President Trump Announces Posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom for Charlie Kirk at Pentagon 9/11 Memorial

[00:01] So many Americans at the heinous

[00:04] assassination of Charlie Kirk have felt

[00:09] Charlie was a giant of his generation, a

[00:11] champion of liberty and an inspiration

[00:14] to millions and millions of people. Our

[00:17] prayers are with his wonderful wife Eric

[00:20] and his beautiful children.

[00:23] Fantastic people they are.

[00:27] We miss him greatly. Yet, I have no

[00:29] doubt that Charlie's voice and the

[00:31] courage he put into the hearts of

[00:34] countless people, especially young

[00:36] people, will live on. I'm pleased to

[00:40] announce that I will soon be awarding

[00:42] Charlie Kirk postumously the

[00:44] Presidential

[00:46] Medal of Freedom. The date of the

[00:49] ceremony will be announced. And I can

[00:50] only guarantee you one thing that we

[00:52] will have a very big crowd. Very, very

[00:55] big.

[00:57] Thank you, my fellow Americans. 84 years

[01:01] ago

[01:02] this morning, the banks of the PTOAC

[01:05] were filled with the clamor of

[01:07] construction workers who broke ground on

[01:09] the building now known as the Pentagon

[01:13] on September 11th, 1941.

[01:18] At the time, it was the biggest building

[01:20] ever built.

[01:22] From that moment forward, this structure

[01:25] stood as a monument to American

[01:27] strength, power, and cherished

[01:30] American freedom.

[01:32] Exactly six decades later on September

[01:35] 11th, 2001,

[01:37] those same walls built with the sweat

[01:40] and muscle blood

[01:43] of our parents and grandparents were

[01:45] scarred by flame and shaken by terror as

[01:48] our country came face to face with pure

[01:51] evil.

[01:52] On that fateful day, savage monsters

[01:56] attacked the very symbols of our

[01:59] civilization.

[02:01] Yet here in Virginia and in New York and

[02:04] in the skies over Pennsylvania,

[02:07] Americans did not hesitate.

[02:11] They stood on their feet and they showed

[02:13] the world that we will never yield. We

[02:16] will never bend. We will never give up.

[02:19] And our great American flag will never

[02:21] ever fail.

[02:24] That terrible morning 24 years ago, time

[02:27] itself stood still.

[02:30] The laughter of school children fell

[02:32] silent. The rush of our traffic came to

[02:37] an absolute halt.

[02:39] And for 2,977

[02:42] innocent souls and their families, the

[02:45] entire world came crashing down so

[02:48] suddenly.

[02:50] In the quarter of a century since those

[02:53] acts of mass murder, 9/11 family members

[02:57] have felt the weight of missed birthdays

[02:59] and empty bedrooms, journals left

[03:02] unfinished, and dreams left unfulfilled.

[03:06] To every member that still feels a void

[03:08] every day of your lives, the first lady

[03:11] and I unite with you in sorrow.

[03:15] And today, as one nation, we renew our

[03:20] sacred vow that we will never forget

[03:22] September 11th, 2001.

[03:26] Amid the horror of that morning, some

[03:28] used cell phones and office lines

[03:31] whispered their final words to those who

[03:35] mattered most. They whispered indeed.

[03:39] At 8:59 a.m. aboard United Flight 175,

[03:42] Brian Sweeney called his wife, Julie. He

[03:46] told her, "Do good. Go have good times.

[03:49] I totally love you. I'll see you again.

[03:53] I'll meet you up there."

[03:56] Four minutes later, his plane hit the

[03:58] south tower of the World Trade Center.

[04:01] At 9:12 a.m., aboard American Airlines

[04:04] Flight 77.

[04:06] Renee May called her mom.

[04:10] Just the day before. Renee had learned

[04:12] that she was seven weeks pregnant, but

[04:15] she never got the chance to share the

[04:18] news. She simply said, "I love you,

[04:21] Mom."

[04:23] 25 minutes later, Rene's plane struck

[04:26] the Pentagon.

[04:28] So violent a strike it was.

[04:32] At 9:53 a.m. aboard United Flight 93,

[04:38] Elizabeth Wayo

[04:40] called her stepmom.

[04:42] They're getting ready to break into the

[04:45] cockpit. What do I do? I love you so

[04:49] much. They're going to break in. 10

[04:51] minutes later, flight 93 ended in the

[04:54] hallowed field near Shanksville,

[04:57] Pennsylvania.

[04:59] At 10:25 a.m., Tom McInness was trapped

[05:02] on the 92nd floor of the North Tower

[05:06] when he told his wonderful wife, Elena,

[05:11] on the phone, "There are people jumping

[05:13] from the floors above us. If we get out

[05:17] of here, it'll be a total miracle. I

[05:20] love you, darling. Take care of Caitlyn,

[05:24] beautiful daughter."

[05:26] Three minutes later, the tower fell.

[05:30] Out of the ash, we witnessed the awesome

[05:32] power of that incredible love.

[05:35] We've seen it rise again. Out of the

[05:38] wreckage, we watched unbelievable

[05:40] courage suddenly take form. And out of

[05:43] the darkness, we saw the timeless truth

[05:46] of American character shine

[05:49] for the world to see. In America, we

[05:53] take blows, but we never buckle. We

[05:56] bleed, but we do not bow. And we defy

[06:00] the fear, endure the flames, and emerge

[06:02] from the crucible of every hardship,

[06:04] stronger, prder, and greater

[06:08] than ever before.

[06:11] Last year,

[06:13] we were a dead country.

[06:15] Now, we have the hottest country

[06:18] anywhere in the world.

[06:21] In New York, there were heroes like

[06:24] Chuck Costello, a 46-year-old elevator

[06:28] mechanic and a member of the Knights of

[06:30] Columbus. He selflessly ran into the

[06:34] World Trade Center to free people

[06:36] trapped in the elevators. His body was

[06:39] not found until the following January,

[06:43] deep under the debris.

[06:45] While going through his belongings,

[06:47] Chuck's widow Mary,

[06:50] a phenomenal woman, discovered a

[06:53] personal prayer written in his own

[06:55] words, "Help me to light the way for

[06:58] those in the dark. And when I enter the

[07:01] darkness, let me not panic, but

[07:03] patiently wait to remember the light."

[07:07] Beautiful words.

[07:09] When the time came, Chuck ran boldly

[07:11] into the darkness of hell on earth. And

[07:14] now he shines in the light of heaven

[07:17] above.

[07:19] We remember him this morning. That day

[07:21] we learned that the American heroic

[07:25] spirit was all around us. We saw it in

[07:29] the police officers, the great

[07:31] firefighters, the service members here

[07:33] at the Pentagon, and in the hearts of

[07:36] every American who answered history's

[07:38] call.

[07:39] One such hero was Army Sergeant First

[07:42] Class Steve Workman who was on the edge

[07:46] of the impact zone when the P when this

[07:50] incredible Pentagon was hit. He was

[07:53] right there. After leading hundreds of

[07:55] people to escape routes, Steve turned

[07:58] back and plunged into the inferno

[08:01] itself. Pushing through the debris, he

[08:04] came upon a severely burned Navy

[08:06] lieutenant, the only survivor from the

[08:08] Navy command center. Only one. The

[08:12] wounded lieutenant looked into Steve's

[08:14] soul and said, "Don't let me die." Steve

[08:18] replied, "I won't. I've got you. Just

[08:21] hang on." He wheeled the lieutenant out

[08:24] of the wreckage on the back of a

[08:26] maintenance cart before getting in the

[08:28] ambulance and taking him to Walter Reed

[08:30] Hospital. That man, Steve saved,

[08:33] Lieutenant

[08:35] Kevin Schaefer, went on to join the

[08:37] elite team of CIA operatives who located

[08:40] Osama bin Laden. Steve, you're an

[08:44] American hero. We appreciate it. We

[08:47] appreciate what you've gone through.

[08:50] Please stand.

[08:56] Please stand.

[09:01] Where are you? Oh, good looking man.

[09:04] You're a good-looking guy. You remember

[09:06] that day. You remember that day.

[09:10] Good. Thank you very much, Steve.

[09:16] That was something. That was something.

[09:20] In the years that followed, America's

[09:22] warriors avenged our fallen and sent an

[09:25] unmistakable message to every enemy

[09:28] around the world. If you attack the

[09:31] United States of America, we will hunt

[09:33] you down and we will find you. Go all

[09:37] over

[09:38] this sometimes magnificent earth. We

[09:42] will crush you without mercy and we will

[09:44] triumph without question.

[09:47] That's why we named the former

[09:50] Department of Defense

[09:52] the Department of War.

[09:55] It will be different.

[09:58] We won the First World War. We won the

[10:00] Second World War. We won everything

[10:03] before that and in between. And then we

[10:07] decided to change the name. Well, now we

[10:11] have it back to where we all want it.

[10:12] Everybody wanted it. Everybody is so

[10:15] happy to have it back.

[10:18] You will fail and America will win.

[10:23] The enemy will always fail. 24 years

[10:27] have passed since that Tuesday morning

[10:29] in September and an entire generation of

[10:32] Americans have come of age in a totally

[10:35] different world. While they cannot

[10:38] remember the agony of that day, they are

[10:40] carrying on the legacy of those who

[10:42] lost.

[10:44] Around 8:30 a.m. on the morning of the

[10:47] attacks, Army Lieutenant Colonel Kip

[10:49] Taylor sent an email to his friends and

[10:51] family describing the joys of fatherhood

[10:53] and his excitement for the upcoming

[10:56] birth of his unborn son. He wrote,

[10:59] "After you have kids, there are days

[11:01] that you just get going and you say,

[11:04] "Hi, honey. I'm home."

[11:07] What we do until that moment pales in

[11:10] comparison. But just that little

[11:12] statement, "Hi, honey."

[11:15] So American, so beautiful.

[11:18] But that's really the point of it all,

[11:20] isn't it? An hour after he sent that

[11:23] email, Flight 77 flew into Colonel

[11:25] Taylor's Pentagon office and claimed the

[11:28] life of a very proud father and true

[11:30] patriot. Six weeks later, on October

[11:33] 25th, 2001, Colonel Taylor's son, Luke,

[11:37] was born. Luke then tragically lost his

[11:41] mom to cancer when he was just two years

[11:44] old, leaving him to be raised by his

[11:46] father's brother. As a young boy, Luke

[11:49] asked his uncle about the folded flag on

[11:53] the bookshelf. And when he learned about

[11:56] his dad's decades of devotion to the

[11:58] army and

[12:00] the horrors of September 11th, that's

[12:02] when he learned. Luke carried that

[12:05] memory with him and joined the ROC as a

[12:07] college freshman. He graduated just last

[12:10] year and I'm pleased to say he is with

[12:13] us today as a second lieutenant and

[12:15] doing very well. He's rising quickly in

[12:17] the infantry preparing for Army Ranger

[12:20] school.

[12:22] He spinning image of his dad. They say

[12:25] Luke says that every time he puts on a

[12:27] uniform, he feels connected to his

[12:29] father and to our country.

[12:33] But it was a father he never knew. Luke,

[12:35] your parents are together in heaven, and

[12:38] they could not be prouder of the man

[12:40] that they have produced. They produced

[12:44] you. Those two great people produced

[12:46] you. Luke, please stand.

[12:57] Thank you.

[12:58] You look good, Luke. You look good.

[13:01] They're looking down on you. They're

[13:02] very proud. This morning, we recall the

[13:06] light of America's best and bravest and

[13:08] the love that they showed in their final

[13:10] moments. In their memory, we make a

[13:13] solemn pledge and a noble promise. We

[13:15] will honor always our great heroes. And

[13:19] you are our heroes.

[13:22] There's a group of people that don't

[13:24] want to talk about our heroes, but we

[13:26] will always talk about our heroes. And

[13:29] that's the way our country is. And

[13:31] that's the way the people feel. We will

[13:33] defend the nation they served, the

[13:36] values they upheld, and the freedom for

[13:38] which they died. We will support our

[13:41] troops. We will protect our families.

[13:43] And we will preserve the American way of

[13:45] life for every future generation.

[13:49] We will build taller, grow stronger,

[13:52] fight harder, and soar higher. And

[13:55] together we will go forward as one

[13:57] people with one heart, one fate, one

[13:59] flag, and one glorious destiny under

[14:03] Almighty God. May God bless the memories

[14:06] of those who died and the heroes who

[14:08] fought and the soldiers who still stand

[14:11] watch. May God bless the United States

[14:15] of America. Thank you very much. Thank

[14:17] you. Thank you.