Romney Honors Memorial Day at Utah State Capitol

SALT LAKE CITY—U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) today joined Governor Spencer J. Cox and the Utah Department of Veterans and Military Affairs for a Memorial Day Ceremony at the State Capitol.

Romney’s remarks as prepared for delivery can be found below.

I like rainy days. I like sunny days as well. In fact, I think we are all very lucky to live in Utah no matter the weather. We have mountains to frame our vistas. We have roaring rivers and lakes for recreation. We can hike or bike on endless trails through the wilderness. Our national and state parks are the envy of the nation.

This is a good time in history to live in Utah. The first settlers worked the ground only to harvest simple, meager crops. We enjoy fruits and meats from across the world in almost any season. Our homes are heated in winters and cooled in the summers.

We are free to believe and read and speak as we wish, to associate with whomever we wish, and to travel effortlessly anywhere we wish to go.

And most important, all these things we can enjoy with family, with the people we love and with the people who are our friends.

This bounty of life is ours thanks to the men and women who won our freedom, who protect us from oppressors, and who have defend our nation from threats here and abroad. And too often, these defenders have done so at unimaginable cost, for while we enjoy all the glory of life here in Utah, some of them will never do so again.

This past August, 13 of our American brothers and sisters in uniform exchanged their lives for the lives of brothers and sisters in Afghanistan. Every soldier, sailor and flyer knows that the duty of his or her oath can compel the ultimate sacrifice. Each of these 13 lost is a reminder that every person in our military and every veteran, has placed his or her life on the altar of freedom not knowing which will be taken and which will be spared.

This past year, Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover of Sandy and Staff Sergeant Lincoln Olmsted of West Valley City lost their lives and were thus taken from their families. The glories of living in our great state with the people they loved they will not again enjoy. Those who’s arms once hugged them to their hearts, now wear Gold Stars instead.

They join our many Gold Star families. These have built Gold Star Memorial Monuments in North Ogden and St. George, and are building two more.

What they ask of us is to remember their sacrifice and to honor it. We honor it by reverencing our freedoms, by revering our Constitution, and by endeavoring to serve our fellow man. May we be counted among the hands by which God blesses Utah and America.