President Donald Trump reflected on American veterans’ service and sacrifice in an address delivered at Arlington National Cemetery Wednesday, while defending his administration’s military operations and record on veteran care.
“To inherit a free nation is among the rarest blessings that any people in history have ever known,” Trump said. “To defend that freedom is among the hardest and highest obligations.”
He described American service members as the guardians of the nation’s freedoms, emphasizing the sacrifices made by generations of men and women who answered the call to serve.
“A nation without heroes is like a sky without stars or a heaven without angels,” Trump said. “But in America, we’ve never known that darkness because we have the men and women of America’s armed forces, our guiding lights, our greatest heroes, and our guardian angels.”
The president recounted the stories of four veterans in his remarks, highlighting their experiences in conflicts spanning World War II to the war in Afghanistan.
Trump recognized a 103-year-old Army corporal who, at 19, left behind his young wife and newborn son to serve as a gunner in the 692nd Tank Destroyer Battalion during World War II. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge, the deadliest battle for American forces during the war.
“For weeks, he and his unit fought in one of the most intense crucibles in the history of war to turn the enemy’s final advance into an unbelievable and somewhat unexpected defeat,” Trump said.
The corporal’s battalion would later help liberate prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp.
Trump also recognized a medevac pilot who evacuated nearly 2,800 “badly wounded soldiers” across almost 1,900 combat missions during the Vietnam War. On a single day in December 1968, he twice exposed his helicopter to machine-gun and sniper fire to rescue American soldiers, sustaining injuries to his leg, hand and eye.
“Despite it all, he grabbed the flight stick, recovered the aircraft, and returned the eight men to safety,” Trump said. “Nobody thought it was possible.”
The pilot received the Distinguished Service Cross, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, a Bronze Star and 33 Air Medals.
Trump also honored an Army Green Beret who survived an explosion in Afghanistan in 2010 that required 27 surgeries and caused two cardiac arrests. Eighteen months later, he returned to combat and defied orders to rescue fellow soldiers pinned down by Taliban gunfire, earning the Silver Star.
“I also want to say a very special thanks to every service member currently working to ensure that the world’s number one state sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
He also honored a Marine who survived the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing, which killed 241 American service members.
“[He] reminds us why that mission really matters,” Trump said. “That was a terrible time. America did not start a war with Iran. Iran has been waging war on America since 1979. This should have been taken care of a long time ago.”
Trump also highlighted his administration’s military operations in Iran and Venezuela, arguing that the United States was achieving significant victories abroad.
“I would say we are right now more respected than this country has ever been before,” Trump said.
Turning to veterans’ care, Trump praised Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins and said his administration had reduced the VA claims backlog by 71%.
“America’s veterans have always fulfilled their duty to us, and while I’m president of the United States, we will always fulfill our duty to them,” Trump said.