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Vance audio at Pendleton

Mario Parker28min

Speaker 1

00:00

I'll say I was I was talking to Pete about this speech, and thinking about what I said, and I realized that over my four years in the United States Marine Corps, I probably learned about 100 jokes about United States Marines, and every single one of them Marines would mean the end of my political career if I told it up here today. I sent a few of them last night to my communication staff, and I said, can I tell this one? And they said, Please, no, sir, please, please do not tell that one. We're also happy to be joined by our great Secretary of the Navy, John fail and John, thank you so much for your leadership and service.

Unknown Speaker

00:48

I got to give a shout

Speaker 1

00:49

out to my beautiful wife, our great Second Lady, ocean Vance with the Marine Corps hat.

Speaker 1

01:02

You know, I've been asked many times, why did I want to run for and become Vice President of the United States? And there's a lot of answers, of course, to that question. I wanted to serve our wonderful commander in chief, President Donald J Trump,

Unknown Speaker

01:17

and I know we're proud of him.

Unknown Speaker

01:22

I And of course, I

Speaker 1

01:23

wanted to serve the American people and make their lives better. But really deep down, I wanted the Commandant of the Marine Corps to have to salute a member of the e4 mafia, and now he has to. I

Speaker 1

01:43

and Marines. We have a great Marine Corps. Come on in general Eric Smith, General, thank you so much for everything you do.

Speaker 1

01:57

We got General Daniel Taylor. Where General Daniel Taylor,

Unknown Speaker

02:02

apparently he was sick today.

Unknown Speaker

02:05

We have got Admiral Gavin Duff here, Admiral

Unknown Speaker

02:09

thank you for your service, sir.

Unknown Speaker

02:16

We have got Colonel John

Speaker 1

02:18

Caldwell and General Michael nakanisi, did I pronounce that right? General? There we go. I did okay. I'm the Vice President, so you can't tell me I'm wrong. And of course, Marines, I bring greetings today from our Commander in Chief, Donald J Trump, and he wanted me to tell each and every single one of you that he's proud of you, that he loves you, and that despite the Schumer shut down, he is going to do everything he can to make sure you get paid exactly as you deserve.

Speaker 1

03:01

Now I know we're here to talk about the Marine Corps, but I got to get just a little political, because congressional Democrats seem to want to keep the government shut down, even though it would mean that a lot of you would not get your paycheck. But as I told the President just a couple of days ago, I said, Sir, we have got to figure out how to pay these Marines, both for their sake, but also, of course, because if we don't pay our enlisted Marines, every bar in Southern California is going to go out of business, and we don't want

Speaker 1

03:36

that now. I've also got to give a special shout out to the incredible display that we saw earlier today. It made my heart sing as your vice president, and it was a testament to the core strength and unbeatable power. It reminded me why I am so proud to have worn the uniform to be one among your ranks and to be the very first vice president to have been a United States Mario.

Speaker 2

04:00

Now

Speaker 1

04:09

for us, East Coast Marines Camp Pendleton has always had a special place in our imagination. We heard the stories of the back breaking hikes you all had to do the West Coast Marines had to do in Camp Pendleton. You know it

Unknown Speaker

04:25

US East Coast Marines. We had the sand fleas,

Unknown Speaker

04:27

and you all had the hills. I don't know which was worse.

Speaker 1

04:37

These guys behind me have opinions. So let's give some credit to the amazing marine units who pulled this off. First of all to the incredible Marines of this base and the Marine Corps forces West who put on this display. Let's give a round of applause to the incredible job they did. You.

Speaker 1

05:05

And I want to talk about some of those units, because you all made me so proud. I know we must have some Marines from the First Marine Division. Where are you? You all did a hell of a job. How about the Marines from the Third Marine Air Wing. I know we have some Marines from the First Marine logistics group, the life blood of the fight. Where are you all at? We've also got Marines from the first meth Information Group, the brain of fight. Where y'all at? You? It. And we've also got, of course, men and women for Marine Corps installations West, the folks who keep the home front. Where are you? Marine Corps installations West? There we go. Now I know you all know we cannot leave out our brothers and sisters of the sea. So we're proud to have all the sailors of the Navy's Third Fleet here to celebrate 250 years of Marines. Thank you.

Speaker 1

06:16

These sailors who go to war with us, they fight over the horizon. They stand shoulder to shoulder with Marines wherever the fight takes us, and if any group shares in the glory of the Marines, 250th birthday, it is our beloved Navy corpsman. Let's give a shout out to the Navy Corpsman out there. We love them,

Speaker 1

06:42

and I know every Marine has had the story of walking into a corpsman's office barely alive, suffering the most severe illness you've suffered in your entire life, and they'll say it just go home, hydrate and take two Motrin, and it'll work out just fine. So thank you to the corpsman for taking care of us, but also toughening us up, that's right, and a change of socks, a bottle of water, a change of socks and two Motrin will fix any illness. So we are grateful Marines to be graced with the presence of some very special guests, people whose very lives contribute to the incredible Marine Corps legacy. Earlier, we all heard from Sergeant Dakota Meyer, who received the Medal of Honor in 2011 for extraordinary heroism in 2009 Are we proud of Sergeant Dakota Meyer? Yes, we are.

Speaker 1

07:48

And despite the constant rain of enemy fire, then Corporal Meyer made multiple runs across an ambush zone that day, saving the lives of 36 American and Afghan troops. Dakota Meyer, we love you. We're proud of you. You're the very best of the Marine Corps and the very best of this country.

Speaker 1

08:15

We are also honored to be joined by American hero Charles cran who was a Navy corpsman attached to the fifth Marine Division when it landed at Iwo Jima.

Speaker 1

08:38

Now, as part of that force, this American hero watched the Stars and Stripes raised over Mount Suribachi before being wounded on the seventh day of battle. While tending to a marine for his valor, he was awarded the Silver Star, the bronze star and the Purple Heart, sir, we love you. Thank you for your service. You

Speaker 1

09:08

the Marines love their corps men, and that's one of the very best. Another living legend we have with us today is Elmer Royce Williams, a naval aviator who, while on combat patrol in the Korean War suddenly found himself up against seven Soviet MiGs, sir. Thank you so much. God bless you and thank you.

Speaker 1

09:42

Now, we're going to let the brave Lieutenant Take a seat, but I got to talk a little bit about him. I got to brag on him, because despite the odds, Lieutenant Williams took down four of them in a single 35 minute dog fight, the longest dog fight in naval history, a record, I believe, that still stands to this day. It now.

Speaker 1

10:09

Not only did he take four MiGs down, he demolished the MIGs reputation as an unbeatable aircraft and secured his place among the legends of American military aviation. And if you know, notice, we just talked about a great Marine in ground combat, a great Marine in aviation combat, and a great Marine, or I should say, a great Navy Corpsman who helps out our Marines. In other words, marines can kick ass in every theater of combat, and we do it every single day.

Speaker 1

10:50

And I finally got to give a shout out to my dear friend, recently retired Master Sergeant Charles McKelvey. Chase. Where you at? Man? Love you. Oh, he's got a beard already. Look at that. He's been on the Marine Corps for three months. He's already got a beard longer than what I got now. Master Sergeant McKelvey and I served together at Cherry Point when we're both very young Marines, and we've been good friends ever since. I call him chase. Other Marines will tell you chase is an extraordinary person, the smartest, kindest marine you'll ever meet, and those are descriptions I can personally attest to. Now, he was supposed to join me at my inauguration to become the vice president last January, but tragically, he lost his wonderful, devoted wife, Jillian, to a terrible illness just days before. So I want to tell you chase in front of all these Marines, we're proud of you. We're thankful for you. I'm sorry I couldn't see in January, but I'm glad to see you today, my friend. I love you simplified.

Speaker 1

11:59

And finally, we are grateful to have all of you, whatever your rank, whatever your station, in the Marine Corps, here at Camp Pendleton to commemorate this incredible 250th anniversary of our beloved Marine Corps. From these mountains and this water, Marines have deployed to every major fight of the last century, from island hopping across the Pacific to Vietnam su a city to Kuwait to Helmand and beyond. And standing here, you can feel the weight of that history, the generations upon generations of Americans who cut their teeth at this base before boarding ships and carrying the American flag into battle, but that's exactly what Marines do for two and a half centuries. Now, this beloved Corps has served as our nation's sharp edge, always forward deployed, always ready and always faithful. My service in the Marine Corps was a huge part of my life. I would not be here today. I would not be the Vice President of the United States. I would not be the man I am today, were it not for those four years that I served in the Marine Corps. Now, before I was enlisted, I was pretty terrified about the prospect of becoming a marine I'm sure that a lot of you can share that I remember I had nightmares before I went to boot camp of drill instructors yelling at me, of being away from my family, of being constantly stretched well beyond my own physical limits. It's daunting stuff, as all of you know, and as anyone who survived boot camp can tell you, it's all real, but my cousin Rachel in particular, one last shout out to a former Marine in particular. She pushed me to do it a veteran of the Corps herself. She got it. She understood what Joining does for a young man or a young woman. So she pushed me to go and talk to a recruiter, which I did, and I will never forget that conversation, because at no point did he try to sell me on the United States Marine Corps. He warned me. Said, You don't enlist in the Marine Corps to make money. And you all know that's exactly right. He said he might even go to war. This was back in 2003 right after we invaded Iraq, but what he did tell me is that enlisting in the Marines would teach me many things, including discipline and the virtue of leadership. And that was appealing to me, and I know it's appealing to Marines today and for every year of our 250

Unknown Speaker

14:39

year history. Oh.

Speaker 1

14:44

But over the days that followed, what further dawned on me was that I needed to do this, not just for me, but for the nation. My country needed me just as sure as the country needs each and every one of you today, the September 11 attacks. Had occurred barely a year earlier, and as I weighed what enlisting would mean, the crisis in Iraq was becoming a full out war, so I made the call as an 18 year old senior in the state of Ohio, it was one of the first times in my life that I recall feeling like the country actually needed me, and when I realized I had a responsibility to something so much greater than myself or even my family, and I had an obligation to act on that feeling of duty, and I know that's something that animates every single one of you, Whether you're a private or a general, that spirit of service has been the spirit of the Marine Corps for two and a half centuries. So I just wanted to say from the bottom of my heart, from one Marine to another for the Vice President of the United States to the whole Marine Corps, thank you for your service. We are proud of you and proud of your service.

Speaker 1

16:13

I'm here today because I want to talk a little bit about the great Marine Corps tradition 250 years of it. I want to talk about the tradition that all of us standing under this bright California sun, and man it is bright. We all chose, however many years ago, to adopt that Marine Corps tradition as our own, a tradition, and that just three short weeks will reach its 200 and 50th year. Now, as many of you in this audience know, the Corps found its origins in the autumn of 1775 and a venue may be familiar to you, a bar in Philadelphia called ton tavern, the very first bar in the United States of America that would come to regret serving United States Marines. So here we are in ton tavern, almost 250 years ago, and what we did in that moment was we answered the call of service, because even before we had a Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress organized an army and a navy to fight the British, but they recognized they needed something a little bit extra. They needed a force that could fight just as comfortably on land as it could on sea, that was able to move fast, strike hard, and hold its ground. So on November 10, 1775, Congress resolved to raise two battalions of continental Marines. Captain Samuel Nicholas established that first recruitment drive at tun Tavern in Philadelphia, in search of a few good men. He was seeking young, able bodied citizens, men who relish the opportunity to fight tyrants, yes, but more importantly, who were eager to answer that first call of duty of a young nation. Just a few months later, Captain Nicholas was personally leading those Marines in a daring raid on New Providence, saving British forts and supplies in the Bahamas. And two short years later, the Marines joined forces with the legendary John Paul Jones, the father of the American Navy, beginning a great tradition that has survived the entire term of our Marine Corps, that when the Marines and the Navy go to war together, they always fight well and they always win

Speaker 1

18:49

the war of independence. Set a blueprint that Marines follow to this day, boldness in action, unity in purpose, and a lightning readiness to go wherever the nation required in battle after battle, the United States Marine Corps has broken the backs of empires. You've toppled tyrants, you've hanged pirates and hunted down America's foes across the seven seas and Pete, turns out we're hunting pirates today's aren't we, from Tripoli to the Halls of Montezuma, from Bella wood to Iwo Jima, and from chosen reservoir to Quezon. We Marines have repeatedly earned our reputation as the first to fight and the last to leave. And as all of you know, that legacy only grew stronger after 911 within weeks after the attack, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the 15th mu, already forward deployed on September the 11th, helped launch the most ambitious amphibious assault in the history of the United States of America. And that's just how Marines are. Wired, no matter where, no matter when, the Corps will always uphold its reputation for discipline and for unshakable focus. I always think back to what Army Major General Frank Lowe had to say this about the Corps in 1952 the safest place in Korea was right behind a platoon of Marines, Lord how they could fight, and what a great testament to the United States, Mario corps.

Speaker 1

20:34

Because while the world keeps changing, new weapons, new threats and new ways in which we wage war, the nation will forever need the United States Marine Corps and in the Trump administration, we know that the work you do, protecting our country, putting your lives on the line to defend our way of life, is at the heart of Marine Corps service. Now, when officials try to shift focus to mandating diversity quotas, or they try to inject partisan politics into the American armed forces, they impede the Marine Corps ability to do its best work, and that's why the Secretary of War and the President of the United States have stood so firmly against that crap, because when you can't operate at your best on the battlefield, it puts everybody's lives at risk, and it's why we're re centering the focus of all of our military, including the Marine Corps, all those timeless values of discipline, readiness and faith and one another. Now I remember when I was a young recruit in boot camp talking about how politically correct things got, maybe over the last few years, and I compare it to my time in the Marine Corps. I remember I was lining up as a young recruit to go to church one Sunday morning. And back then, there were two lines. There was the Catholic line, and there was the Protestant line. And I remember, we all get into our we all get into our lines. And there's one recruit who's just kind of standing there by himself. And you know, the folks walked in on TV may not realize that Marines refer to themselves in the third person when they're in recruit training, because you haven't earned the title of United States Marine. And so you have to say this recruit instead of I. And so you got this one recruit standing out there by himself, and the drill instructor says, Hey, what the hell are you doing? And the recruit says, This recruit is an atheist. And the drill instructor says, bullshit. Get in the Catholic line, but that didn't work in the Biden administration. Pete, that didn't work in the Biden administration, but now we recognize that it is not our diversity that makes us stronger. It is our common purpose. It is our common mission, and it is the fact that every single person here bleeds Marine Corps green.

Speaker 1

23:14

And I think that all of you should realize that from the President of the United States on down, this government is proud of you. It's proud of the tradition of the Marine Corps, and it's proud of the fact that that great tradition has custodians in each and every single person here, each and every single Marine who is serving today. And I hope that the proud Marine Corps tradition you heard Pete talk about this Chesty Puller, Dan Dailey, John vassaloni, all of these great Marine Corps heroes, they should inspire you through their action to be the very best Marine in the future that you can be. Now, I remember so many people who made my Marine Corps journey and made the country better in the process. I remember a gunnery sergeant who saved me from financial ruin. I was a young Lance Corporal, and I was going to go to an off base car dealership and buy a used car with a low low dealer, provided interest rate of 22% i These Marines. Mind me, you aren't supposed to nod your head at that part. Guys, no 22% interest rate. So I had a gunny who was like, Look, stop being a dip shit and go to Navy, Federal Credit Union, get a better interest rate and then go and buy a car. That's exactly what I did. I remember that Gunny and I remember a young Marine who was younger than I was. Chase knows who I'm talking about, a Puerto Rican Marine who grew up in New York City. You too. Huh? A man I thought I had nothing in common with, but who I learned bled Marine Corps green, just like I did, and who came to my inauguration as Vice President of the United States. I remember a marine I served with, a guy whose political beliefs you might call far left, but despite the craziness of our politics today, remains one of my best friends, and is a man I would trust with my life. I remember the Marines raising the flag over Iwo Jima etching in American Memory the importance of respecting and honoring our beautiful national symbol. I remember all my friends from the Marines, men and women, some of whom retired, and some of whom made the Marine Corps proud of the civilian world. I remember general Chuck crew lack who I met at my cousin's boot camp graduation. He was the 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps, and I was probably 14 years old, and I was taller than he was, but he was tough as nails. I met him as Vice President, by the way, just a few months ago. He's still very short, and he's still tough as nails, and he still loves the Marine Corps as much as he did on his first day of service. Now, he had a phrase, I'm sure you guys have heard it. He said that the most important thing the Marine Corps does for this nation is to win battles and to make United States Marines. Today, we remember a fallen marine from the Third Marine Air Wing who died not far from here on a training mission. He died so recently, as a matter of fact, I can't even say his name publicly, but I want all of us to know and send a message to his family that we remember them and we know that his Marine Corps service was not in vain. Let's give a new rock for that fallen marine

Speaker 1

26:56

I know that all of us remember the friends who went off to war, and we particularly remember the ones who were mangled in combat or who never came home at all. Every single one of you has memories like this. Every single one of you is lucky enough to have friends like mine. Within each of you is your own Marine Corps legacy burning every single day. And because of that, every one of our fellow Marines lives on as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket. We like Full Metal Jacket Marines, he said, but the Marine Corps lives on forever, and that means you live forever. Our motto Marines is Semper Fidelis, which means in Latin, always faithful, though the shape of the battlefield will change. Our nation will be just fine, so long as fellow Marines, just like you, remain faithful to that great Marine Corps legacy, my fellow Marines, you have the watch now. You honor that legacy by how you carry yourself in public. You honor it by how you treat your friends and family. You honor it by how you contribute to your communities, and most importantly, you honor it and how you fight and win the nation's battles. So from one vice president to an incredible United States Marine Corps. Keep kicking ass, keep taking names super Fidelis Marines. Happy 250th birthday. God bless you.

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