“You have no idea the fire you have ignited in his wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.”
STARRS Chairman Lt Gen Rod Bishop called her speech one of the best he’s ever seen. See below for more remarks from Gen. Bishop on nominating Charlie Kirk to be an honorary member of the USAFA Association of Graduates.
By Amanda Prestigiacomo | Daily Wire
An emotional and fiery Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, spoke out publicly for the first time since the assassination of her husband on Friday. She reflected on Charlie’s life and faith, and vowed to never let her husband’s mission end.
Erika opened her remarks by thanking law enforcement and first responders for helping her husband after the shooting and capturing his assassin.
The young mother said her husband “loved what he did” and thanked all of Charlie’s supporters. She also singled out Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance for honoring Charlie after his assassination.
And to President Donald Trump, Erika said of her husband, “He loved you. And he knew that you loved him, too.”
Watch video:
Mrs. Erika Kirk Addresses The Nation After Her Husband’s Assassination@TPUSA @MrsErikaKirk pic.twitter.com/55Gvxtbc7G
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) September 13, 2025
She also discussed Charlie’s faith, and said she was sure Charlie was with his Savior, Jesus Christ. “Two days ago, my husband went to see the face of his Savior and his God,” she said. “Now, and for all eternity, he will stand at his Savior’s side wearing the glorious crown of a martyr.”
“Charlie loved life, he loved his life, he loved America, he loved nature … he loved the Chicago Cubs and, my goodness, did he love the Oregon Ducks,” she said. “But most of all, Charlie loved his children and he loved me, with all of his heart. And I knew that, he made sure I knew that.”
“He was such a good man,” Erika said through tears. “He was the perfect father, he was the perfect husband.”
“My husband laid down his life for me, for our nation, for our children — he showed the ultimate covenantal love,” she continued. “Our God is so good.”
“The evildoers responsible for my husband’s assassination, they have no idea what they have done,” a fiery Erika said.
“They should all know this, if you thought that my husband’s mission was powerful before, you have no idea, you have no idea what you just unleashed across this country.”
“You have no idea the fire you have ignited in his wife,” she said. “The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry.”
“The movement my husband built will not die. It won’t. I refuse to let that happen,” Erika promised. “No one will ever forget my husband’s name, and I will make sure of it.”
Erika added that Turning Point USA events, including planned campus events, will continue as planned.
First published on The Daily Wire
Lt. General Rod Bishop, USAF ret, USAFA ’74, is on the Board of Directors of the US Air Force Academy Association of Graduates (AOG).
He has nominated Charlie Kirk to be an honorary member of the USAFA AOG:
“I can’t think of anyone I have ever met that better exudes all of the qualities of a candidate that we as USAFA graduates would want to count among our numbers than Charlie. Faith, family, so much love for our country and the vision of our Founding Fathers–Charlie had it all.
What Charlie said at the August USAFA Board of Visitors meeting (see below) came immediately after I texted him during the meeting– “Charlie, Gen Bauernfeind has done a good job of “eliminating” DEI. A real question going forward is “what are they going to do to ensure it is “eradicated?” I was sitting right behind him.
His reaction to me on the text (actually Signal chat–something Charlie pushed to set us so we could communicate with him) was “We got this.”
Although his time serving was cut short, Charlie already had had a significant impactful. Here, for example, is what he said at the USAFA BOV meeting he attended:
“The importance of this institution goes back to one other thing I know this board wants to focus on is that when we’re educating them, we need to educate them towards “being something”, towards being a warrior, but for what?
It’s one thing to strip away the DEI and Critical Race Theory– of which we’re going to be continually, politely bothering you on with questions.
But also we want to make sure that the cadets over the course of four years can articulate and they can feel in their soul American Exceptionalism, what they’re willing to die for. What is that Constitution that they’re swearing an oath to?
It shouldn’t just be here’s American history. We want them to be on fire because good leaders can articulate “The Why”.
Of course, there’s a self-selection, they’re coming here for a reason, because they love the country. But we want them to understand at a deeper, more fundamental level, American Exceptionalism.
If I could submit a recommendation in the curriculum education department: what does success look like when they throw their cap up in the air after four years?
That they are an advocate for the Exceptionalism of this project, not just a tool for the military, but they are able to articulate it, that they’re able to tell the people that they’re going to be leading in those tough days: here’s why we’re fighting so hard, here’s why we’re sacrificing.
It’s not enough just to say we want them to be good at programing AI and flying drones and being able to lead. But what are they leading towards?
Well, we want America to dominate this century and in order to dominate, we have to know what we are and who we are. It’s imperative that these cadets know that we are the greatest nation ever, and those roots. Not any sort of question about that.
That’s what makes this institution different. This is not Harvard. This is not Dartmouth, where they can spread anti-American ideas. If you don’t want to defend the country, that’s fine, you can go to University of Colorado Boulder. There’s plenty of people that don’t want to do that.
But Air Force cadets are here to understand the beauty of this country. I want to see even more of that. And I know that’s there.”
This is just but a sampling of what Charlie was trying to do for the youth of our country–turn them all on to wonders of the vision of our founding fathers. That vision is encoded in our oath of office–no one I know of did more to foster that vision than Charlie Kirk.
Many would argue, if he had been given the opportunity, his contributions to USAFA and our Air Force would have been even more impactful. Those of us who knew him, who spoke with him on Zooms or at the BOV meeting, know of his commitment to our country and to our Academy.
I do hope you all can put politics aside and support this recommendation for someone who stood strong for:
–the vision of our founding fathers
–freedom of speech
–civil dialogue with those you disagree with
–a strong love of our Academy and its mission
As Erika says in her message to America, Charlie stood for “patriotism, faith, and God’s merciful love.” Things I believe a huge majority of our graduate community would stand for. Period–don’t politicalize this please.
She also says Charlie’s #1 priority is (would have been if he ran for office) “revitalizing the American family.” Who can possible vote against that? And be sure to consider what he says above to our Superintendent and the USAFA BOV.
Charlie had such an impact upon our nation. I hope all the people saying today on social media “I am Charlie Kirk” really do hold strong to what he was proposing and stood for for America: open and honest dialogue, and allegiance to those values of our founding fathers which has made America GREAT! Charlie never demeaned–he only challenged Americans to think for themselves. “Prove me wrong” was an open invitation to engage in a dialog.
A number of grads/parents of USAFA cadets emailed me this week saying their sons had called them in tears after Charlie’s death–who knew?
I think most do not understand the impact Charlie had upon our youth (and cadets) in grounding them in the tenets of the vision of our founding fathers.
He was a USAFA teammate (member of our BOV) for way too short a time–but I can think of no one who had a greater impact–an impact that will live years beyond his time serving the USAFA.
“Make sure USAFA cadets can articulate and feel in their soul American Exceptionalism” –Charlie Kirk
Leave a Comment