Pete Buttigieg Honors Fallen Comrades on Memorial Day

On Memorial Day this year, Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg remembered injured and fallen comrades who served with him in Afghanistan.

The mayor of South Bend, Ind., returned to his hometown Monday for a wreath-laying ceremony. There, the former Naval intelligence officer delivered remarks on how the federal holiday, which honors fallen members of the military, transcended politics.

"I'm thinking of folks I've served with who were killed or injured and the sacrifice that they made and that the fact that there's no real way to justify the fact that I came back and they didn't, other than that I can do everything in my power to live a life that's worthy of what it took in order to make it possible to be here at home," Buttigieg told CNN.

During a speech at the event, the gay veteran, who was deployed for seven months to Afghanistan in 2014, discussed what the day meant for him personally.

"Some ask whether it is inappropriate for us to go about American life, to attend baseball games and spend time with our family at cookouts on a day like this," he said.

"I believe it is appropriate, because it is normal, in order to make this life available to us, that so deep of a price was paid by so many," he continued. "But it is fitting that we stop and honor all of those that made that sacrifice, from the most recent losses in the global war on terror and other conflicts, to the very first blood spilled in the American Revolution."

Buttigieg also encouraged supporters to take a moment away from politics to honor those who served and lost their lives for America.

"Memorial Day is set aside for remembering the war dead of this country," he wrote on Twitter. "It's important for us to pause, step aside, and honor the sacrifice that makes American life possible."

The politician also appeared in a Memorial Day video alongside several other presidential candidates. In the NowThis segment, organized by the VoteVets PAC, Buttigieg recounted the story of Sgt. David Johnson De-Ford, who was killed in 2004 in Iraq. Watch it below.