Memorial Day ‘25

Hello, I hope that you’re enjoying this weekend with friends and family.

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial beginning of Summer. Summer 2025 is here! How does it feel?

I grew up in upstate New York and then a suburb of New York City in Westchester County. There were not many kids there from military families. A couple guys from my high school went to West Point or the Air Force Academy but they were somewhat unusual. Growing up, Memorial Day weekend simply meant barbecues and the beginning of summer movie season.

This is not to say I wasn’t patriotic - I’ve loved America my entire life. Perhaps that’s the norm among children of immigrants. As a kid, I used to get into playful fights with my cousins because I would always say America was the best country on Earth. I founded an organization called Venture for America that I ran for six years. And of course, I ran for President because I thought I could help improve things for people.

It was only after I ran for President that the meaning of Memorial Day became clearer. I met a ton of military veterans who had lost friends in conflicts. I also met dozens of relatives of soldiers who had made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the country.

One of my proudest aspects while running for President was how many military veterans got behind the campaign. There were “Veterans for Yang” at many events with distinct paraphernalia. I received multiple challenge coins from soldiers from different services. Soldiers still approach me at airports and simply say, “Thank you.” Which is ridiculous, because of course I should be thanking them. But it feels good that they sense a bond. I spoke to a group of West Point cadets recently and got a lot out of it; they were truly impressive young people.

A friend said to me a while ago, “If America is a religion, veterans are its clergy.”

So, how is America?

Some very negative things are happening right now. The Trumpian Big Beautiful Bill that just passed the House takes an extreme winner-take-all economy and makes it worse by the numbers. Two embassy employees were killed in a hate crime driven by polarization and tribalism. Thousands of international students are being placed in limbo by a vindictive Federal government trying to enact discipline on a major university. Other countries are telling their citizens not to visit America out of safety concerns. AI is quickly transforming industries and the way our kids learn.

The American Dream has seen better days. It’s certainly not clear that our children will be better off than the generation that came before them.

America remains a land of warm, caring, loyal souls who are willing to help their neighbors and lend a hand. I’ve seen this up close over the last number of years. I’ve met thousands of people of every walk of life in just about every environment you can think of, from the biker bar in Iowa to the church in South Carolina to the American Legion hall in New Hampshire to the tech HQ in California to the comedy club in Ohio. The vast majority of Americans - 98% - are good-natured and welcoming in person.

So why are we filled with such doubt about our shared future?

We are being let down by our systems. There are negative forces in our politics, our media, and definitely our social media such that instead of neighbors or friends, we see enemies and adversaries. This funhouse mirror is setting us up to fail.

This week I spoke to a military veteran who is considering running for Congress in a swing district. He is somewhat daunted by the tasks associated with running for office, particularly calling people to ask for money. He said, “It’s funny, having served over a dozen years in the military I was certainly willing to undergo various risks for the country. There’s less physical risk in running for office than what I was doing back then. But it still feels higher somehow.”

I hope he runs. And if he does I’ll try to help him.

To me, Memorial Day is not just about commemorating the sacrifices that servicemen and women have made on behalf of the country, but also a day to reflect on the best of America, the country we aspire to be. We still hold that promise and potential, to be the land that so many have died trying to protect. Getting there will take a lot of change from where we are now, but I know that it’s possible. Funhouse mirrors aren’t reality. I’ve met the best of us, and they are capable of great things.

To see what Forward is doing to cure our systems, click here. To hear my discussion of the 2028 Field with political writer Ross Barkan click here. I hope the summer is off to a fine start for you and your family.