I invite you to join me in prayer. Almighty god, on this day of national remembrance, we pray. Deliver us, oh lord, from evil men who plot evil things in their hearts. Maintain the cause of the afflicted and execute justice for the needy. Today, we thank you for the valorous attributes and actions of Sergeant Major, patrick payne, that indeed delivered the oppressed. You are the one who placed him in a family of love in a nation he loves, fostering the pure motivation of all warriors, who fight for those who stand behind them. You equipped his hands for warfare and forged within him a heart that regarded the liberty of others of greater value than his own safety. You assigned him in the ranks of those whose common bond is uncommon valor, when terror needed to be boldly confronted. Your work through him not only preserved life, but preserved the legacy of his team and the ideals of our great nation. Nevertheless, we know that opposing evil comes with a great cost, so we pray that the honor of this ceremony in the ministry of your spirit would comfort the families and the teammates of Master Sergeant, josh wheeler, and Master Sergeant, john dunbar. I pray, in jesus name, amen. Pres. Trump thank you, very much, chaplain, a really beautiful job. Thank you for your service. Please. Thank you. Today, it is my privilege to present the congressional medal of honor to a warrior who has devoted the last two decades to fighting the forces of terror. Please, join me in welcoming todays extraordinary recipient, Sergeant Major, Thomas Patrick payne. [applause] congratulations. Thank you very much. We are grateful to be joined by pats really wonderful wife, allison. And allison, thank you very much for being here on this very momentous occasion. This is the big one, you know that . This is the big one. Also with us is patrick and alisons sixyearold son, aaron. Aaron, thank you for being here. He got a nice little award back there. A beautiful pen. Right . You are going to save that pen. I wanted you to know, your dad is one of the bravest men in the world. You know that, right . I think you knew that before we knew it. So, congratulations. To both. With us also is our first lady thank you, darling and Vice President , mike pence. Mike, thank you very much. Along with secretary of defense, mark esper. Mark, thank you. Congressman, richard hudson. Richard, richard, thank you very much. Secretary of the army, ryan mccarthy. Thanks, ryan. Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, mark milley. Mark, thank you very much. Its amazing, the way all these big generals are showing up. This is something. [laughter] this is the big one, always will be. The army chief of staff, james mcconville. Thank you very much, james. And Sergeant Major of the army, michael grinstead. Thank you very much. I also want to recognize the three medal of honor recipients that are with us, matthew williams, edward byers, and walter marman. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. [applause] thats great. A lot of brave people are with us today. Pat grew up in a small town in south carolina. His dad is a police officer. His grandfather served in world war ii, in korea, and vietnam. Service to our country goes through their veins very, very rapidly. Exactly 19 years ago today, on september 11, 2001, news of the attack in our nations great, great country. This was an attack like never has happened to us. But it went through Pats High School and went through his classroom, and pat was sitting there, listening. His teacher solemnly told his students that their generation had a fight to win, a fight and a fight to win. In that moment, pat was called to action. He knew that his country needed him. 10 short months later, at the age of 18, pat was in Army Basic Training at fort benning. Soon, he joined the elite ranks of the Legendary Army rangers. Pat became an exceptional soldier and expert sniper. He saw heavy combat in multiple theaters of battle. In 2010, during a deployment in afghanistan, his leg was severely wounded by an enemy grenade. While recovering in south carolina, pat met with his wife, alison. That was probably not a bad wound then, was that . I hope you never say it was worth it. Less than two years after being injured, pat competed against some of americas toughest won the prestigious best ranger competition, among the most grueling physical contests anywhere in the country. In october of 2015, on his 14th deployment, pat was part of a Team Assigned to plan and conduct an operation to rescue over 70 kurdish prisoners being held by isis barbarians in iraq. The team soon received horrifying intelligence that the terrorists were planning to massacre their captives and bury them in freshly dug graves. Pat and his teammates raced into action. After midnight, on october 22, pat boarded a helicopter and departed on a mission to free the hostages from two buildings guarded by dozens of ruthless and bloodthirsty isis terrorists. He was in command of a team clearing one of the compounds. As soon as the ramp to his helicopter went down, pat rushed into a blistering hail of gunfire. Pat and his team swiftly overpowered the enemy, secured the building, and freed 38 of the hostages. Then, pat received word that the rest of the assault team was facing harsh resistance in another complex. Pat turned to one of his fellow soldiers and said, lets get into the fight right now. Lets get into the fight. He saw that the other building was on fire, and he knew more of the hostages were still trapped inside. He and his team climbed up ladders to the roof and opened up fire on the enemy. Multiple isis fighters detonated suicide vests, ripping a portion of the building into pieces. But pat and his fellow rangers fought through the fire, the bullets and deadly blasts. Pat navigated to the front door and saw the captives were being held behind a metal door secured by two very heavy padlocks. He grabbed a pair of bolt cutters and ran through smoldering flame and smoke. As bullets impacted all around him, pat succeeded in cutting one of the locks before scorching, sweltering heat forced him to leave the building for some air. Pat caught his breath in a few seconds and was back. He ran right back into that raging blaze. He sliced the final lock and released the rest of the hostages as the building began to collapse. He received orders to evacuate, but he refused to do so. He didnt want to leave anyone behind. Pat ran back into the burning building that was collapsing two more times. He saved multiple hostages and he was the last man to leave. He wouldnt leave, no matter what they said, no matter who ordered him to do it, he wouldnt do it. He was the last one out. It was one of the largest and most Daring Rescue missions in american history. Pat and his team rescued 75 captives and killed the 20 isis terrorists. Pat, you embody the righteous glory of american valor. We stand in awe of your heroic daring and gallant deeds. You truly went above the call of duty to earn our nations highest military honor. Pat would be the first to remind us that he was not alone that day. In the battle, one army ranger made the ultimate sacrifice, Master Sergeant josh wheeler. Josh was something, right pat . Josh was something. Youve said that before. Today, were deeply moved to be joined by Master Sergeant wheelers wife, ashley wheeler. Ashley, our hearts break for your loss. A great man. That was a great man. Ashley, where is ashley . Ashley, please stand up. [applause] thank you. [applause] thank you very much, ashley. Our nation endures because fearless warriors like josh are willing to lay down their lives for our freedom. Our children can grow up in peace because josh had the courage to face down evil. Our debt to him and you is everlasting, and again thank you very much, ashley. We appreciate it very much. We will honor him forever, you know that. A very special group of warriors of men, great men. Pat has said that as soon as our soldiers boots hit the ground, they are ambassadors of the american way of life. Everywhere they go, the men and women of our armed forces instill our friends with hope, our enemies with dread, and our fellow citizens with unyielding american pride. Over the course of his service, pat has embarked on an astounding, really and an astounding 17 deployments in defense of our nation. General milley, thats a lot, right . Is that a lot . Thats a lot. I needed that extra confirmation. He now serves as an instructor training the next generation of american warriors. Today, he joins the Immortal Company of our most revered american heroes. Pat, you personify the motto, rangers lead the way. And you inspire us all. It is now my privilege to present Sergeant Major Thomas Patrick payne with the congressional medal of honor. Id like to ask the military aide to come forward and read the citation. Thank you very much. Attention to orders. The medal of honor is awarded to Sergeant First Class thomas p. Payne, United States army, for conspicuous gallantry at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty october 22, 2015. His heroism and selfless actions were key to liberating 75 hostages during a rescue mission that resulted in 20 enemies killed in action. Sergeant first class paynes gallantry under fire and uncommon valor is in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect greatly of the United States special Operations Command and United States army. [no audio] [applause] [applause] i invite you to join me in prayer. Gracious god, thank you for the gift of liberty that you have given us, and for those who have safeguarded liberty through heroic acts for our sake and for the sake of others. Your call upon each of our lives may not be to serve as First Responders or warriors on the field of battle, rushing into burning buildings, rescuing others. Even still, may our participation here today, and the strengthening of your spirit, compel us all to live lives of honor and valor, for the good of your kingdom, for the good of our own families, and for the good of the United States of america. I pray in jesus name, amen. [no audio] [applause] [orchestral background music] [indiscernible conversations] [orchestral background music] [indiscernible conversations] [orchestral background music] [indiscernible conversations] [orchestral background music] [indiscernible conversations] [orchestral background music] [indiscernible conversations] [orchestral background music] [indiscernible conversations] this week on q a day, Richard Horton editorinchief of the u. K. Based medical journal the atlantic discusses his book the covid19 catastrophe. We are going to figure out a way to get past this acute phase. Years,oing to take some there are two ways to help reduce the risk, there is a vaccine without is only part of the solution, the other is of course this idea that came up early on which was absolutely not the way to management manage it, but in the long term is very important and that is what is called herd immunity. The more people who build up immunity to the virus, that will then reduce the possibility of there being these epidemic or pandemic outbreaks, but that is not going to happen this year or next. Yearsng to take several for that to take place, we have to be in this for the long haul. 8 00rd horton sunday at p. M. Eastern on cspans q and a. We are back with professor Michael Kenney of the university of pittsburgh and we are going to talk about antifa and leftwing extremism, michael, good morning. Good morning, thanks for having me. First of all, i want you to define extremism for us and tell us the difference between leftwing and rightwing extremism if there is one. Guest absolutely, the first thing i would say about that
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