Governor and First Lady DeSantis Host BBQ in Honor of Memorial Day
Over 500 attended the event, including Gold Star families, veterans, and families who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Governor Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis hosted Gold Star families, veterans, military families, and families who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001, in Tallahassee for a Memorial Day BBQ on Sunday evening. Over 500 attended the event.
Accompanied by First Lady Casey DeSantis and their three children, Madison, Mason, and Mamie, the governor spoke about the importance of honoring America’s heroes and remembering their sacrifices.
“As a veteran--anybody that signs on that dotted line--you are effectively writing a check to this country for an amount up to and including your life. You don't know where they'll send you. You don’t know what will come your way. But you make the commitment that you are going to put service above self, and you are ultimately going to sacrifice your personal safety in order to serve the greater good of our defense.” Governor DeSantis said.
“Not everybody--even close to everybody--actually has to pay the ultimate price. But some do, and from the very beginning of our country, those who have done that, we would not have been able to be a successful country without those sacrifices. They have been indispensable to the United States becoming what they are.”
"Freedom is fragile. Freedom is not something that can go on autopilot. It requires each generation to fight for it, and nobody has done that more than the veterans who have given the last full measure of devotion and service to this country.”
FULL TRANSCRIPT:
“We have a great country. Our country was founded on important ideals in the Declaration of Independence and later reflected in the Constitution, and those are very important. They made us different from countries that had come before. But at the end of the day, you can have the best Declaration that's ever been written, and you can have the best Constitution that's ever been written, but unless you have people throughout our history that are willing to put on a uniform and risk their lives, and, in some cases, give the last full measure of devotion and service to this country, then a lot of those principles are not going to amount to very much. It requires bravery; it requires courage from each generation.
As a veteran--anybody that signs on that dotted line--you are effectively writing a check to this country for an amount up to and including your life. You don't know where they'll send you. You don’t know what will come your way. But you make the commitment that you are going to put service above self, and you are ultimately going to sacrifice your personal safety in order to serve the greater good of our defense.
Not everybody--even close to everybody--actually has to pay the ultimate price. But some do, and from the very beginning of our country, those who have done that, we would not have been able to be a successful country without those sacrifices. They have been indispensable to the United States becoming what they are.
We've got a lot of great people here today; we are going to meet with some of the families from 9/11. I'll tell you that is one of the reasons I joined the military after that. I know a lot of people did that. We lost thousands of very good people in the aftermath of 9/11 in our armed forces. Of course, we've lost tens of thousands in other conflicts like Vietnam and Korea, and many, many more than that, in World War II... and you go all the way back to the Civil War and the beginning.
These folks have made a difference. It's important that we commemorate that, because I think sometimes people think that this all just kind of happens and that you don't got to fight for it. I know when I was growing up, I kind of just assumed that, right? We live in a free country. Freedom is fragile. Freedom is not something that can go on autopilot. It requires each generation to fight for it, and nobody has done that more than the veterans who have given the last full measure of devotion and service to this country.
So thank you guys for coming here. As we do this celebration, then tomorrow, keep those heroes in top of mind because it's really on their shoulders that were able to be here today. I look at the problems in our country and what we have got to do going forward. Part of it i--I look at this one and that one--and we want to make sure they live in freedom, but I also look back at the people that have made those sacrifices. Don't we owe it to them to make sure we are doing all we can to keep this country the freest place on earth? I think we owe it to them, and it would not be doing them justice unless we did everything we could to make sure America comes back stronger than ever. Thank you, all. God bless you.”
ABOUT GOVERNOR DESANTIS:
A native Floridian with blue-collar roots, Governor DeSantis was raised in Dunedin by his mother, a nurse, and father, who installed cable boxes. He attended Dunedin High School and worked his way through Yale University, where he was the captain of the varsity baseball team. He also graduated with honors from Harvard Law School.
DeSantis earned a commission in the U.S. Navy while attending Harvard Law School. During his active-duty service, Governor DeSantis deployed to Iraq in support of the SEAL mission in Fallujah, Ramadi, and the rest of Al Anbar province. His military decorations include the Bronze Star Medal for Meritorious Service and the Iraq Campaign Medal. As a Congressman, DeSantis was a champion for those who have served our country, pushing for reforms for the VA to better serve veterans and expand support for mental health.
