The Image of the American Fighter
Jefferson warned us we cannot survive.
The address of the President last week.
And above all, thank you to the greatest, fiercest, and bravest fighting force ever to stride the face of this Earth, the United States Army. Thank you very much. Because the Army keeps us free, you make us strong. And tonight, you have made all Americans very proud. They’re watching from all over the world, actually. Made them all very proud. Every other country celebrates their victories. It’s about time America did, too. That’s what we’re doing tonight.
As we celebrate tonight, we also think of the hundreds of thousands of Army soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice for our nation and selflessly laid down their lives in every war, from the Revolution to the War on Terror.
We're the hottest country in the world right now, and our country will soon be greater and stronger than ever before. Down through history, we've been blessed beyond words by this valiant legion of Army warriors and Patriots, heroes, and legends. And tonight we affirm with unwavering certainty that in the years ahead and in every generation hence, whenever duty calls and whatever danger comes, the American soldier will be there.
For the past two and a half centuries, our warriors have shown unrivaled valor on fields, a battle around the globe. With the frostbitten feet and bloody fist, they have marched into the flames and fury of combat, charged up mountains, stormed beaches, waded through torrents of gunfire, and leapt into skies thick with smoke and shrapnel. The U.S. Army has driven bayonets into the heart of sinister empires, crushed the ambitions of evil tyrants. Beneath the threads of American tanks, it’s done so well, it’s done so much, and sent the devil himself flying into full retreat.
Time and again, America’s enemies have learned that if you threaten the American people, our soldiers are coming for you. Your defeat will be certain, your demise will be final, and your downfall will be total and complete. Because our soldiers never give up, never surrender, and never, ever quit. They fight, fight, fight, and they win, win, win. And that’s why no institution in history has entered more names into the roster of American heroes than the U.S. Army, the Congressional Medal of Honor, more than anyone or anything.
The U.S. Army has driven bayonets into the heart of sinister empires, crushed the ambitions of evil tyrants beneath. The threads of American tanks, it's done so well, it's done so much, and sent the devil himself flying into full retreat. Time and again, America's enemies have learned that if you threaten the American people, our soldiers are coming for you.
Down through history, we’ve been blessed beyond words by this valiant legion of Army warriors and patriots, heroes and legends. And tonight, we affirm with unwavering certainty that in the years ahead, and in every generation hence, whenever duty calls and whatever danger comes, the American soldier will be there. No matter the risk, no matter the obstacles, our warriors will charge into battle. They will plunge into the crucible of fire, and they will seize the crown of victory. Because the United States of America will always have the grace of Almighty God and the iron will of the United States Army.
From Bunker Hill to San Juan Hill, from Gettysburg to Guadalcanal, from Yorktown to Shiloh, and from the trenches of the Argonne to the mountains of Afghanistan, the Army has forged a legacy of unmatched courage, untold sacrifice, and unequaled and undying glory. Our soldiers have poured out their blood by the bucketful on Missionary Ridge and Heartbreak Ridge, on the sands of Sicily, Normandy, and the Philippines, and on the dusty streets of Da Nang, Baghdad, and Fallujah.
Thanks to their extraordinary service and devotion, 250 years later, America stands tall, America stands proud, and America stands free. We’re the hottest country in the world right now, and our country will soon be greater and stronger than ever before.
Remarks: Donald Trump Speaks at a Military Parade in Washington - June 14, 2025 Transcript here
What does this say to you, Americans? In and out of uniform?
Trump believes the old lie - Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. It is in the dying that the Army demonstrates Glory.
When the country began, standing armies were seen as perilous. Until the first World War, mobilization of the populace was sufficient. In the second World War, the citizenry and the military joined as though one. It did not stop on VE or VJ day. The US kept a large standing army, and imagined that it kept the peril of nuclear war at bay. What it did is corrode the spirit of the people.
Now we have a generalissimo who will call forth imagined troops with unquenchable bravery. This illusion is more clear to those who have never served. It vanishes in the trenches. There is no purity of human nature in high command; none is seen in the front of battle. War sucks. Ask a Veteran.
American soldiers are not robot automatons. They are citizen soldiers who are human, who feel things like humans. Do not speak of them with the contempt that the Leader offered them.
"Instead of subjecting the military to the civil power, [a tyrant will make] the civil subordinate to the military. But can [he] thus put down all law under his feet? Can he erect a power superior to that which erected himself? He [can do] it indeed by force, but let him remember that force cannot give right." --Thomas Jefferson: Rights of British America, 1774.(*) ME 1:209, Papers 1:134
"There are instruments so dangerous to the rights of the nation and which place them so totally at the mercy of their governors that those governors, whether legislative or executive, should be restrained from keeping such instruments on foot but in well-defined cases. Such an instrument is a standing army." --Thomas Jefferson to David Humphreys, 1789. ME 7:323
"I do not like [in the new Federal Constitution] the omission of a Bill of Rights providing clearly and without the aid of sophisms for... protection against standing armies." --Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787. ME 6:387
"Nor is it conceived needful or safe that a standing army should be kept up in time of peace for [defense against invasion]." --Thomas Jefferson: 1st Annual Message, 1801. ME 3:334
"Standing armies [are] inconsistent with [a people's] freedom and subversive of their quiet." --Thomas Jefferson: Reply to Lord North's Proposition, 1775. Papers 1:231
"The spirit of this country is totally adverse to a large military force." --Thomas Jefferson to Chandler Price, 1807. ME 11:160
"A distinction between the civil and military [is one] which it would be for the good of the whole to obliterate as soon as possible." --Thomas Jefferson: Answers to de Meusnier Questions, 1786. ME 17:90
"It is nonsense to talk of regulars. They are not to be had among a people so easy and happy at home as ours. We might as well rely on calling down an army of angels from heaven." --Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, 1814. ME 14:207
"There shall be no standing army but in time of actual war." --Thomas Jefferson: Draft Virginia Constitution, 1776. Papers 1:363