Present present [ drums playing ] ladies and gentlemen, the wreath laying ceremony is complete. Please move to your seats and the ceremony will begin shortly. You are looking at live pictures there of President Donald Trump laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier. As you heard over the loud speaker as well, you heard that the laying of the wreath, that part of the ceremony has completed. As we see folks make their way to the other side of the pavilion there where President Trump will now make his address alongside secretary of defense, jim mattis, as well as the joint chief of staff, general i apologize, general dumford is going to speak as well. Well be bringing you the comments live to you once they get underway. But you see there, representatives of the various branch of the u. S. Military as the president laid the wreath just a short while ago. New bikes arent selling guys. What are we gonna do . How about we pump more into promotions . Nah. What else . What if we hire more sales reps . Nah. What else . What if we digitize the whole supply chain . So people can customize their bike before they buy it. That worked better than expected. Ill dial it back. Yeah, dial it back. Just a little. Live business, powered by sap. When you run live, you run simple. King arthur ready washington charge empress wu charge in chinese king arthur charge let your reign begin. Evony, the mobile game. Download now. Welcome back, everyone. You are looking at live pictures there on your screen of the Memorial Day Services that are underway at Arlington National cemetery. On the righthand side of the screen, youre seeing the tomb of the unknown soldier where President Trump just laid a wreath on the lefthand side youre seeing the opposite side of the memorial amphitheater where Vice President mooiike pe and other dignitaries are taking their seats. You can see Kellyanne Conway there. The president is expected to make his memorial day address momentarily. As we bring you these live pictures, its important to note that the president a short while ago laid the wreath there. Well bring you those pictures once again in case you missed them. But this is a very important ceremony, the 149th in our countrys history, expecting about 5,000 visitors to attend todays memorial ceremony. Well discuss a lot of what we can expect later today in the program, but we wanted to show you what we saw a few minutes ago. And that was President Trump arriving unaccompanied notably by his family, although alongside defense secretary jim mattis as well as Homeland Security secretary john kelly and the chairman of the joint chiefs joseph dunford. Well play that momentarily. Watch. Present present [ drums playing ] [ taps playing ] all right. I want to bring in our panel once again. I want to begin with president ial historian allen lichman in d. C. Professor lichman, if i can get your thoughts on what you expect the president to say, and put in context past president s and the message they deliver on this somber occasion. This is an occasion of great significance. It arose out of, of course, the worst conflict in the history of the United States, the civil war, when 620,000 were dead on both sides. And originally it was kind of separate kind of north and south, but eventually memorial day came to be a time of reconciliation and healing between the two conflicted sides during the civil war. It was originally called Decoration Day because we were decorating the graves of the fallen soldiers. And kind of officially became memorial day and a holiday on the last monday in may in the late 1960s. This has also been an occasion for president s to honor as President Trump is doing, those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country. It is also a time, as you can see, the president surrounded by generals here, including his secretary of defense, a time for president s who express their strong support for the american military. And that is precisely what i expect President Trump to do. It is a nonpartisan time. Dont expect this to be infected with politics or partisanship. Kevin bar rehren, i want to g you in as well, a lot of the president s men include former generals, including general john kelly. But this is a remarkably somber occasion for all of the families, the gold star families, who have lost members in the service of this country and made it possible for so many others to enjoy the freedoms of this country. But talk to us about the sacrifices of some of the preside president s in terms of what they have done for this country. The generals that the president has surrounded himself by, these are combat generals of the wars still going on in afghanistan, in iraq, spreading out across the middle east. As Counter Terrorism wars grow and spread to follow the enemy, that fight, i think that is what is most remarkable to me. And i cover the pentagon now for a decade through five secretaries, three of the joint chairmen kevin, we just want to take a quick listen to the National Anthem. Well come back to you in a moment. Please welcome the president of the United States. [ cheers and applause ] [ cheers and applause ] i apologize because we interrupted you there to listen to President Trump make his entrance to hail of the chief. We thought it was going to be the National Anthem and well be sure to bring that to you in just a moment. Well go back to what we were discussing before i cut you off, kevin. In this year alone, the United States has lost several. The guys that have gotten to fight now are special operators. Theres a war going on across a vast amount of territory, including fighting isis and in the philippines and indonesia. So what has changed is the large wars we are used to over the last decade have morphed into continual small battles. A lot of not just military, but also agents, agencies from the cia to private contractors and malcolm knows about the nonmilitary fighters as well that are out there. And i think that is something to be most notable of this memorial day. You talk about the gold star families, guys like kyle miller, the s. E. A. L. Kill in somalia last month. There are new members of this unfortunate brotherhood and sisterhood of the fallen. And they are going to continue under this president. And its, i think, a challenge for the administration to figure out how to talk about these wars and keep connected to the American Public when they remain largely done away from the cameras by operators who hope to be away from the cameras. Malcolm, thats an extremely important point. We often think of the conventional wars, particularly the two wars where we still have thousands of troops involved in harms way, including those in iraq and syria as well as in afghanistan. But to kevins point, we are now a country that has military operators in harms way in many different countries, many still giving their lives, whether it be yemen or somalia as he mentioned. And thats certainly something that should not be lost on this day as well. Absolutely. There are a lot more missions happening overseas. Malcolm, were going to listen to the National Anthem now. [ the National Anthem playing ] [ cheers and applause ] please be seated. Ladies and gentlemen, general dunford. [ applause ] mr. President , mr. Secretary, mr. Vice president and the gold star families, it is an honor to join you this morning in remembrance and reflection. Since the founding of our republic, more than 42 million americans have stepped forward to serve their country in uniform. Their story is one of selflessness, its one of courage, and its one of sheer commitment. But their story is also one of extraordinary sacrifice. More than 1 million americans who have answered the call to duty gave the last full measure of their devotion so their fellow citizens could live in freedom and raise their children in peace. Today we honor the fallen from battlefields that served as weigh points in our history, saratoga to midway, chosen to fallujah, today we reflect on the enormity of the sacrifice. We reflect on the hopes and the dreams never realized. Today we also reflect on the sacrifice of the families left behind. The anguish of parents, spouses, siblings and friends. The sadness of children growing up without their fathers or mothers. And we know that for the families, every day is memorial day. But today we also reflect on whats most important about the men and women we honor. We reflect on how they lived. They were people who stood for something larger than themselves. They were people who embodied the most important values and traditi traditions of our nation. They were people that understood that what we have in our country is worth fighting for. And though they were taken from us prematurely, they were people that touched our lives, they were people who made a difference. Today if we truly want to honor the fallen from all our conflicts, well do something more than mark their graves with flags and flowers. Well do something more than delivering remarks and reflect for just a few moments. If we truly want to give meaning to the sacrifice of those who have given all on our behalf, each of us will leave here today determined to find in some small way a method of serving our nation in our communities in their honor. If we do that, then i would offer that those of us who were taken from us prematurely will be able to look down and know that we truly do remember them. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the soldiers, sailors, airmen and coast guardsmen still in uniform, thank you for remembering. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, listen now as the United States air force band performs america the beautiful. O beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain for Purple Mountain majesties above the fruited plain America America god shed his grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea o beautiful for pilgrims feet whose stern impassion ed stress a thoroughfare of freedom beat across the wilder nness America America god mend thine every flaw confirm thy soul in selfcontrol god shand crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea ladies and gentlemen, secretary mattis. [ applause ] they shall grow not old as we that are left grow old. Age shath shall not worry them as the years condemn. As the sun goes down, we will remember them. Mr. President , mr. Vice president , chairmen of the joint chiefs of staff, family members of the gold stars, we gather together with a shared gratitude. Centuries ago, a king observed it is not the places that grace men but men grace the places. Today we know that he was right, more than a century ago, this 624acre plot of land was the plantation on the potomac. Hardly sacred, now it holds the greatest treasure of our nation, americas courageous dead. Those who today we pause to remember. Not far from here lies the marker of a civil war infantry veteran who later rose via Supreme Court justice. He said those who serve in the military have hearts that are touched with fire. Having known great things, he said, we are content with silence. If you have ever known one of the fallen, you have known greatness. It is hard to be content with their silence for we miss them. The empty chair on the holiday, the empty every day, the photograph that goes wherever you do, the picture fades but the person in it does not. Their fighting spirit persists, passed down through the ranks, their spirit echoes in those who serve today in the air, on land and at sea. In a world of change, some things stand firm. Some things are as plato said, good and true and beautiful. The kid on the line who never had a chance to grow old will always be there to teach us that suffering has meaning if it is accepted out of love for others. To the families of the fallen both here and at home, no words will ease your pain. But i beg you let it have meaning. Unite your sorrow to their awesome purpose. People do grace places, but people also grace people. We are blessed by our time with those now asleep, the mighty and the gentle. Let us share their story with others then like the poet we all can say, sleep soldiers still in honored rest, your truth and valor wearing. The bravest are the tenderest, the loving are the daring. Now ladies and gentlemen, its my great honor to introduce our commander in chief, the president of the United States, donald trump. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you so much. And thank you, general dunford, secretary mattis, for your moving words and for your service to our great nation. Vice president pence, cabinet secretaries, members of congress, members of the Armed Services and veterans, thank you for joining us as we honor the brave warriors who gave their lives for ours. Spending their last moments on this earth in defense of this country and of its people. Words cannot measure the depth of their devotion, the purity of their love or the totality of their courage. We only hope that every day we can prove worthy, not only of their sacrifice and service, but of the sacrifice made of the families and loved ones they left behind. Special, special people. I especially want to extend our gratitude to secretary john kelly for joining us today. Incredible man. [ applause ] i always like to call him general. He understands more than most ever could or ever will. The wounds and burdens of war, not only did the secretary proudly serve in the military for more than 40 years enduring many hardships, but he and his incredible wife karen have born the single most difficult hardship of them all, the loss of their son, robert, in service to our country. Robert died fighting the enemies of all civilizations in afghanistan. To john, karen, heather, kate, andrea and the entire kelly family, today 300 million american hearts are joined together with yours. We grieve with you, we honor you, and we pledge to you that we will always remember robert and what he did for all of us. Thank you, john. [ applause ] the kelly family represents military families across the country who carry the burden of freedom on their shoulders. Secretary kelly is joined today by his soninlaw jake, wounwarrior, and the secretars son, johnny, who will soon leave on his fifth deployment. It is because of families like yours that all of our families can live in safety and live in peace. To every gold star family who honors us with your presence, you lost sons and daughters, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, they each had their own names, their own stories, their own beautiful dreams. But they were all angels sent to us by god. And they all share one title in common, and that is the title of he hero. Real heroes. [ applause ] they were here only a brief time before god called them home. Their legacy will endure forever. General Douglas Macarthur once said that the soldier who is called upon to offer and to give his life for his country is the noblest development of mankind. Here at this hallowed shrine, we honor the noblest among us, the men and women who have paid the ultimate price for victory and for freedom. We pay tribute to those brave souls who raced into gunfire, roared into battle and ran into hell to face down evil. They made their sacrifice, not for fame or for money or even for glory, but for country. We are privileged to be joined today by a man whose life demonstrates the values of service and sacrifice, senator bob dole, here with his wife, senator elizabeth dole. [ applause ] senator dole fought bravely in world war ii and was severely wounded by german fire. In just a few weeks, bob will be celebrating his 94th birthday. [ applause ] and bob, i know i speak for millions of grateful americans when i say, thank you. Thank you, bob. [ applause ] we thank you, not only for your service, but for helping us to remember your fallen comrades and the countless american patriots who gave their lives in the second world war. Since the first volley of gunfire in the revolution, brave americans in every generation have answered the call of duty and won victory for freedom in its hour of need. Today a new generation of american patriots are fighting to win the battle against terrorism, risking their lives to protect our citizens from an enemy that uses the murder of innocence to wage war on humanity itself. Were joined today by the wife of specialist Christopher Horton who rests on these so beautiful groun grounds. As jane tells us, chris was a man who loved his country with every part of his being. In 2008, chris enlisted in the Oklahoma Army national guard. He trained as a sniper becoming known as one of the best shots anywhere at any time. He was a talented, tough guy. Well, chris was in the national guard, and he was also a volunteer police officer. In everything he did, he was thinking about how he could serve god, serve his family and serve his country. In 2011, he deployed for the first time to afghanistan. Chris knew his job was one of the most dangerous there was. But he was determined to go after the enemy at any cost to himself. His missions helped target and kill terrorists who sought to destroy innocent people. Just three months into his first deployment, chris was near the pakistan border trying to eliminate an enemy cell that was doing so much damage, and that was planting deadly roadside bombs against his unit and the units of many others. Standing watch with his comrades, he died in the ensuing gun battle with enemy forces. Chris sacrificed his life to protect his fellow soldiers and to protect all americans. He was a warded the purple heart and bronze star for his courage. And only 26 years old, chris secured his place in our hearts for eternity. Jane, america grieves with you. Our whole entire nation sends you our support, our strength and our deep, deep love. You lost your husband and america lost a hero. And together we will preserve his memory today, tomorrow and always. Thank you, jane. [ applause ] thank you, jane. Thank you, jane. [ applause ] thank you, jane. We are also joined today by david and rose beye