2026 Memorial Day Address

By the Hon. William Wagner (Ret)

My fellow Americans, honored veterans, Gold Star families, members of our armed forces, and cherished friends:

Today, I speak having recently had the profound privilege of spending a fair amount of time at Arlington National Cemetery, sacred ground not in just place, but in purpose. There, among endless rows of white headstones, one cannot help but feel the weight of freedom’s cost. Arlington silently teaches what words alone can never fully express. That is, that liberty has always required courage, sacrifice, and devotion beyond self.

Memorial Day calls us to remembrance. It summons us to gratitude. And it reminds us that freedom always comes with cost.

We pause today to honor those brave men and women who gave what Abraham Lincoln rightly called “the last full measure of devotion.” They laid down their lives so that this nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, might endure. And today, we especially recognize those who gave the last full measure of devotion as part of the current military operations in Iran. Combating the evil tyranny of a nuclear-ambitious totalitarianism with long-range missile capability, they died fighting one of the greatest existential threats ever faced by our Constitutional Republic, and by freedom-loving people throughout the world.

Once again, brave Americans stand against forces hostile to human dignity, religious liberty, ordered freedom, and the foundational truths upon which our nation was established. This generation now carries a burden borne by courageous Americans throughout every chapter of our nation’s history. From the patriots who stood against tyranny in our War for Independence… To the Union soldiers who preserved the Republic during the Civil War… To the Americans who liberated Europe and the Pacific from fascism during World War II… To those who resisted communist aggression in Korea and Vietnam… To the war-fighters who confronted terrorism after September 11th in Iraq and Afghanistan… And now to those standing against the rising threat of a nuclear-armed totalitarian extremism in Iran… Patriotism calls each generation to defend liberty against forces seeking to extinguish it.

Our fallen heroes understood a timeless truth. Evil unchecked never remains confined. Tyranny, if left unchallenged, threatens not just borders and governments, but the very moral order necessary for liberty itself to survive. And so, they stood their post. They answered duty’s call. They willingly sacrificed comfort, safety, and ultimately life itself so that future generations of Americans might continue to live free under God.

And why did they go? Not for conquest.Not for glory. But because they believed some truths are worth defending. That liberty is a gift from Almighty God.That every human life bears inherent dignity.That evil must not prevail. And that America, though imperfect, remains a nation uniquely entrusted with preserving ordered liberty under God. Our Founders understood this truth well. The Declaration of Independence recognizes that our rights do not come from government, courts, or kings, but from our Creator. The Constitution was established to secure those God-given liberties, not to manufacture them. That constitutional vision has always depended upon virtue, courage, and sacrifice. Memorial Day reminds us that the freedoms we enjoy today were purchased at a staggering price by patriots who understood duty better than comfort, service better than self-interest, and eternal truth better than temporary gain.

Scripture teaches us in John 15:13:

Today, we honor those who embodied that truth on battlefields across generations. To the Gold Star families among us, your loss is not forgotten. Your loved ones are not forgotten. Their sacrifice lives on in the liberty of every American child who awakens in freedom today.

And to our younger generation, I offer this charge: Never take this nation for granted. Freedom is fragile when a nation abandons truth. Constitutional government weakens when virtue declines. A people cannot preserve liberty if they forget the moral foundations upon which liberty stands. So remember.

Remember Lexington and Concord. Remember Gettysburg. Remember Normandy and Iwo Jima. Remember Inchon and Khe Sanh. Remember Fallujah and Kabul. Remember every flag folded into trembling hands. Remember every empty seat at the family table. Remember every cross standing silently in foreign soil. And above all, remember America never found its strength just in its military power or economic might. Our strength has always rested in a people who acknowledge God, cherish liberty, uphold truth, and willingly sacrifice for one another.

Even in our present challenges, we must not lose heart. America still possesses extraordinary promise because the ideals rooted in our founding remain true. The principles of faith, freedom, family, and constitutional self-government are worth preserving for future generations. So today, let us not just mourn the fallen. Let us honor them by living worthy of their sacrifice. May we govern justly. May we love mercy. May we walk humbly with our God. And may we never forget those who secured the blessings of liberty with their very lives.

May Almighty God continue to bless the families of the fallen, protect those who serve in uniform today, guide the leaders of this nation with wisdom and moral courage, and preserve the United States of America.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America.