Thank you. Well, thank you, Doug. You're doing a great job at the VA. And I wanna say just a couple things. I've learned a couple things from working so closely with the President of the United States. The first thing is that he loves our nation's veterans and has committed our nation's administration to putting our veterans first every single day.
And the second thing I've learned about the President of the United States is that he really hates when somebody who's speaking before him goes on for too long. [Laughter] And so with that in mind, I have prepare, prepared a very brief and very inspiring one hour and 45 minute speech on this beautiful Veterans Day out here in the cold. [Laughter] But let me just give three very brief messages, first to our nation's veterans.
Thank you. Thank you for serving and sacrificing. We've all got so many good stories of people that we served with over the years. During my four years of the Marine Corps, I met the very best of America, people who were willing to put on a uniform and risk their lives for their entire country. Just yesterday morning, I met people who lost limbs, who lost very, very important family members who lost their psychological health going out there and serving the United States of America.
So whether you gave a little bit or whether you gave a lot, every single person who put on the uniform of this nation deserves our gratitude on this day especially, but every day. And so from the vice president and the entire administration to our nation's veterans, thank you for your service. Thank you for your sacrifice, and thank you for making us proud every single day.
The second message is to the nation's political leaders. I happen to believe that the most valuable resource that we have isn't the incredible wealth of natural resources of this country, as amazing as it is. The most important natural resource that we have is that we have hundreds of thousands of young people every single month who sign up to put on the uniform and risk their lives for their fellow citizens.
That is a resource we cannot squander. That is a resource we must protect. And so to every elected official who's here today, our obligation, our sacred responsibility to our veterans is to make sure that the American military is the bravest and best fighting force anywhere in the world. And to make sure that every time we ask our nation's military to go off to war, we give them the training, we give them the resources, and we give them what they need to kick the enemy's rear end and to come back home safely and quickly.
That is our obligation to you. And my third and final message to the American people, I'm asked all the time how to best honor our veterans. And this day in particular, gives you an opportunity, and it doesn't have to be difficult, and it doesn't have to be complicated. If you find yourself at a restaurant this evening and you see somebody wearing a uniform, buy 'em a meal if you're able or buy 'em a beer.
If you see a veteran of our nation's armed forces, if you know somebody in your family, give 'em a call and say, "Thank you." I heard already this morning from my mother-in-law who sent me a message early California time, and it touched my heart. Just knowing that we have loved ones who recognize our surface, who care about it, and who care enough to go out and say, "Thank you." So to the American people, if we want to keep on ensuring that the very best and brightest sign up for our military, the very best way to do it is to make sure that the veterans know that we are grateful to them.
And so it's with great pride that I am introducing a man who is proud of our veterans, who fights every single day for the veterans and who is proud to be the Commander in chief of the United States Armed Forces, President Donald J. Trump.