Vice President JD Vance speaks to troops at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia.
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NewsTranscript
01:30Okay.
01:31Okay.
01:32Okay.
01:33Okay.
01:34Okay.
02:06Okay.
02:07Okay.
02:08Okay.
02:15Okay.
02:22Okay.
02:28Okay.
02:34Marines, how we doing?
02:58It's great to be here.
02:59It's great to be in Quantico.
03:00You know, as a proud member of the E4 Mafia, I had never made it to Quantico myself, but
03:09you know, it's one of the reasons why I wanted to run for vice president.
03:13I thought maybe it was time for the colonels and generals to listen to the corporals for
03:16a change.
03:17How's that sound?
03:20So you all know how big of a part of the Marine Corps was of my life and how important it
03:26was for me.
03:27And I just wanted to say from the bottom of my heart, from one Marine to another, thank
03:31you for your service.
03:32We're proud of you.
03:33And I'm proud to be here with my fellow Marines.
03:35God bless you guys.
03:38Now some of you may know that the Marine Corps actually, there are a lot of good things the
03:42Marine Corps did for me.
03:43When I joined the Marines back in 2003, you know, I was just a kind of directionless kid.
03:49I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.
03:51And as you all know, the Marine Corps is good at giving direction to 18 year old kids.
03:56But it also saved me from making one of the worst financial decisions that I've ever made.
04:02And as you guys probably appreciate, there are often these used car dealerships outside
04:07of Marine Corps bases.
04:08You know what I'm talking about?
04:10And I remember when I was probably a 19 year old kid, I was going to buy a used Honda Civic,
04:17one of those used car dealerships.
04:19And the dealership was kind enough to offer me the low, low interest rate of 21% to buy
04:26that used car.
04:27And it was a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant, Gunny Arledge, who said, you know what?
04:32Why don't you stop being an idiot, go to Navy Federal Credit Union and get a better deal.
04:37And Gunny Arledge saved me from making a terrible mistake.
04:39And that's what the Marine Corps does.
04:41That's what you all do from the NCOs to the officers here.
04:45You guys help form our young people into United States Marines.
04:49And that is, I think, the best thing the Marine Corps does for the United States of America.
04:53I'm proud of all of you.
04:55As General Chuck Krulak said, the Marine Corps does two things.
04:58It wins battles, it wins wars, and it makes Marines.
05:02And that's a pretty good damn thing to do for the United States of America.
05:05So I'm proud of you guys.
05:06I'm proud to be here.
05:07I'm proud of what you do.
05:09And most of all today, I'm proud that I think under new leadership, the Marine Corps and
05:14the entire United States military is headed in the right direction.
05:19And that's why I'm here today, to talk a little bit about what we're going to do, talk a little
05:23bit about President Trump's vision for the United States military, and importantly, after
05:27I do that and I serve some chow at the chow hall, I'm going to go shoot some guns, right?
05:34So here's the thing.
05:36Under President Trump's leadership, we believe in a very simple principle.
05:39We don't care who you are, where you came from.
05:42We don't care what skin color you are.
05:44We care about excellence and we care about patriotism.
05:48And if you are awesome and you are a patriotic young Marine, then we are going to do everything
05:53that we can to make you the most lethal fighting force the world has ever seen.
05:57And that is what we're doing every single day.
06:00No more quotas, no more ridiculous mumbo jumbo, no more diversity trainings.
06:06We believe the real strength and the real diversity in the United States Marine Corps
06:10is that you all come from every walk of life, come from every corner of America, and you
06:15have got the strength and the purpose to win the nation's wars.
06:19And that is what the Marine Corps is going to do, just like it's done for Dan Muir 250
06:24years.
06:27Now speaking of that, as my dear friends and as a lot of you know, well maybe you don't
06:33because a lot of young faces out here, that's the thing, you know, I'm 40 years old now
06:37and I realize that compared to when I joined the Marine Corps, I'm an old ass man now.
06:42But here's the thing.
06:44The best friends that I've ever made in my life, I've made in the Marine Corps.
06:48People who came to my Vice Presidential Inauguration and the President's Inauguration just a couple
06:52of months ago are people that I first met in boot camp or first met in follow on school,
06:57first met at my first duty station.
06:59People who have held my children when they were little babies.
07:03People who I've helped welcome new children into the world.
07:06You guys have no idea that the people standing to your left and to your right, these are
07:10lifelong friends, they're going to follow you around whether you want to or not for
07:14the rest of your life.
07:15And I think that's one of the great blessings of the United States Marine Corps.
07:19And one of the things I learned from my great Marine friends, they remind me, is that this
07:23November, of course, our great Corps is going to celebrate 250 proud years.
07:28And as I know, because I've been to a few Marine Corps birthday balls myself, I'm sure
07:32it'll be a total sober, no alcohol celebration for the Marine Corps' 250th birthday.
07:40But from one Marine to another, let me just say that we are excited to celebrate the Marine
07:45Corps' 250th anniversary, 250 years of winning wars, 250 years of kicking ass and taking
07:52names.
07:55So here's the basic plan.
07:57Here's what we're going to do.
07:58We're going to invest in the Marine Corps and the entire United States military like
08:03we never have before.
08:05Over a trillion dollars we're going to invest in building up the manufacturing base of this
08:09country so that you guys, when you do go to war, when you have to go to war, you've got
08:14the best weapons anywhere in the world.
08:17We know from the long history of the United States of America that while the leading edge
08:21of American power is you all, it really matters what you guys have in your hands and what
08:27you guys have on your backs when you go to war.
08:29And so I promise you, from the President of the United States, we are going to send you,
08:33if we have to send you to war, with the best equipment, the best ammunition, the best weapons,
08:39and we are going to empower you guys to win when you have to.
08:43That's the purpose of the United States Marine Corps, am I right?
08:47So that's what we're going to do.
08:49And of course, I've got some good news.
08:51You know, over the last few years, some of the military branches had some recruitment
08:55problems.
08:56Not the Marine Corps, actually.
08:57The Marine Corps was the one branch that consistently met its recruitment goals, and that probably
09:01has something to do with the fact that the Marine Corps is a little bit smaller, as you
09:04all know.
09:06But this year, now, we have got every single branch of the United States military for the
09:12past two months has been meeting its recruitment goals, because I think I see, and I see in
09:17your faces, what we're seeing all across the country.
09:20A renewed sense of patriotism, a renewed commitment to excellence, and that is what is going to
09:25make the United States military the strongest fighting force anywhere in the world.
09:29So thank you all.
09:30Thank you for being part of it.
09:32Thank you for being part of 250 years of great American tradition.
09:36Thanks to you guys for being able to, being willing to put on the uniform and serve your
09:41country.
09:42I always say that the most important thing that we have in this country, the most valuable
09:46natural resource, we've got plenty of oil, we've got plenty of natural gas, we've got
09:50great mines and minerals, but the most valuable resource that we have in the United States
09:55of America is you all.
09:57It's young people who are patriotic and dedicated who are willing to put on the uniform of the
10:02United States and risk your lives to defend your fellow citizens.
10:05That's an amazing thing.
10:07I know it's easy to forget when you go about doing your jobs and you're just worried about
10:11getting through the day, worried about, you know, getting to the next week, worried about
10:15doing the good job that all of you do, that what you're doing is an amazing thing.
10:20And it's easy to forget that because, you know, you don't always have the Vice President
10:23dropping in to say thank you.
10:24But I want you to remember that whether you serve another couple years in the United States
10:28Marine Corps, whether you're at the beginning of a 20 or 30 year career, that we respect
10:33you, we thank you, and this Vice President and the President of the United States know
10:38that you guys are the most important resource that we have in the United States Marine Corps,
10:42or excuse me, in the United States of America.
10:45So thank you all and God bless you.
10:49The final thing I want to say here is I was actually, and I know I was late, it's funny.
10:58That is not Marine Corps time, my friends.
11:00I remember Gunny Arledge always told me, you know, if you're five minutes early, you're
11:0510 minutes late.
11:06I'm sure you guys have heard that phrase.
11:08What does it mean when the Vice President is two hours late?
11:12I guess I'm on time because who the hell is going to get me in trouble, right?
11:16But here's the thing, my friends, is I left, the reason I was a little bit late is because
11:22I was in the Oval Office talking to the President.
11:25And I stood up and I said, sir, I know we're in the middle of something, but the Marines
11:29at Quantico are waiting on me.
11:30And he said, oh, I didn't realize that, you've got to get out of here, you've got to get
11:33out there.
11:34And I said, do you have a message you want me to deliver?
11:35And the President of the United States said he wanted me to tell you two things.
11:38First of all, that he loves you, and second of all, that he's proud of you.
11:43So let me echo the President, let me echo a grateful nation.
11:47You guys just keep on doing what you're doing.
11:50We love you, we're proud of you, and we're going to support you every single step of
11:54the way.
11:55God bless you, Marines.
11:56Semper Fidelis.
11:58We'll put a bomb in your ass, it's the American way.
12:04Help us out, put your name at the top of his list.
12:08And the Statue of Liberty started shaking her fist.
12:12And the eagle will fly, and it's gonna be hell.
12:17When you hear Mother Freedom start ringing her bell.
12:21And it'll feel like the whole wide world is raining down on you.
12:29I'm brought to you courtesy of the red, white, and blue.
12:41Of the red, white, and blue.
12:44Of my red, white, and blue.