ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — President Donald Trump honored fallen service members during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, calling them “great, great warriors” who were “America’s best and bravest.”
“We just revere their incredible legacy.” Trump said. “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.”
Trump’s speech veered briefly into the political, referring to the republic “that I am fixing after a long and hard four years.” He said that on this commemorative day, his fixes were not for today to discuss.
Prior to speaking, Trump placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a somber tradition for U.S. presidents. The president paused after placing the wreath, then stepped back and saluted during the playing of taps. Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined him.
Trump told the story of Senior Chief Petty officer Shannon Kent, killed along with three other Americans by a suicide bomber in 2019 in Syria, leaving behind her husband, 3-year-old son and 18-month old son.
She was on her fifth combat deployment, he said, embedded with a team hunting Islamic State group militants in Syria, serving as linguist, translator and cryptology technician working alongside special forces. “She was among the first women ever to do it, and she did it better than anyone,” he said.
The crowd also heard of Senior Master Sergeant Elroy Harworth, who went down in enemy territory during the Vietnam War, dying while his wife was seven months pregnant. His son followed his father’s path and has been in the Army for 20 years.
Vance said the lesson of these stories and all the gravestones is: “We must be cautious in sending our people to war.”
The president began the day with a decidedly different tone. In a social media message in all capital letters, Trump ranted at former President Joe Biden, calling him the “scum” who spent the last four years trying to destroy the country with radical leftism and who, he said, left behind an open border.
Trump also went after federal judges who have blocked efforts to enact his mass deportation agenda, calling them “monsters who want our country to go to hell.”
That was after he posted a separate message proclaiming “HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!” Wishing people a happy Memorial Day is regarded as verboten because the day is considered a solemn day to honor soldiers killed in service.
