Very much. And that was some greeting we had in North Carolina. Ill tell you, i dont know if you saw the crowd outside, its pretty amazing. But we had it in texas and ohio, South Carolina and florida its just incredible whats happening please sit down. Please. And im honored to be in North Carolina, the presence of true american heroes, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the american victory in world war ii and a victory it was. On september 2, 1945, the great general Douglas Macarthur accepted japans Unconditional Surrender aboard the u. S. S. Missouri in tokyo bay. It marked the end of the deadliest conflict in Human History and the ultimate trial of american freedom. It was a big day. It was a great triumph, great country. And our country is greater than ever before thats whats happening and its what it is. With a greater military, where the greater military than weve ever had before. [applause] were deeply moved to be joined this afternoon by world war ii veterans all of whom ive met, all of whom are tough. I dont want to mess around with any of them, ill tell you right now, whose blood, sweat, grit, courage and unfailing devotion made that epic victory possible. These brave americans raced into he fires of hell to vanquish tyranny, dethrone patientism and defend the american way of life. Youve earn the alternate and undying gratitude of all americans and thats why im here today. I wanted to be with you. You know what im talking about, you do dont you if we had a good time a little while ago. Over at the oval office. Congressional medal of honor. Were privileged to be joined by veterans from every generation, including a number of wounded warriors, we stand in awe of your service. I can say that, so respect, so loved. We are in awe. Joining us for this commemoration, our secretary david bern hart, secretary, where is david . Thank you, david, very much for being here. [applause] and a great senator, a real friend of mine, a tremendous senator, actually, and he works very, very hard and he loves the people of North Carolina. Senator tom tillis, tom, thank you very much. [applause] President Trump and some warriors there in congress and theyre tough and theyre smart. Representatives david rouser, ted bud and dan bishop. Thank you, fellas. They are tough. But youre not as tough as these guys, ill tell you right now, right . [laughter] youre not as tough as them. There is no better place to mark this profound world war in wilmington, North Carolina. The people of this city and this state and its an incredible state and i want to thank you for being so nice to me. Youve been very nice. Very, very nice every time weve asked for something. But ive been nice to you also, i have to say that. But you made the extraordinary contributions to the war effort. Thats North Carolina made this extraordinary contribution in so many. Nearly two million servicemen trained for combat in North Carolina. More than any other state. Wow. Thats pretty good, isnt it, huh . Who would know that . Two million trained. More than any state. [applause] President Trump over 360,000 Service Members from your state fought in the second world war. They battle ned clips of normandy, over the coast of cav and in the deep wieters the pacific. Over 11,000 North Carolina patriots fought the enemy until their very last breath. You know what that means, right . Think of that, 11,000. Thank you. And we have family members here, by the way, thats them saying hello. In wilmington, more than 20,000 workers of the North Carolina Ship Building Company pored out every ounce of their strength to build an astonishing 243 ships for the u. S. Navy. And it was the citizens of ilmington who came together to save the priceless arc fact of the glorious battleship behind me, the u. S. S. North carolina and that is some powerful and beautiful ship by coming in on coming in, we got plenty of televisions on airforce one and they showed it in primetime in the 1940s. And they showed that ship and ill tell you. I shouldnt say this they dont make them that way anymore. What a beautiful ship. During world war ii, this magnificent ship participated in many major naval offenses and in the Pacific Theater itself, including the marshall islands. Iwo jima and okinawa, earning more battle scars than any other battleship. Were learning a lot today, right . Thats pretty good. Why are you clapping . You come from west virginia, huh . He loves west virginia. So do i. Right . But were clapping anyway. You Better Believe it. Thank you. After the war, the people of wilmington organized a Massive Campaign to save this beautiful ship there the scrap yard. They preserved it ads memorial toll the american sailor, a monument to the American Workers that built it and an enduring symbol of american greatness now more than 200,000 people visit the site each year to learn the history and the heroism that defines our nation. This afternoon, my administration is formerly recognizing the citys exceptional contributions to victory in the second world war. It is my tremendous honor to officially designate wilmington, North Carolina, as our nations very First World War ii heritage city. Thats a big deal. Our nations very first. Wilmington, congratulations to you all. [applause] and god is saluting you up there, i tell you. We may have to go a little quicker than i thought, right . With this designation, we proudly declare that in america, we dont tear down the past, we celebrate our heroes. We cherish our heritage. We preserve our history. And we build the future. This mighty vessel and this magnificent town will forever tell that story with this designation. So i want to just congratulate North Carolina and wilmington. Thats a fantastic, a fantastic thing. [applause] President Trump i want to thank senator tillis and congressman browser. Stand up, please. In between the lightning bolts, for their work today make this day possible. Thank you, tom. Thank you, fellas frlt great jock. And let me thank wilbur jones who has championed the cause of world war ii heritage cities, wilbur, thank you. [applause] thank you, wilbur. Great job. Great job. So wilbur, you know a lot of people wanted this, right . So you are just a tough cookie. You got it. Number one. Number one in the nation. I want to thank wilbur. Thats great. I also want to recognize the heroes who saved american freedom. And ive known some of them since ive been in office. Ive seen them. And there they are. Here today is my good friend who i just left and he was in the oval office with me at the white house. Woody williams. 75 years ago, woody showed fearless courage as a marine in the battle of iwo jima. You are amazing. [applause] President Trump i promise them is would not tell that hes 97 years old. I promise. ll tell you, hes 100 sharp. Hes 100 sharp. I know a 78yearold thats not so sharp and hes 97. And hes 100 . This has nothing to do with that. 78s young. Depends on whos 78. Thats all. Hes 97. I said man, you are something. And physically in great shape. He bread destroyed enemies with machine guns, positioned after another, knocked them out one after one for his daring actions. President truman, awarded woody the congressional medal of honor, the highest in our land. Woody, congratulations. You inspire us all. It was great to have you on airforce one. I have promised him, you know, maybe two years ago. I go ill take you on airforce one. He came up he said id like to flay on airforce one and i said ill do it and today we did it. We got it done thanks, woody. Great job. And joining us is a veteran of world war ii, paul phillips. Paul proudly served on the u. S. S. North carolina in the Pacific Theater. At 93 years old, he has returned today to visit the vip upon which he so nobly served hes tremendous man. Paul, its our honor to have you with us please, paul, stand up. Thank you, paul. Thank you. Perfect. Thank you, paul. [applause] great job, paul. Appreciate it. Here as well as army veteran greg m, elekan. E served as a Radio Operator for dwight d. Eisenhower. I would love to have heard of those conversations. Much more interesting than today, right . 75 years ago, general eisenhower directed greg to broadcast around the world the long awaiting news that germany had surrendered. Greg, your being here is very much appreciated. Thank you very much. It was a great honor meeting you beforeful thank you very much. Very, very great honor. [applause] our tambing today is to pass on to the next generation the blessings of liberty that you fought for and that you bled for , all for security. You wanted to secure our future, you wanted to praise and raise our flag and you did that. You raised our flag and you stand proud and you stand tall and were doing it in our nation too, almost everyone. Ever once in a while you see somebody not do it. We dont like it when they dont do it. I want to just thank you. American warriors did not defeat patientism and depression overseas, only to watch our freedom be trampled by violent mobs here at home. We stop those violent mobs very easily all they have to do is please come in, mr. President. Well have it done in one hour. [applause] please come in. Its one of the great to me, incredible. They just, as you know, in portland the mayor last night, his home was raid. He was thrown out of his home and he will stand up and hell fight for these people. These people only know one thing and hes strength. Thats all they know. Strength. And we have strength. For the sake of all americans, we must up hold the rule of law and defend the American Dream for every child in our land we must teach our children that american us the land of heroes lie, you. Youre heroes. You know that, right . Woody . Youre heroes. Youre great, great men. Great men. Better believe it were not ashamed in america. Were not ashamed of anything. I signed a very important edict recently. Three months ago, they were ripping down statues. I said you can rip them down but youre going to serve 10 years in jail if you do. And as soon as i do, incredibly, you havent heard about statues coming down, have you . Statues or monuments but were not ashamed of our country. Were proud of our country. Browder than we are of anything else. Our country is great. And were going to keep it that way. Were going to keep our country great. Together, we will remember americas victories. We will recognize americas outstanding virtues and we will pay tribute to the heroes who keep us safe, strong, proud and free. And i also in addition to our wonderful brilliant military, want to thank law enforcement. Because the law enforcement, without them, were not here today very well. Theyve done an incredible job. Really an incredible job. And thank you, again, to the world war ii veterans in attendance today. This is such a great tribute to North Carolina. We will never forget what you did for us, your legacy is etched forever into the hearts and souls of a grateful nation and this spot is right now, one of the most important military spots anywhere in the world. Congratulations to everybody, and thank you for making it come true. Thank you all very much. God bless you. God bless North Carolina and god bless america. Thank you all very much. Thank you. [cheers and applause] today, mary and steve join the National Constitution center for a discussion of freedom of the press. Watch live at 7 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Online at cspan. Org or listen live with the free cspan radio app. The contenders. About the men who ran for the presidency and lost but changed political history. Tonight, the arizona senator who paved the way for younger conservatives, barry goldwater. The contenders at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Bidens record is a shameful roll call of the most catastrophic betrayals and blunders in our lifetime. He has spent his entire career on the wrong side of history. Our current president s fail in his most basic duty to the nation. Hes failed to protect us. Hes failed to protect america. And my fellow americans, that is unforgivable. The first president ial debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President joe biden is tuesday, settlement 29. And 9 00 p. M. Eastern. Watch live coverage on cspan. Watch livestreaming and on demand at cspan. Org or listen live on the free cspan radio app. Former Federal Reserve chairs ben bernanke and janet yellen took part on Monetary Policy and the federal response to the pandemic. This event is hosted by the Brookings Institution and was held by videoconference. I want to welcome everyone to this
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