WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump’s Memorial Day observance (all times local):
3:30 p.m.
President Donald Trump is offering the nation’s “boundless” gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice paid by Americans in defense of the United States.
Trump dedicated his first Memorial Day address as commander in chief to a Cabinet secretary and two other families who lost loved ones.
The president participated in the somber, annual observance at Arlington National Cemetery. He recounted the stories of Green Beret Capt. Andrew D. Byers of Colorado Springs and Christopher D. Horton of the Oklahoma National Guard as Byers’ tearful parents and Horton’s emotional widow looked on.
Trump also singled out for special mention Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. The son of the retired four-star Marine general, Marine 2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly, died in 2010 after he stepped on a land mine while on patrol in Afghanistan.
___
12:45 p.m.
President Donald Trump has visited a section of Arlington National Cemetery where U.S. military members killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.
Among those laid to rest in Section 60 is Robert Kelly, son of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. The younger Kelly was a Marine killed in Afghanistan in November 2010.
Before joining the Trump administration, Secretary Kelly served as the top Marine commander in Iraq.
Trump walked among the white marble headstones and greeted families who were at the cemetery to remember the nation’s war dead.
Trump greeted a few women who told him they had lost their sons. One identified her son as a Navy SEAL. Vice President Mike Pence, who accompanied the president, hugged one of the women.
___
11:50 a.m.
President Donald Trump is expressing his nation’s “boundless and undying” gratitude to Americans who have fallen in battle and to the families they left behind.
Trump hailed heroes in his first Memorial Day remarks as president at Arlington National Cemetery. He told the stories of two soldiers who died in Afghanistan, Green Beret Capt. Andrew D. Byers of Colorado Springs and Christopher D. Horton of the Oklahoma National Guard. He also hailed Bob Dole, the former senator who suffered lifelong injuries in World War II and attended Monday’s ceremony.
And Trump singled out his homeland security secretary, John Kelly, for whom military sacrifice is close to home.
Kelly led the U.S. Southern Command and lost his son, Robert Kelly, who stepped on a land mine on a Marine patrol in Afghanistan. John Kelly’s other son, Johnny, is preparing for his fifth military deployment. And Kelly’s son-in-law Jake is a wounded warrior.
___
11:05 a.m.
President Donald Trump is honoring America’s military dead at Arlington National Cemetery.
Trump placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at a Memorial Day ceremony, in advance of his first Memorial Day remarks as president. The playing of “Taps” echoed as Trump placed his hand over his heart and military officers saluted.
___
9:15 a.m.
President Donald Trump is thanking the men and women who died in service to the United States.
In the first of two tweets Trump sent out on Monday, he says: “Today we remember the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in serving. Thank you, God bless your families & God bless the USA!”
In the second, Trump says: “I look forward to paying my respects to our brave men and women on this Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery later this morning.”
The president is to deliver his first Memorial Day address and lay a wreath at the cemetery, the final resting place for many U.S. military members and others who have served the country.
___
3:15 a.m.
President Donald Trump is preparing his first Memorial Day address at Arlington National Cemetery.
Trump is also set to lay a wreath Monday at the cemetery, the final resting place for many U.S. military members and others who have served the country.
Trump previewed the address Saturday before he flew home from Italy, the final stop on his first trip abroad since taking office.
He addressed U.S. service members stationed at a naval base in Sicily as “warriors of freedom” and the “patriots who keep the fires of liberty burning.”
Trump also noted his desire to boost spending on the military, and as commander in chief pledged his “complete and unshakeable support” to the men and women in uniform.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.