‘Freedom isn’t free’: Watch Gov. Baker’s final Memorial Day speech

Local Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker gave his Memorial Day speech Thursday at the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund’s Memorial Day Flag Garden on the Boston Common. Gov. Charlie Baker’s Office

For Gov. Charlie Baker’s final Memorial Day as governor of Massachusetts, he asked citizens to remember the cost of freedom paid for by our armed services, especially in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Baker began his speech Thursday by reminiscing about the first time he gave a Memorial Day speech at the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund Memorial Day Flag Garden on the Boston Common, which displays more than 37,000 flags in honor of fallen American soldiers every year.

The governor said he remembers feeling a deep sense of awe for the monument and what it stands for.

“I know I speak for myself and the lieutenant governor and everybody on our team when I say how much those of us who get a chance to participate in this game called democracy — that we all know we sit on the shoulders of every one of these flags behind me, and the families and the stories and the histories that they represent,” he said.

Baker said he can’t escape thinking about the Ukrainians fighting for their freedom this Memorial Day, and how their heroism and bravery reminds us of what Memorial Day is about.

“The common line in this is freedom isn’t free. The part we don’t always say — it is profoundly expensive, in human terms and financial terms,” he said.

The governor said that the most profound moment on Memorial Day for him is when the loved ones of soldiers lost speak the names of those soldiers to remind us of the people who gave their lives for the freedoms we have.

“It’s a constant reminder to all of us that…it’s not free – this thing we call freedom. People pay an enormous price so that the rest of us can benefit from it,” he said.

Watch the full speech here:

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