I'm here today, on behalf of our Commander-in-Chief, to put down one more installment on the debt of gratitude that we owe to each and every one of you who've worn the uniform. It's a debt that we know we can never fully repay.

Freedom isn't free. To be preserved, it demands vigilance. To be defended, it requires strength. To be secured for our children and our grandchildren, it calls for the loyalty of patriots and the courage of warriors. It requires Americans to answer the call, and you Legionnaires answered that call in your time.

You come from the rest of us, but you are the best of us. And the American people cherish all of the men and women who bear the title of "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States."

You veterans are emblematic of American greatness. You stepped up to serve your country, to serve a cause greater than yourselves. And that also describes a particular veteran that I know is on the hearts and our minds of people all across America as we gather here.

He came from a long line of service in the uniform. He served in the Vietnam War, spent five and a half years as a prisoner of war, and he did not yield. After he made it home, he took on a new kind of service, in the halls of our nation's Capital. And in the Congress of the United States, he would become one of the most unwavering advocates of our armed forces to ever serve.

We remember this man in Arizona today. Tomorrow, and the day after, in our nation's Capital, before he is laid to rest at the United States Naval Academy. But I can assure you, America will always remember and honor the lifetime of service of United States Senator John McCain.

And by honoring him, we also honor all of you, his fellow members of the American Legion, who, for 100 years, have proudly stood "for God and country."

And in case you haven't noticed, you have an ally and a champion in President Donald Trump. Just as you have fought for our freedom, we will always fight for you.

In this White House, under this President's leadership, we know that veterans' benefits are not entitlements. Veterans' benefits are simply the earned compensation for men and women who served in the uniform of the United States.

Since day one of this administration, we've taken decisive action to ensure that America keeps the promises that we made to each and every one of you and all of our nation's heroes.

It's a new day at the VA. Thank you. Truthfully, it's a new day at the VA. And working with Secretary Wilkie, we've also implemented the "Decision Ready Claims" initiative to ensure that veterans' claims are processed quickly and efficiently. We've already reduced the average wait time from months to just two weeks.

You know, I stand before you today deeply humbled because while I am the son of a combat veterans and the proud father of a United States Marine, my life's journey did not take me into the uniform of the United States. But my dad's did.

He saw action in the Korean War. And a few years after he passed away, I was visiting a cousin of his, now 30 years gone. He'd grown up with my dad in Chicago, and he talked to me about the way the war had changed my dad.

When I asked him how, he said, "You know, when I knew your dad growing up on the South Side of Chicago, he was one of the most happy-go-lucky guys I ever met." But he said, "The war changed him and he never was quite the same when he came home."

And I asked him, "How do you mean?" My dad's cousin looked at him, and said words that I'll literally never forget. He said, "I don't think your dad ever got over the guilt of coming home."

You know, in those words, in an instant, this son of that veteran understood every unfinished sentence, every far-away look on my father's face whenever the war came up. And that's when I began to understand the quiet cost of freedom and the burden that so many of our veterans bear when they return from combat to everyday life.

In this centennial year of the American Legion, as we prepare to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the Great War that inspired your founding, be assured that this administration has not forgotten the lessons of that era.

The First World War represented a turning point in the history of our country and the world. In the span of just a few years, the United States went from being isolated between two vast oceans to becoming the preeminent power in the world.

But while we won the war, in time, we lost the peace. And a little more than a generation later, America's best and bravest were again crossing the Atlantic to return to a continent at war.

Much like the time between the two World Wars, the world that our administration inherited is filled with widening challenges and unknowable threats. Rogue regimes race for nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them. Radical Islamic terror networks spread as never before, and rising rival powers aggressively seek to undermine American interests at every turn.

For too long, the national policymakers stood silent while others exploited the international institutions and rules that we helped build, and subsidized foreign industries at great risk to our own.

But today, America is no longer ignoring these threats. Thanks to the leadership of President Donald Trump, we are confronting these challenges head on.

And to all of you who served, and who even now have loved ones in the armed forces, let me make you a promise: We will continue to rebuild our military, restore the arsenal of democracy, until we give our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guard the resources and the training they deserve to accomplish their mission and come home safe.

With renewed American strength, the United States is once again standing without apology as leader of the free world. Thanks to our President's leadership, our NATO Allies have increased defense spending by over $33 billion and they're now paying more to support our common security than ever before.

And together — together with our allies, we've taken the fight against radical Islamic terrorism, on our terms, to their soil. In Afghanistan, we're giving our warfighters the resources and the tools they need to fight and win. And in Syria and Iraq, thanks to the courage of our armed forces, ISIS is on the run, their caliphate has crumbled, and we will soon drive ISIS from the face of the Earth.

And I will tell you, this son of that combat veteran from the Korean War was honored beyond words to be there when the first 55 flag-draped cases bearing the remains of our missing fallen arrived on American soil. Thanks to the leadership and compassion of President Donald Trump, our boys are finally coming home.

Now what I have described to you today, men and women of the American Legion, is nothing short of a great renewal of American strength at home and abroad. Over the past year and a half, with the strong support of the American Legion, our administration has replaced weakness with vigor, doubt with confidence, and timidity with leadership. And under President Donald Trump, together with all of you, we are forging a new century of American strength.

So thank you again. Thank you for the honor of addressing you, in this historic year, at the start of your centennial celebration. For 100 years, the American Legion has brought together heroes who stepped forward to serve, and who still serve their nation long after you hang up the uniform.

In this year of celebration, it's fitting and proper to dwell on what distinguishes you the most, the defining characteristic that's made you members of this storied organization, and heroes to your entire nation.

In the words of a veteran, from 50 years ago, we are reminded:

"It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech."

It's all of you. Each and every one of you who have served in the uniform of the United States and the brave men and women, who are serving at this very hour, standing a lonely post, manning a deck on a rolling sea, patrolling the skies, or marching into darkness who have given us freedom, who have preserved that freedom since the birth of this nation.

This is the land of the free, because it is still the home of the brave. And you are that brave.

You counted your lives — you counted our lives more important than your own. You were, in your time, prepared to lay down your lives for your friends, your families, your nation, and our freedom.

So, on behalf of your Commander-in-Chief, and on behalf of a grateful nation, 100 years on from the founding of this great organization, I say to each and every one of you from my heart: Thank you for your service.

And to the American Legion, thank you for a century of service, for doing your part, not only in years past, but in the century that is to come, to preserve this last, best, hope of Earth, for ourselves and our posterity.

So, God bless the American Legion. And God bless our armed forces. And God bless the Unites States of America.

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