President Donald Trump honored the 13 American service members killed during Operation Epic Fury at his Memorial Day address Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, pledging that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon and calling the fallen “wonderful souls, wonderful special people.”
Operation Epic Fury was a 68-day joint U.S.-Israel military campaign against Iran that launched February 28. Trump said the 13 deaths were the price of ensuring that the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism never goes nuclear.
“These incredible men and women gave their lives to ensure that the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror will never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “Oh, and they won’t, they will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump singled out Air Force Maj. Ariana Savino by name. Savino died during an Epic Fury mission in Iraq, and the president addressed her family directly from the Arlington podium, calling her sacrifice one that would not be in vain.
“Our debt to you is everlasting, and it’s always going to end in victory,” Trump told Savino’s family. He added that the country is seeing more military victories than it has in decades.
The Memorial Day remarks came as U.S. officials are actively negotiating a formal end to the Iran conflict. Trump described the emerging deal as largely concluded and has pressed Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan and other nations in the region to normalize ties with Israel as a precondition for joining any Iran framework.
Trump also cited the January raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as a demonstration of American military capability. The operation produced no American casualties.
“We took that over in one day, lost no one,” he said of the Venezuela mission.
Framing the occasion in sweeping historical terms, Trump spoke of the 250th anniversary of American independence and what he called the moral purpose behind every soldier who has ever worn the uniform.
“Our warriors are no mere mercenaries,” Trump said. “They are guardian angels who stride across the battlefields of history and stand watch over the highest and most beautiful planes the human spirit has ever seen, holding the line between liberty and tyranny, between civilization and barbarism, between good and evil.”
The president closed his Arlington address with a direct salute to the men and women in uniform.
“Wherever the American soldier walks, wherever he fights, wherever he fails and wherever he falls, he does it for the destiny of a nation like no other,” Trump said. “There’s never been anybody like you.”
The 13 service members killed in Operation Epic Fury represent the first American combat deaths in a direct military engagement with Iran. Their names are expected to be added to the national memorial in the weeks ahead. Active combat operations concluded before Memorial Day, with diplomats now working toward a formal treaty.
