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WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke on the Senate floor to honor those who serve or have served in the United States military and pay his respects to the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. Thune noted that a celebration of American servicemembers, including South Dakota National Guardsmen and those stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, would be incomplete without thanking the military families who surround them.

Thune’s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):

“Mr. President, May is a month dedicated to honoring our military.

“We have Armed Forces Day, which we celebrated this past Saturday.

“Memorial Day, which will be observed on Monday.

“And the entire month is observed as Military Appreciation Month.

“Mr. President, Ronald Reagan is reported to have said, ‘Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world. The Marines don’t have that problem.’

“And I would just expand on that slightly and say, our military members do not have that problem.

“If you want to see people living a life of purpose, Mr. President, just look to the men and women of the United States military.

“The men and women who get up every day ready to defend our freedom – to the point of laying down their lives if necessary.

“Mr. President, many of our military members enter right after high school or college.

“At an age when their counterparts are thinking about graduations and internships and taking the first steps toward a career, these young men and women take a different path.

“They embrace a life of regimentation and roll calls.

“Of tough physical and mental demands.

“A life that asks them to forgo comfort for sacrifice – up to and including the sacrifice of their lives.

“And they do it willingly.

“Most of us don’t often see the sacrifices our military men and women make.

“And so it can be easy for us to forget, as we go about our daily lives, that those lives are only possible because these men and women spend their lives working to defend our country.

“Mr. President, during this Military Appreciation Month, my thoughts turn to those South Dakotans serving in our armed forces, and particularly to the men and women of the South Dakota National Guard and our airmen at Ellsworth Air Force Base.

“Our South Dakota military members represent the very best of our state, and I am grateful every day for their service and sacrifice.

“I’m proud to report that the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth Air Force Base was named the best bomb wing in Air Force Global Strike Command during the past year.

“And I am excited that Ellsworth broke ground this spring on a new weapons generation facility, part of construction to prepare the base to become the first home of the B-21 Raider.

“I’m also proud that the Black Hills Region, home to Ellsworth and the South Dakota National Guard’s Camp Rapid, was named to the 2024 Class of Great American Defense Communities.

“South Dakotans know and value the sacrifices made by our military men and women, and I am tremendously proud of how the Black Hills Region has worked to support our airmen and National Guard members.

“Mr. President, a discussion of Military Appreciation Month would not be complete without mentioning our military families.

“It is not just our men and women in uniform who serve and sacrifice; it is their families as well.

“Life as a military spouse or as the son or daughter of a military member is often challenging.

“There are frequent moves, and deployments, and most of all there is the knowledge that one day your husband or wife, your mom or your dad, could be asked to give up their life for their country.

“And so as we honor our military members this month, it is right that we honor and remember the sacrifices of their families as well.

“Mr. President, in his 1941 proclamation of Bill of Rights Day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, ‘Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.’

“‘Those who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.’

“As we go about our lives in peace and safety, it can be all too easy to forget that that peace and safety have been purchased at a price.

“That they have been purchased with the blood of the men and women who have laid down their lives to secure them.

“And on this Monday above all, on Memorial Day, we should resolve to remember.

“To remember, and to recommit ourselves to living lives worthy of their sacrifice.

“Mr. President, may God take to Himself all those who have fallen in the service of our country, and may He comfort their families.”