Secretary of War Pete Hegseth concluded his opening remarks by recounting a conversation with his son about the deaths of US service members. "My 13-year-old son popped into my office last night while I was editing these remarks. He asked about the war and the families I met at Dover, and I looked at him and I said, 'They died for you, son, so that your generation doesn't have to deal with a nuclear Iran,'" Hegseth recounted. "It's the truth. And they did so to the families who said, 'Finish this,' we will." Thirteen US service members have been killed in action since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury Feb. 28.