WEBVTT

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and I would suspect that there are some

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of us 20 years ago if

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asked to find on a map or a globe where

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Afghanistan or where Iraq war would

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have been challenged in a similar way .

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But those soldiers of World War One of

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World War Two in every generation

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answer the call to this great nation

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and the only thing that we've ever

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asked for was a place to bury

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an honor . Our fallen service men and

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women had an

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opportunity a few years ago in the 10th

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anniversary of World War One to travel

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to France where some units from south

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Carolina were instrumental in some of

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the major battles of World War One .

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Walk the battlefields walt the

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cemeteries , some of the trench works

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from World War One still in place

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and as you stood there and kind of

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isolated myself , let my bolts

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kind of run a little bit , try to

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imagine what it would have been like .

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And if you've seen a movie with World

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War One , footage , filmed footage in

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those trenches waiting for that whistle

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and waiting for that command to go over

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the top , you had to know that that was

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probably your last time over the top

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what they did it because that was their

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job and they believed they were

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fighting for something that was

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important and they were willing to die

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for if necessary , had a chance to go

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over to Normandy one day Quiktrip got

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to Omaha beach in

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july misty rain , stood there

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overlooking the channel and imagine

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those landing craft coming forward and

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just as the movies again , when the

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ramps went down , when the soldiers

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exited the wraps , they probably had to

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believe that that may have been there

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last day . But they did it

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begin again because they

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believed it was the right thing to do

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in service to this great nation and to

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help bring freedom and hope to other

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people and you fast forward to

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9 11 and we saw what happened

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and many of our young men and women who

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were just citizens on that day said I

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need to serve this great nation . I

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need to do what is necessary to help

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defend this homeland and ultimately

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maybe help defend freedom around the

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world . And those young men and

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women boarded planes and flew to a

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country again . They may not have known

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really much about and they flew not

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knowing exactly what they were going to

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get into . But they did it because they

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believed it was the right thing to do

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in that day that they paid the ultimate

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sacrifice to this great nation

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was not a mistake that they made . They

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did it because they , in their heart

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believe it was the right thing for them ,

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for their families and for this great

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nation for that . I am honored

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and humbled to have had a chance to

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serve with some of these fine

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servicemen and women in both the army

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and the Air National Guard here in

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south Carolina and to have had a chance

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to get to know some of them and to know

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a little bit about them personally .

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Makes it even more of a special memory

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As we approach the 20 year anniversary ,

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Those visible wounds of war that we

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see

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or tragic enough . But

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thankfully due to the health care that

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supported to us in this great nation ,

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many of those visible wounds of war

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we're able to deal with and we have

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seen miraculous things from young men

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and young women that they've been able

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to accomplish after maybe having lost

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arm a leg or multiple

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limbs . A testament

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to that human desire , that human

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drive to always seek to be the best

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that you can be to overcome adversity .

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But we also have faced no different

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from any other time in the history of

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this great nation . We just didn't

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recognize it to the extent and we may

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have called it other things , but we

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say now those invisible wounds of war ,

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we know it has had a significant impact

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in our organization , not only in with

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the soldiers and airmen to south

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Carolina guard , but throughout the

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entire military force of this great

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nation . And as

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always , I would encourage

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our service men and women to be

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it strong individual that you are

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and when you need help reach out and

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get help . And more importantly though ,

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as a battle buddy and a wingman of that ,

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maybe soldiers and airmen needing help

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do that really tough thing and

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seek out and encourage

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them to get help . That's real

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friendship . That's really service to

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your buddy to help them out when they

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need help . Soldiers creed , Airman

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creed all basically get to the same

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thing . You never leave a fallen

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soldier , you never leave a solid

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comrade and to let one suffer and to

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let one suffer in silence goes directly

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against that creed . So again , I would

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ask that all of us collectively lift up

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this organization and to do the things

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that are necessary to help us through

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some challenging time over the last few

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weeks . It's been especially difficult ,

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especially for those that may have

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served in Afghanistan . But I would say

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it's equally for those who have served

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in harm's way at any point in time .

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This nation though . And the service

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men and women of this great nation did

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their job . We engaged

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the enemies on the battlefield . We

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were successful in those engagements .

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We did what was necessary to complete

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what our missions were and the

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service and sacrifice of all the men

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and women of south Carolina National

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Guard should be honored and recognized

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as being what it was

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outstanding . You were given missions ,

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You accomplished missions , you did

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what you were asked to do and you did

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it quite well . So walk with your head

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high . Be proud of your service .

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Your family should be proud of your

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collective service

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and don't question , yeah ,

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Why just be thankful that

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you did and did what you did as well as

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you did and move forward because

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our job is to always be ready

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for the next event . Mhm We

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have to prepare ourselves to be ready

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for the next event and for the guard .

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What that next event maybe is a pretty

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wide range . Right now . We're

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currently dealing with the resurgence

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of the covid pandemic with the delta

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variant . We've got today

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soldiers that are in Louisiana helping

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the citizens of Louisiana dig out of

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Hurricane ida . We've got soldiers on

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the southwest border . We've got

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soldiers up in the national capital

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region and we just got The 169th

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Fighter Wing Back Home from a

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deployment overseas . Yes , we will

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pause today and at multiple times

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over the next few days to honor the

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service and sacrifice And to remember

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what happened on 9:11 . But to those

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soldiers , sailors , airmen and marines

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who paid the ultimate sacrifice they

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would tell us that they could . That

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you've got to drive on . You've got to

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continue to march . You've got to

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continue to be prepared for that next

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mission mentally , physically

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emotionally spiritually ready for what

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that call maybe .

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And I am confident That from what I've

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seen over the last 20 years and what I

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see each and every day and what I

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believe are still some of the greater

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days for this country are still ahead

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of us . I am confident that we can be

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a part of writing that success story .

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There is no reason to believe different .

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This nation has faced many challenges

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over the course of our history . And if

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you were someone that studies

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history , you can see that in many of

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those great challenges there were

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positive things that came out of

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And I and I hope you believe

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that we can , we will and

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we must do the same thing here today .

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Yeah . I do believe as a nation , we

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are fortunate and blessed to live in a

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country that affords us the freedoms

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and the opportunities that we have .

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But ladies and gentlemen , those

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freedoms and those opportunities don't

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come free .

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They do not come free . Yeah ,

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so we paul's

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we remember we honor

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we reflect but

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then we move on

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but we will never cease to forget .

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It is what allows us

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to do what we do because you

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know I know that

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when it happens again and it will ,

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history says it will there

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must be other young men ,

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other young women who are willing to

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step up and to be counted when it's

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time to take action and do the

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right thing .

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So I am thankful that we have this day ,

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We will show our 9 11

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uh commemorative

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documentary that was put together . It

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tells a story from the beginning

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to as much of current day's activities

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as we can . Um

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and it allows us again to honor those

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that we have worked with . Thank you

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for being here today . Thank you for

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being a part of this organization and

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allowing us to be where we are and

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thank you to your families for being

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there to allow you to do this .

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I'm leon Lott . I'm a soldier in the

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south Carolina state yard . But I also

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have the privilege and honor to be the

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commander of the South Carolina State

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Guard . Very historic military

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organizations that for 351 years has

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protected this state 351 years .

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Men and women have stood up and said ,

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I'm here , send me I'm here to protect

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the state . Previous commanders of the

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state yards been Francis Marion swamp

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fox , thomas , summers something Andrew

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pickens . Also . Senator strom thurman

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is a member of the state yard . All who

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believed in this state who is willing

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to wear this uniform to go out and

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protect the state . Now after 9 11 ,

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most of us in this room said , what can

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we do ? Some of us was too old to join

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the National Guard . Another service .

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But the State Guard was available for

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us . I was one of those . I was one of

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those that was willing and ready to do

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something to defend this country and

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defend the state . So I joined the

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south Carolina state yard . Many others

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would like me to join the south

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Carolina state yard and continue to be

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in the south Carolina state yard . We

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had members of the South Carolina State

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Guard deployed to New York City after

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911 to assist in recovery up there .

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Men and women who care . Men and women

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who are willing to give everything .

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They've got to protect this country ,

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but also to protect the state . Now , I

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guess if you want to describe the

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sacramento state yard , where your

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little brother ? Well your little

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brother , when you need us , we're

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there were there to come help you and

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that's what we've done for the past 20

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years is when our state and our

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National Guard needed assistance in

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many different areas . We were able to

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step up and provide that assistance .

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We were there when you needed something .

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We were there when our engineers needed

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to go out during 1000 year flood .

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During this past pandemics , we were

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there are chaplains were there when you

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when it was time for you to go be

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deployed . Our chaplains were there to

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pray for you and be there with you and

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give you comfort . Our attorneys are

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lawyers . Were there to help you get

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ready to deploy . Our medical

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doctors were there also law enforcement ,

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that's part of the state yard was ready

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to go when we needed to go and and work

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at shelters , work at pause , provide

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security . They were ready to go and

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then we just have regular , regular ,

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general purpose soldiers who are ready

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to go out and do anything . See that's

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what our that's what our job is . We

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will do anything that's necessary .

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Detective state and necessary to help

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you do your job the best that you can

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do that is what the south Carolina

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state yard does . And that's what we

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continue to do during the pandemic . We

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were involved in helping put up pods ,

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were involved in setting up hospitals ,

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were involved in setting up security at

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the job . We were there , whatever is

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needed . The South Carolina State Guard

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has always been there for 351 years .

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Think of that history . If you go to

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Olympia armory , our home and look at

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the wall inside , you'll see pictures

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of all the state guard commanders .

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That is the history of the state of

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south Carolina . That is the history of

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all of us . What do we do now ? We're

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still doing whatever you need us to do

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whatever you need us to do . We're

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gonna be there and we're gonna do that

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now . General McCarthy talked about

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sacrifices . Yes . There was lots of

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sacrifices made . Someone made the

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ultimate sacrifice . One of them worked

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for me and my other job . One was a

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deputy Sheriff . His name was Ryan Raw .

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He was the first lieutenant nine years

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ago . He was killed in action in

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Afghanistan . His mother's greatest

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fear was that her son would be

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forgotten . He will never be forgotten .

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I want you all to remember that name

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and there's others , not others .

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Beside right , Ryan remember Ryan ross

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name . We look back and we talk about

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20 years ago and what's happened past

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20 years and where we at today as we

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recognize the 20th anniversary . Don't

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forget about those named Ryan Raul and

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others who gave their lives somewhere

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else in another country for all of us

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to be free and for all of us to be safe .

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Remember his name . Remember the names

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of the others . Each one of them had a

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mother who probably feels the same way .

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I don't want my son to ever be

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forgotten . Just say his name , Ryan

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wrong and others just sam in your heart ,

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Sammy your heart . But the south

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Carolina state Guard , our motto is

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trained and ready . That's what we do .

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We train and we're ready to deploy

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wherever we're needed within this state .

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And we're ready to be your little

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brother and be there and help you out

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whenever you need us . As I sit down

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though , I want everybody to do

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something for me . If you would . Let's

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just have a moment of silence for Ryan

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role and arrested those who gave her

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life the defense of this country .

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Thank you God bless each one of you .

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God bless the state of south Carolina

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and this great nation . Thank you .

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Yeah ,