were brothers and sisters and they were friends and coaches and mentors and so much more. But most of all, they’re American heroes and we must remember them. Remember their service, their sacrifice and the story For every casualty of war, there’s a story that illuminates the two character of a Gold Star family member and allow me to tell you one such story of a dedicated soldier. Garrett Fant and his gold star mother, Julia Pharaoh Garrett, in his unit, were from the first Infantry Division from Fort Riley, Kansas. They were attached to the 10th Mountain Division. Garrett was from Lake Tahoe, California, enthusiastic about being in the Army because it meant you could take care of fellow soldiers. Specialist fans served in the Big Red one as an 11 Charlie, a Mormon, and he loved the infantry, and I’ve been told that he would often say, You can’t spell infantry without Fant, a specialist, Fant was also extremely competent in his job in southern Afghanistan. We consistently put first round on target up to 600 m away with his M 203 40 millimeter grenade launcher. And while on patrol on 26 September 2011 Garrett was using his metal detector declare a safe path into a village for his fellow soldiers and he stepped on and triggered an ID, killing him. His death was devastating for his family and his unit. After the platoon returned home in the summer of 2012 to Fort Riley soldiers, they’re held their annual memorial ceremony for the fallen Big Red. One soldiers, specialist fans, platoon leader was asked to escort Garrett’s mother and sister, and the young officer immediately felt intense trepidation. After all, he was the platoon leader, and he was responsible for everything that happened to that unit, including the death of specialist fan. However, upon meeting Julia Farrell, Garrett’s mother, that young platoon leader quickly understood the source of specials, fans caring, nature and enthusiasm and a quiet moment together. While clutching the pages of the incident report that she had probably read 1000 times. She told him that both G and her son understood the dangers and the hazards of his chosen profession, and they were both willing for him to serve every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine Coast guardsman. Every one of us in uniforms has written a blank check payable to the American people, which says that each of us is willing to give our all that we’re willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and behind every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine and Coast guardsmen willing to give their all. There are loved ones who support us and service and sacrifice. Each Gold Star family member is also a hero filled with compassion, resiliency and patriotism. And words could do no justice to the loss of our loved ones every single day. We asked why and for what for Was it worth it? And the words can never bring them back. There is nothing that I or anyone else will ever do, will never be able to say that can stop the pain or fill the void of your loss. But what we can do is honor them. We can honor them every day by reading a newspaper and remembering that freedom of the press was paid for. But Garrett fan, or go to church or a synagogue or a mosque, or choose not to believe it all and recall that create, um of religion was not earned by the preacher of the priest, but by Chris Horton or Marines, Blood on a distant battlefield or go to a courtroom and be thankful we have due process of law paid in full by the crew of an aircraft shut down by enemy fire. Or pretty soon, go and vote and pause for a moment to reflect on that precious right to choose our leader and know that that right was earned a Shannon Kent, Dan Eggers and hard fought battles. I asked that each of us remember why we joined and why we fought and we in uniform and those of us who came before us, why were willing toe lay it all on the altar of freedom so that Americans of this generation and every generation to come will remain forever free when taps is played. It not only signals a tremendous loss, but it also signals the reaffirmation of our resolve to ensure that their memory never dies. So honor them, tell their story. Come visit this memorial in the Pentagon, tell their story because it was your son or your daughter who gave Americans our freedom. It was your father or mother who provided for the liberties all Americans enjoy today. So tell their story far and wide tell the story that this country, these United States, our values, our flag, this idea, this experiment of liberty so conceived of the people, by the people and for the people the idea of freedom and equality for all that idea is still worth fighting for. And each of you as a gold star family member is living proof of the sacrifice required for that idea to continue. So let us never forget. Let us never forget your sons and daughters and why they gave their lives, that they were willing to sacrifice the promise of their tomorrows for the brightness and the freedoms of our today’s thank you. And God bless America. Jane, thank you so much for your mark. Sir, You have been such a significant source of encouragement for Gold Star families your entire career. And I know, especially for Jane as she worked to build this this memorial. Thank you so much. I am now so pleased to introduce someone for whom I have great respect. An individual who is behind the building of this memorial. This display here in the Pentagon. I have known Jane Horton since about the time when she lost her husband Chris and I count her as a dear friend. Jane is a force of nature who bravely chose to channel her drive and purpose into honoring Chris by improving the way that the department defense not only supports, um, but interacts with Gold Star families as well as the American public. She learned early on that the vast majority of Americans don’t know what the term gold star means in the military community. Within months of Chris’s death, she moved from Oklahoma to Washington, D c not not knowing anyone here all by herself. But here she made her voice. Heard her presence felt purely to ensure that Chris and all others killed in the line of duty are always remembered through the love and care and honor of those they left behind our Gold star families. Today, Jane serves right here in the Pentagon as senior adviser to the assistant Secretary of defense for international security affairs. We look forward to hearing from Jane now. Thank you, Jane. Uh huh. Thank you, Charlene. Under Secretary Donovan. Thank you for hosting today. And thank you for making today possible. General Milley. Thank you for being here, Mrs Millie. Thank you. thank you for being there for Gold Star families not only today, but every single day. And I know your words that you live by them every single day. I want to thank all the Gold Star families in the room, all the Gold Star families listening live and all of the guests that are listening live as well. Throughout my journey as a gold Star wife, it’s been fascinating to me how few know the definitions of our symbols of honor that represent our fallen and those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. For me, there’s one quote quote that I hold close to my heart from my personal hero, Colonel Rebecca Eggers. She quoted that she not only wears her gold star pin to signify her own sacrifice, but mostly because there’s a life behind that pin. When I wear this pin, I wear it to represent specialist Christopher Horton because if I don’t tell the world that he existed and tell their stories, who will know? Throughout the past several years of being a Gold Star wife, I’ve gleaned strength from the families that I’ve been able to spend time with from the Gold Star families who have not only welcomed me into their lives, but into their homes that have shared their stories of their heroes that have given their lives for me. Many of us have heard the story of King Leonidas of Sparta. He didn’t pick his 300 warriors based off how they would fight because they were all the best. He picked his 300 warriors based off the families that they had off of their wives and their mothers. He knew that if the wives and the mothers didn’t hold up after they died, that the nation would fall. And that is the strength of our families in America. That is the strength of the families of those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. When I created the display, I immediately wanted to tell the story of the symbols of honor. But then it hit me that we often don’t hear the stories of the men and women and the kids and the parents and the siblings and the spouses that have lost these American heroes. I want to tell you about a couple of them today and about the main inspiration for the display. In December 2015 I was visiting my father’s hometown in Iowa, and I went on a little road trip up to Waterloo, Iowa, to visit Kelly Sullivan. I had met her a few years earlier, and she has always been one of my personal heroes as well. Kelly is the only surviving granddaughter of the five solvent brothers who lost their lives aboard the USS Juneau in 1942 in World War two. Kelly’s father, Jim, was only one years old when he lost his father, Albert. Jim had two Children, one of which was Kelly. Upon entering Kelly’s home, she showed me all the paraphernalia she had and all the wonderful memorials and just incredible things she had for her uncles and her grandfather. She soon took me downstairs, and I almost fell to my knees when I saw the Gold Star flag with five stars. Little to my knowledge, Kelly’s grandmother, Katherine, was still alive. She said, Grandma heard you’re coming to town and she wants to meet you. Catherine McFarland lost her husband when she was 19 years old, and she welcomed me into her assisted living home, and it took her a couple minutes to realize that I was a gold Star wife a swell, and she hugged me and she said, I am so sorry And she told me her story and I told her for a long as I lived, I would tell the American people about the largest loss of life in American history from not only her husband, Albert, but from his four brothers as well. What money don’t know about that story is first of all, on Lee. A month later, Catherine lost her life. She passed away, and I was the last person she ever told that story to. The other part of that story that most people don’t realize is that the day that Thomas and Elita solve in the parents of the five boys found out that there five boys were killed. They went back to work on the railroad. They knew they were imperative to get the troops what they needed for the war effort. And they put their own grief and loss aside to go ahead and continue to serve. They also spent over a year going out with the U. S. Government on a war bond tour. They wanted to do all they could to help the troops on the ground. The other story I would like to tell you is the story of Miles Eckert. Miles lost his father, Army Sergeant Andy Eckert, when he was only about two months old. A couple years ago, Miles had one of the most viral stories ever known in American history. He was eight years old and he was in Cracker Barrel with his mom, and he found a $20 bill on the ground. He took that $20 bill and he saw a soldier that was eating next to him, and he wrote him a note. And he said, I want you to have this $20 bill because you remind me of my father who is in heaven and I want to pay it forward And it started a national movement across the country to pay it forward, and he ended up raising over $2 million for Children that have lost their parents. General George Casey, the former chief of staff of the Army, lost his father, Major General George Casey, in Vietnam in 1970. He went on to be the highest ranking officer in the United States Army. As mentioned several times, Colonel Rebecca Eggers continues to serve after her loss and be an inspiration to so many people. Throughout each wartime in American history, the quiet ranks of Gold Star families have stood up and served in the midst of our loss. Our strength Gold Star families sacrifice in their spirit inspires the nation and the men and women who continue to serve in the military. Today we stand beside you in uniforms. We no way no, that you share our losses with us, and we want you to know we’re strong and we are resilient. I want to tell a little bit about the display as well and some of the things that are on it. As mentioned with the five Sullivan brothers, they are in the display for the first round. The display changes every six months. It’s going to rotate with a story of a Gold Star family that’s carrying on their loved ones. Legacy of service. Kelly actually wrote a beautiful snippet that’s on the display currently today we also have the family of Sergeant first class offering Arteaga, who was killed in Afghanistan with the 101st in March of 2011. His 11 year old son, Austin, is featured in the display, as well as his wife, Shawna. Also the Gold Star. Children of chief warrant officer to Jonathan Farmer, who was killed in Syria january 16th 2019 helped pick out the background for the display. They came into the Pentagon and help pick out which color it should be, which texture and they loved helping. Also, I want to mention that the Gold Star flag was handmade by two Gold Star moms. Betty Sue Vincent and Tammy Clark handmade it in honor of their sons, private first class Donald Wayne Vincent and Lance Corporal Philip Paul Clark, who were both killed in action in Helmand province, Afghanistan. I want to thank you all for being here today. I want to thank you for the support. And I also want to say a final word to our service members. I know you have shared our losses with us, and we want you to know is gold star families that we love you and we stand with you. And we served beside you and we are strong. Thank you. Thank you, Jane. I know I speak for a lot of people who love you. who are watching and are here in spirit. And I say I’m so proud of you. Um body resiliency. You are the very definition of that. We are now so pleased to turn our attention to the official ribbon cutting ceremony for the Pentagon’s newest permanent display and the Onley one specifically dedicated to Gold Star families. Because of the location of the display right in the heart of the Pentagon, we are unable to bring a live video connection. So earlier, our distinguished guests took part in the ribbon cutting ceremony. So, ladies and gentlemen, the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Gold Star families Pentagon display. It’s an honor to officially dedicate the gold Star display that memorializes the ultimate sacrifice of our fallen servicemen and women and the families who continue to serve as their living legacies. Our nation is forever grateful for their selfless and dedicated service, and we will never forget them. Chairman Millie Miss Wharton, would you join me in cutting the ceremonial ribbon? Thank you very much, German. Thank you, Miss Jane. Thank you, Colonel Eggers. And this concludes the ribbon cutting ceremony in remembrance of our Gold Star families. We recognize the significant contribution of Assistant Secretary of defense for manpower and Reserve affairs. Miss V. Penrod and her deputy assistant secretary, defense for military, community and family policy. Miss Kim Joyner and her team for their efforts, including David Julian. And we recognize those who played a role in the actual building of the display. Kathy Jones, Catherine Zika Foose and Gold Star family members. Sean and Alston, Rh Aga, Betty Sue Vincent, Tammy Clark and Betsy Devin Preston and Priscilla Farmer. For all of us at the Pentagon, Thank you for being with us, and we hope that you will join us on future events on military one source.