Mike Pence: My Dad Never Got Over the Guilt of Coming Back from Korea Alive

Vice President Mike Pence, in a Veterans Day speech at the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, told a personal story about his father and the incalculable cost of war — leaving hardly a dry eye in the crowd.

He began by saying he is the son of a soldier, and the “proud father of a United States Marine,” but that he never wore the uniform of the United States military himself.

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“I’ve never experienced the cost of war on the battlefield,” Pence said, “or had to endure the hardship of time away from home and family that come with service, even in peacetime. But I’ve seen enough to know the burden our veterans bear is oftentimes a burden that lives far beyond your time in uniform.”

Then he began to tell the audience — including those watching the ceremony live on television — about his father.

“Sixty-four years ago my dad served in combat in Korea,” Pence began. “Second Lieutenant Edward J. Pence was in the U.S. Army, 45th Infantry. He fought in the battle of Old Baldy and Pork Chop Hill, and he earned a bronze star for his courage under fire.”

He continued, “The truth is, I learned most of that after I grew up, because Dad never talked about the war, and that medal stayed in his dresser drawer. A few years after he died, I was visiting a cousin that he grew up with on the streets of Chicago, and he told me that the war had changed my dad. When I asked him how, he said, ‘You know, before the war, your dad was the most happy-go-lucky guy I ever met.’ But he said after he came back he was different.

“And then he said words I’ll never forget,” added Pence. “He said, and I quote, ‘I don’t think your dad ever got over the guilt of comin’ home.’ I don’t think your dad ever got over the guilt of comin’ home. In those words, in an instant, I understood every unfinished sentence, every faraway look on my father’s face whenever the war came up. If he talked about it at all, he talked about the guys he served with — guys who didn’t get to come home, to marry their sweetheart, raise a house full of kids, live their dreams and see their children’s children.”

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“That’s when I understood the quiet cost of freedom,” Pence told the crowd, “and the burden so many of our veterans bear in their hearts. So to all our veterans looking on, know this: We’re with you. You do not carry that burden alone. As a nation, we stand ready to help you shoulder that load, with the compassion, support and prayers of the American people. You were there for us. Now we are here for you.”

The former governor of Indiana, who also served as a member of Congress representing Muncie, Indiana, from 2001 to 2013, Pence was standing in for President Donald Trump in giving the Veterans Day address, as Trump was traveling in Asia.

But Trump had recorded a Veterans Day message, which Pence referenced.

“President Trump said this morning in his words … ‘America’s veterans are this country’s greatest national treasure.’ He said you’re the best role models for our youngest citizens, a constant reminder of all that’s good, decent and brave. And to you I say: No truer words were spoken. This is the land of the free because it’s still the home of the brave, and you, our veterans, are our brave.”