Well, good morning. And happy Fourth of July!
It is indeed an honor to welcome you to the Hall of Heroes.
Secretary Wormuth, General George: Thanks for your moving words. And along with Sergeant Major of the Army Weimer, thanks for leading the United States Army with such skill and professionalism.
I'm also pleased to see so many outstanding Department of Defense and Army leaders with us today.
And let me also thank our honored guests today: the families of Private Philip Shadrach and Private George Wilson. You are the bridge back to their bravery. You carry their legacy. And we're deeply grateful to have you here.
It's a huge honor to hold this ceremony on Independence Day. Every Fourth of July, we celebrate our founding values of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. And by gathering today, we remind ourselves of how much it took to turn those principles into human government.
Just a few generations after we won our freedom from the British crown, our new republic was ripped apart. In his Independence Day message in 1861, President Lincoln said that our American experiment was struggling against those who fought to put "an end to free government upon the earth."
And we have gathered to salute two of the bravest soldiers ever to fight for free government: Private Shadrach and Private Wilson.
In 1862, as you've heard, the civilian scout James J. Andrews convinced the commander of the Union forces in central Tennessee to try to steal a train and use it to rip up the railroad behind it and cut off the rebels' ability to resupply their forces from Atlanta. The men we honor today raised their hands for that stunning raid.
One comrade remembered that Private Shadrach was "solidly built, merry and reckless, with an inexhaustible store of good nature." Yet his brothers in arms could count on him, as one said, to "sacrifice anything for a friend."
Other soldiers said that Private Wilson was "tall and spare, with high cheek-bones [and] sharp gray eyes." And his battle buddies felt from him "a greatness of soul which sympathized intensely with our struggle for national life."
On April 12, Private Shadrach, Private Wilson, and the rest of the Andrews Raiders set off. They were outnumbered, out-gunned, and far behind enemy lines. But when the time came, they seized the locomotive from under the noses of the Confederate troops.
"It was a painfully thrilling moment," one of the raiders recalled. "We were but twenty, with an army about us, and a long difficult road before us, crowded with enemies."
So they sped away. Racing against their pursuers. Racing against time. And racing against fate.
The Union raiders tore up the tracks behind them. They ripped down the telegraph cables above them. And they damaged key transportation and communications lines. But the raiders soon ran out of fuel—and out of luck.
Private Shadrach and Private Wilson were among the first to be captured. And a Confederate military court sentenced them to hang.
Private Shadrach told his fellow prisoners that he sought comfort in his faith. Private Wilson's thoughts also turned to his trust in God—and to his belief in America.
One account says that Wilson was "surrounded by a scowling crowd." But he spoke to them while standing under the gallows. And Private Wilson told that angry crowd that "they would yet see the time when the old Union would be restored, and when its flag would wave over them again."
And he was right. And on this Fourth of July, our flag still waves over the free citizens of the United States of America.
And as you've heard, nearly a year after the Andrews Raid, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton welcomed the surviving raiders to Washington. And he presented them with a newly created award for valor, making them the first U.S. Service members to receive the Medal of Honor.
Today, more than 160 years later, we complete that arc of history. And we link the first recipients of the Medal of Honor to the newest recipients of the Medal of Honor. The names of Private Philip Shadrach and Private George Wilson will be inscribed forever in the Hall of Heroes alongside their fellow raiders.
Their medals are new. Yet their bravery is eternal.
On this Independence Day, their story reminds us of the American patriots who risked everything for our freedom, and for our Union, and for our future of liberty under law. Their story doesn't just inspire us. It challenges us.
So we are not just here to honor their sacrifice. We are here to live up to their example.
Democracy is a daily referendum. It is not just the consequence of grand actions, but the sum of small decisions. And that's true every day—and not just on the Fourth of July.
"Democracy is never a thing done," an American poet once wrote. "Democracy is always something that a nation must be doing."
So it is always the right time to salute America's independence. It is always the right time to reaffirm America's values. And it is always the right time to honor America's heroes.
May God bless the memories of Private Philip Shadrach and Private George Wilson. And may God continue to bless the United States of America.
Thank you.