Trump honors fallen heroes at Arlington National Cemetery

President Trump on Monday honored fallen U.S. service members and the families they left behind during a Memorial Day visit to Arlington National Cemetery.

“To every family member of the fallen, I want you to know that the legacy of those you’ve lost does not fade with time but grows only more powerful,” Trump said during a speech. “Their legacy does not, like a voice in the distance, become a faint echo but instead their legacy grows deeper.”

“Through their sacrifice, your loved ones have achieved something very special, immortality,” the president added.

{mosads}

Moments earlier, Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The president tweeted before the ceremony that the nation’s fallen heroes “would be very happy and proud of how well our country is doing today.”

He also tweeted a video honoring Memorial Day during which he told the story of Christian Jacobs, a young boy he met last year at Arlington National Cemetery, where his father is buried.

During his speech at Arlington, Trump told Christian that “even though your father has left this world … he will never be gone. Your dad’s love courage and strength live in you.”

Trump ended his remarks by noting that the sacrifices of American service members make America great.

“Here, on this soil, on these grounds, beneath those fields, lies the true source of American greatness, of American glory and of American freedom,” Trump said. “As long as we are blessed with patriots such as these, we will remain one people, one family and one nation under God.”