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A memorial was held in Arlington, Virginia on Memorial Day, honoring the fallen US troops and commemorating their sacrifices. The ceremony was attended by US President Donald Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses.
The ceremony was held at Arlington National Cemetery, where over 400,000 people, many of them, were placed for soldiers to rest.
Trump placed wreaths in the graves of unknown soldiers, a gloomy tradition for our president. The president paused after placing the wreath, then Vance and Hegses joined in with a salute and retreated.
The US President then gave a speech, where he called the US military “great, great warriors” and picked out several families and relatives of the late soldiers to tell their stories.
“We just respect their incredible legacy,” Trump said. “We honor their eternal and eternal glory, and continue our merciless pursuit of America’s fate as we make our nation stronger, more proud, more free than ever.”
“Their courage,” he said, “has given us the most freest, greatest, and noblest republic of all time to be present on the surface of the earth.
He told the story of senior Navy Secretary Shannon Kent, who was killed along with three other Americans in a suicide bombing in Syria in 2019, leaving behind her husband, 3-year-old son and 18-month-old son.
The New York native took part in his fifth deployment, and was embedded in a team that served as a linguist, translator and cryptographic engineer on a mission targeting extremists in the Islamic State Group.
“She was one of the first women to do it, and she did it better than anyone else,” Trump said.
It didn’t take long for the speech to be headed towards politics as Trump got the opportunity to criticise his predecessor, Joe Biden.
“The Republic I am revising after four long and intense years. It was the difficult four years we went through,” the US President said. “People pouring unchecked borders. People who do things that are not considered cannot be discussed today,” he added.
Holidays are usually treated by US presidents in pure and solid sole, but Trump began the day with a fiery all-cap social media post on his social media platform, Truth Social.
“Scum, who spent the last four years trying to destroy our country.”
Meanwhile, European Parliament President Roberta Metosola also attended the ceremony. In a post on X, Metsola paid tribute to our soldiers who fell, acknowledged and thanked them for their sacrifices to Europe.
“On anniversary, we celebrate the courage of all fallen heroes, where sacrifice means peace and freedom in Europe,” Metora said. “Europe is forever grateful, and we remember them.
Additional sources •AP
