Good Afternoon.

My name is Scott Johnson and I am the state organizer of 50501 Indiana and I thank you for coming.

I have to start by stating that I did not serve. I came close but ultimately went a different path. Now I am not the person sitting in the white house and I have a very simple belief about veterans:

You all are heroes. Every one of you. Whether you served in combat or not. You are all heroes.

And I need to turn to the words of Heather Cox Richardson to drive this home:

"On the morning of June 6, 1944, five naval assault divisions stormed the beaches of Normandy. Seven thousand ships and landing craft operated by more than 195,000 naval personnel from eight countries brought almost 133,000 troops to beaches given the code names UTAH, OMAHA, GOLD, JUNO, and SWORD. By the end of the day, more than 10,000 Allied troops were wounded or killed, but the Allies had established a foothold in France that would permit them to flood troops, vehicles, and supplies into Europe."

Thus began the heroic fight against tyranny by our nation’s fathers, grandfathers, and great grand fathers. Let us do honor to their sacrifice.

Thank you all for your service.

Now I'm going to turn the rest of this event over to Brian and Amy.