Hegseth Visits USS Gerald Ford: Thanksgiving Address to Troops as US Expands Anti-Drug Strikes |AC1N

Happy Thanksgiving from me, the Secretary of War. Happy Thanksgiving from the President of the United States. Happy Thanksgiving from a grateful nation. I know all of you saw some of the news yesterday of two National Guardsmen targeted, ambushed in Washington, D.C., and they remain in our prayers, and I hope in yours, and they are a reminder like you of the bravery and the selflessness of Americans who put it all on the line in the prime of their life to do dangerous things on behalf of the American people, many of which they'll never meet. Whether it's in our nation's capital, walking patrol, or whether it's in our nation's hemisphere, out at sea, interdicting cartels, defending the American people, we are grateful for you. You know, I work in a Pentagon with a lot of high-ranking folks who are great Americans as well, and all of us, we work for you. We work for you to enable you to be the most ready, most capable, most lethal warfighters that our nation needs. So on this Thanksgiving, on behalf of my wife and I, Jennifer, who's here with me as well and will meet many of you, we simply say thank you, our deepest gratitude, and we renew how committed we are to you and your families. So to Almighty God, we pray today, this Thanksgiving, implore your protection and favor upon this crew, upon this ship, upon this battle group, and all men and women deployed around our hemisphere and the world. Godspeed, God bless, you are in our prayers, and we are grateful. SecWar out.