Latest / Real America with Dan Ball / 5/25/26 -- Dan Ball w/ William Federer, Robert Maginnis, Paula Knauss-Selph and Mark Schmitz, Kate Monroe, and Bradley Geary

Transcript

5/25/26 -- Dan Ball w/ William Federer, Robert Maginnis, Paula Knauss-Selph and Mark Schmitz, Kate Monroe, and Bradley Geary · Real America with Dan Ball

0:00
Speaker 1: Good evening and welcome to this special Memorial Day edition
0:02
Speaker 1: of Real America. I'm Dan Bad. I hope you and
0:05
Speaker 1: your loved ones are enjoying the extra time off.
0:07
Speaker 2: But moreover, my.
0:08
Speaker 1: Hope is that you're truly remembering why we have this
0:11
Speaker 1: national holiday and why we as a nation take time
0:14
Speaker 1: each and every year to pause to honor and remember
0:17
Speaker 1: our fallen. Nearly one point three million Americans have paid
0:21
Speaker 1: the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the greatest republic ever
0:24
Speaker 1: known to man, a staggering number that should get every
0:27
Speaker 1: American pause. But that number should also instill a mountain
0:31
Speaker 1: of pride in all of us. Pride in knowing that
0:34
Speaker 1: we have country men and women willing to sign on
0:36
Speaker 1: that dotted line in defense of their nation, knowing that
0:40
Speaker 1: that decision could lead to them never returning to the
0:43
Speaker 1: land they love. It's a thought that actually gets this
0:46
Speaker 1: old vet pretty emotional around this time every year. So
0:49
Speaker 1: let's begin with how we got here, the Revolutionary War,
0:53
Speaker 1: and then bring it full circle to today's conflict in Iran.
0:56
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of red, white, and blue blood
0:59
Speaker 1: shed at home and abroad, and to fill me in
1:03
Speaker 1: on the timeline of our military history, I caught up
1:05
Speaker 1: with author, speaker and US historian Bill Vetterer.
1:10
Speaker 2: Bail.
1:10
Speaker 1: Nice to see you again, and thank you for joining
1:11
Speaker 1: me on this very very special day. You know, as
1:14
Speaker 1: an Air Force veteran, I complain on this program a lot,
1:18
Speaker 1: and I think my veteran community appreciates that I do that.
1:20
Speaker 1: I wish we had more than one Veteran's Day for
1:23
Speaker 1: our veterans. I wish we had more than one day
1:25
Speaker 1: from Memorial Day to honor the fallen.
1:26
Speaker 2: I mean, you're.
1:27
Speaker 1: Talking about thousands and thousands of lives that have been
1:31
Speaker 1: sacrificed for the good of this republic over two hundred
1:34
Speaker 1: and fifty years this year, and so I wanted to
1:36
Speaker 1: bring you on to kind of go back and go
1:39
Speaker 1: from the beginning up to today and talk about the fallen,
1:43
Speaker 1: the ones we've lost in countless wars, and why we
1:45
Speaker 1: have this special day not to celebrate, but to honor
1:49
Speaker 1: those that we've lost.
1:50
Speaker 2: So welcome to you, Bill, Well, thank you Dan.
1:52
Speaker 3: And of course Memorial Day has the word memory, so
1:55
Speaker 3: we want to remember the service of those who gave
1:58
Speaker 3: their lives and thank you for yours. It began after
2:01
Speaker 3: the Civil War Southern women scattered spring flowers on the
2:05
Speaker 3: graves of both Northern Union and Southern Confederate soldiers, and
2:10
Speaker 3: the situation was an eighteen sixty eight General John A. Logan,
2:16
Speaker 3: he was the commander of the Veterans Organization the Grand
2:19
Speaker 3: Army of the Republic. He called it Decoration Day, to
2:22
Speaker 3: be observed annually on May thirtieth, and so you had
2:26
Speaker 3: Frederick Douglas. People forget that one hundred and eighty thousand
2:30
Speaker 3: black soldiers served in the army. So Republican abolitionist Frederick
2:33
Speaker 3: Douglas gave a Decoration Day address at Arlington Cemetery eighteen
2:38
Speaker 3: seventy one, saying we must never forget that the loyal
2:41
Speaker 3: soldiers who rest beneath this sod flung themselves between the
2:45
Speaker 3: nation and the nation's destroyers. Garfield's only executive order was
2:51
Speaker 3: in eighteen eighty one to give government workers May thirtieth
2:55
Speaker 3: off so they could decorate the graves of those who
2:58
Speaker 3: had fallen in the Civil War. And nineteen twenty one,
3:01
Speaker 3: Warren G. Harding took the remains of a soldier killed
3:04
Speaker 3: in World War One and reburied him in the Tomb
3:07
Speaker 3: of the Unknown in Arlington Cemetery and inscribed on the
3:11
Speaker 3: tomb is the phrase here rests in honored glory and
3:14
Speaker 3: American soldier known but to God. And of course the
3:18
Speaker 3: tomb is guarded twenty four hours to day, three hundred
3:20
Speaker 3: and sixty five days a year. And this is a
3:24
Speaker 3: great history that we have to remember those that gave
3:28
Speaker 3: their lives because it's a country where the people are
3:32
Speaker 3: the king. I love the quote from Teddy Roosevelt. He said,
3:35
Speaker 3: at no other place, and at no other time, has
3:37
Speaker 3: the experiment of government of the people, by the people
3:41
Speaker 3: and for the people been tried on so vast a
3:44
Speaker 3: scale as here in our own country.
3:48
Speaker 2: Bill. You know, you get me weepy eye.
3:49
Speaker 1: You start going through these dates and you think about
3:53
Speaker 1: and there's not a lot of stuff that can make
3:55
Speaker 1: this old guy tear up. But when I think about
3:57
Speaker 1: the brave men and women, and especially back then, it
4:00
Speaker 1: was almost all men who just signed up, right, they
4:03
Speaker 1: were sixteen seventeen. Today, of course now it's only eighteen
4:07
Speaker 1: getting in. But back then, I know they were kids
4:09
Speaker 1: that were fifteen lying about their age, right because we
4:12
Speaker 1: didn't have computers they could, I'm maintain and they'd let
4:15
Speaker 1: them go fight. And you think about those sacrifices because
4:19
Speaker 1: they believed, like you were talking about Teddy, they believed
4:22
Speaker 1: in this experiment, they believed in the republic, they believed
4:24
Speaker 1: in a country that was governing themselves, and it was
4:28
Speaker 1: worth laying down their life for that is something that
4:32
Speaker 1: no offense to the communist Chinese country or Russia or
4:35
Speaker 1: any of these are big superpowers who force people into
4:38
Speaker 1: their military and threaten them with death if they don't serve.
4:40
Speaker 1: But we have the best fighting force in the entire
4:44
Speaker 1: world because people are willing to go defend her.
4:47
Speaker 2: Some of these dates, I want to go ahead.
4:49
Speaker 3: Sorry, Bill, Well, there's one point three million who have
4:52
Speaker 3: died total in the war. One of those was my
4:56
Speaker 3: mom's only brother, Wilford or Wilford Eperson, Billy Eeperson. He
5:02
Speaker 3: was flying a B seventeen in the five hundred and
5:05
Speaker 3: twenty fifth Squadron three stenty nine bomber Group and he
5:08
Speaker 3: was shot down in the Operation Overlord, which was the thirty.
5:11
Speaker 4: Day period after D Day, and.
5:13
Speaker 3: His name is on the memorial in Normandy. But it
5:17
Speaker 3: becomes personal when you grow up with the picture on
5:20
Speaker 3: your mom's the dresser of her brother in his uniform,
5:24
Speaker 3: and of course that was Billy Epperson that we never met,
5:27
Speaker 3: but we always respected him and all of those who
5:31
Speaker 3: gave their lives in service of our country.
5:33
Speaker 1: So we're talking, you say, one point three, we're talking
5:35
Speaker 1: from the Civil War, World War one, two, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan,
5:41
Speaker 1: and we probably got to add the what fifteen now
5:43
Speaker 1: from Iran? So one point three from all those wars
5:46
Speaker 1: I mentioned, did I miss one?
5:48
Speaker 2: Well?
5:49
Speaker 3: I think in the total numbers they include the twenty
5:51
Speaker 3: five thousand that died in the Revolution, forty five died
5:54
Speaker 3: in the Barbary Pirate Wars, twenty thousand, the War of
5:57
Speaker 3: eighteen twelve, and then Mexican American War THI thirteen thousand,
6:01
Speaker 3: and then pick up with the Civil War where over
6:03
Speaker 3: a half a million died.
6:05
Speaker 2: Whoa, I mean, think about that, folks.
6:07
Speaker 1: And I don't know what our population was back in
6:09
Speaker 1: the day when when those first wars started, like from
6:12
Speaker 1: the Civil up until the War of like I forgot
6:15
Speaker 1: eighteen twelve, the Spanish American War, all those, we didn't
6:17
Speaker 1: have three hundred and thirty five million people, right, I mean,
6:20
Speaker 1: we had a small population and people were signing up
6:23
Speaker 1: left and right to defend this place, And when you
6:26
Speaker 1: think about that now, with a nation of three hundred
6:28
Speaker 1: and thirty five million, and one point three million have
6:32
Speaker 1: died while we're in that uniform to protect us, to
6:35
Speaker 1: protect this republic, to fight back evil regimes across the
6:39
Speaker 1: globe as well. It's not just always about our safety.
6:41
Speaker 1: But you know, let's be real, America has been like
6:44
Speaker 1: the global police. A lot of people don't like that.
6:46
Speaker 1: I personally don't like that. We've sacrificed so many of
6:49
Speaker 1: our brave for some wars that I don't agree with.
6:52
Speaker 2: But it's just such a testament to who we are
6:56
Speaker 2: as a people, isn't it, Bill, Well, it is.
7:00
Speaker 3: You know you mentioned young people lying about their age
7:03
Speaker 3: to enlist. My dad just missed World War Two, but
7:06
Speaker 3: I had an uncle fight in Okinawa, another one fought
7:09
Speaker 3: in Battle of the Bulge. My dad was a captain
7:14
Speaker 3: during the Korean War, but he remembers during World War
7:16
Speaker 3: Two him being a young man that people would drive
7:18
Speaker 3: down of the street and if you were a young
7:20
Speaker 3: man and you weren't in the military, they would like
7:22
Speaker 3: glare at you while they're driving. Now this streat like
7:24
Speaker 3: what are you doing? Why aren't you in the service?
7:27
Speaker 3: There was such a patriotic spirit in the country at
7:30
Speaker 3: the time. And you know, I love the quote that
7:35
Speaker 3: a army officer named Charles Michael Province wrote. He says,
7:41
Speaker 3: it's the soldier, not the minister, who has given us
7:44
Speaker 3: the freedom of religion. The soldier not the reporter who's
7:46
Speaker 3: given us the freedom of press. The soldier not the
7:48
Speaker 3: poet who's given us the freedom of speech. Soldier not
7:51
Speaker 3: the campus organizer who's given us the freedom to protest.
7:54
Speaker 3: Soldier not the lawyer's given us the right to a
7:56
Speaker 3: fair trial. It's the soldier, not the politician who's given
7:59
Speaker 3: us the right to vote. It's the soldier who salutes
8:01
Speaker 3: the flag, who serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is
8:04
Speaker 3: draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn
8:07
Speaker 3: the flag. But we remember that these rights and freedoms
8:11
Speaker 3: we have were not in some Islamic country where you
8:16
Speaker 3: get killed, or in China or North Korea. We're in
8:21
Speaker 3: America where the people are the king. The word citizen
8:25
Speaker 3: means co king, and we get to elect our representatives
8:30
Speaker 3: and enjoy these freedoms.
8:31
Speaker 2: I love that. What a message, And you're so right
8:34
Speaker 2: on their bill.
8:34
Speaker 1: When people and again, I wish we could get back
8:37
Speaker 1: to that forty fifties era of American greatness where all
8:41
Speaker 1: Americans were so patriotic, and now today we seem so divided,
8:45
Speaker 1: and there's so many lies about our nation, and so
8:47
Speaker 1: many people that believe were this horrible, horrible regime like
8:52
Speaker 1: North Korea and China and Iran and Russia. Are it
8:55
Speaker 1: just discussed the hell out of the people lie about
8:57
Speaker 1: this republic. Because to me, you just mentioned and that
9:01
Speaker 1: quote you talked about from that army officer saying you
9:04
Speaker 1: have all these right things to the soldier, not to
9:05
Speaker 1: these other professions and careers. I wish people would think
9:08
Speaker 1: about that when they're out there trash in America while
9:11
Speaker 1: on American soil, and they have all the benefits.
9:13
Speaker 2: Of being an American.
9:14
Speaker 1: I wish they'd wake the hell up and smell the red, white,
9:17
Speaker 1: and blue, because if you didn't have one point three
9:21
Speaker 1: plus million lives lost, you wouldn't be able to stand
9:24
Speaker 1: out there and piss and moan about how bad you
9:26
Speaker 1: think America is. Almost out of time, Bill, but I
9:29
Speaker 1: wanted to give you the final word on this very
9:31
Speaker 1: very special day when we remember.
9:34
Speaker 3: The fallen Douglas MacArthur Toll West Point Cadets, May nineteen
9:39
Speaker 3: sixty two. The soldier, above all other men is required
9:43
Speaker 3: to practice the greatest act of religious training, sacrifice.
9:48
Speaker 1: Wow, and what a better way to end it. Thank you,
9:52
Speaker 1: William J. Federer, historian, author, speaker. As always you always
9:56
Speaker 1: bring the facts and the information. Thank you, sir, Appreciate.
9:59
Speaker 2: You, Thank you. Yep, God bless.
10:03
Speaker 1: Now that we've caught up on our history, a bit
10:05
Speaker 1: straight ahead from our Army War College instructor, retired Army
10:07
Speaker 1: Lieutenant Colonel Robert McGinnis will join us to discuss some
10:10
Speaker 1: of the things that we do to honor the fallen.
10:13
Speaker 2: Don't go away.
10:22
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10:24
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11:00
Speaker 1: back of this special Memorial Day edition of Real America.
11:02
Speaker 1: For years, our next guest shaped and molded young mind
11:05
Speaker 1: at the Army's War College, and then later in his service,
11:08
Speaker 1: he walked the halls of the Pentagon, helping to write
11:10
Speaker 1: and shape military policy and strategy. Our next guest, retired
11:14
Speaker 1: US Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Robert McGinnis, joins us now
11:17
Speaker 1: with what Memorial Day means to him and why we
11:19
Speaker 1: need to always.
11:20
Speaker 2: Honor our fallen.
11:23
Speaker 1: Colonel, thank you for joining us on this very special day,
11:26
Speaker 1: and let me say first and foremost, thank you, sir
11:29
Speaker 1: for your service.
11:29
Speaker 2: How are you.
11:31
Speaker 4: I'm doing well, and thank you for your service.
11:33
Speaker 2: Dan, appreciate you.
11:35
Speaker 1: I wanted you on because being a Army War College guy,
11:39
Speaker 1: I mean, you know all the ceremonies, the pomp and circumstances,
11:43
Speaker 1: stuff that we have done for decades now centuries actually
11:48
Speaker 1: in this nation to honor our military members and especially
11:52
Speaker 1: the fall and when we lose one, what a big
11:55
Speaker 1: deal that is, and why we make it such a
11:58
Speaker 1: big deal when we lose one. I wanted to have
12:00
Speaker 1: you on for that discussion. But my first question is
12:03
Speaker 1: a really easy one. Just you just Robert McGinnis, what
12:07
Speaker 1: does Memorial Day mean to you? And why is it
12:11
Speaker 1: so special that we as a nation make sure we
12:14
Speaker 1: do it every single year. I think we should do
12:16
Speaker 1: it more than once. But I want your.
12:18
Speaker 5: Thoughts, Well, Dan, it's America's sacred day of remembrance. You know, really,
12:24
Speaker 5: you know, people have died to give us the freedoms
12:27
Speaker 5: that we have, and freedom isn't free, and unfortunately, I
12:32
Speaker 5: don't know that Americans really appreciate that. Yes, it is
12:37
Speaker 5: the official, unofficial start of summer, and it's great for
12:41
Speaker 5: cookouts and it's great to go to the beach and like.
12:44
Speaker 5: But I think people need to reflect a bit on
12:48
Speaker 5: what this is really about. For two hundred and fifty years,
12:51
Speaker 5: we've been a nation, and we've lost one point two
12:54
Speaker 5: million on battlefields. And I spent decades at the Pentagon,
13:01
Speaker 5: and right outside the Pentagon is you know, Arlington Cemetery,
13:07
Speaker 5: and every day you would hear the the you know,
13:13
Speaker 5: the eleven guns salute the you. You'd see the flags flying,
13:17
Speaker 5: you'd hear jets flying over. We've experienced in this nation
13:24
Speaker 5: a lot of grieving, but a lot of celebration, and
13:26
Speaker 5: I just think it's time to you know, certainly for
13:29
Speaker 5: this one day, Memorial Day, to reflect on all those
13:33
Speaker 5: all those families that have sacrificed and given, you know,
13:37
Speaker 5: their their best to this nation.
13:39
Speaker 2: Yes, I couldn't agree more.
13:41
Speaker 1: Colonel before you in the program, we had a historian
13:47
Speaker 1: on and he brought up those numbers between one point
13:49
Speaker 1: two and one point three million lives lost in the
13:53
Speaker 1: wars ever since the Revolutionary War. Pretty staggering number to
13:57
Speaker 1: think about it. But he said something very poignant, and
14:00
Speaker 1: I thought I'd get your take on it, because I've
14:01
Speaker 1: been thinking about this since we chatted about it. And
14:05
Speaker 1: he said, you know, it's not just the Constitution that
14:09
Speaker 1: provides us our freedom of speech, our right to assemble,
14:13
Speaker 1: our freedom of religion, everything guaranteed that might guarantee it,
14:17
Speaker 1: but who actually guarantees it, and not just guarantees it,
14:21
Speaker 1: but ensures we have it. And he said, it's the airman,
14:25
Speaker 1: the COASTI, the marine, because if we didn't have all
14:28
Speaker 1: them defending us here and abroad, we get taken over.
14:33
Speaker 1: All this goes away, the Constitution gets shredded, and we
14:35
Speaker 1: lose all those freedoms and liberties. So it is the
14:38
Speaker 1: military member that keeps those freedoms and liberties strong and defended.
14:43
Speaker 2: Would you agree with that?
14:45
Speaker 4: Yeah, I would.
14:46
Speaker 5: It reminds me of two things, so one fellow West Pointer,
14:50
Speaker 5: General Douglas MacArthur. He described American soldiers as quote, one
14:56
Speaker 5: of the world's noblest figures.
14:58
Speaker 2: Yes.
14:59
Speaker 5: No, And that reminds me of a Bible verse that
15:04
Speaker 5: is attributed to Jesus Christ to said, greater love has
15:08
Speaker 5: no man than this, to lay down one's life for
15:11
Speaker 5: one's friends. And I think that verse really captures the
15:15
Speaker 5: spirit of Memorial Day.
15:17
Speaker 2: Yes, it does so well. I love that.
15:20
Speaker 1: Colonel, thank you for putting that in there. Talk to
15:24
Speaker 1: me about the ceremonies that we do. You being at
15:27
Speaker 1: the War College the Pentagon for all those years you
15:29
Speaker 1: just mentioned, you saw a lot of the stuff at Arlington,
15:31
Speaker 1: and I'll have them throw some video up as we
15:33
Speaker 1: discuss this. But there is a reason that we do
15:36
Speaker 1: things so sharp, so crisp, so matter of factly right.
15:41
Speaker 1: Whether it's and you can and you can go over this,
15:43
Speaker 1: whether it's how we put the flags on the coffins,
15:46
Speaker 1: how we fold those flags, the twenty one gun salute,
15:49
Speaker 1: go over some of the things that we do.
15:51
Speaker 2: Not just on Memorial day.
15:52
Speaker 1: Anytime we lose one of our active duty military members,
15:55
Speaker 1: there is a certain protocol on how we from the
15:58
Speaker 1: minute dead, and how we bring their body home and
16:03
Speaker 1: how we entomb them.
16:04
Speaker 2: Everything that we do has.
16:06
Speaker 1: To follow a certain letter to honor them, and I
16:09
Speaker 1: love the fact that we do that for every single
16:11
Speaker 1: one of them.
16:12
Speaker 2: Phillis in Colonel.
16:14
Speaker 4: Yeah.
16:14
Speaker 5: When I was at the Entry School, one of my
16:16
Speaker 5: jobs was to rewrite the Drill and Ceremonies Manual for
16:20
Speaker 5: the United States Army, and of course there's a history
16:26
Speaker 5: behind every single part of that, to include the burial
16:32
Speaker 5: ceremony and you know, the sharp movements, and of course
16:37
Speaker 5: everything the Old Guard does there at Arlington is very
16:42
Speaker 5: very well orchestrated and it means something, but most Americans
16:48
Speaker 5: have no idea what it means. But it has a
16:50
Speaker 5: deep and rich tradition within the Armed forces. And so,
16:56
Speaker 5: you know, it just makes me think danout and not
17:01
Speaker 5: only what we see in these ceremonies, but about the
17:05
Speaker 5: young men and women that are across today's world and
17:10
Speaker 5: some in harm's way. Obviously, still, we have a lot
17:13
Speaker 5: of people and the Persian Gulf that are board ships
17:18
Speaker 5: on land that are in hostile environments. We have people
17:22
Speaker 5: still in dangerous places on the de militarized zone in Korea,
17:27
Speaker 5: we have others elsewhere, And so we go through ceremonies,
17:32
Speaker 5: we go through operations, we go through sacrifices for what. Well,
17:38
Speaker 5: it's because at least we have the million plus that
17:42
Speaker 5: are under arms, that are willing to die if necessary,
17:46
Speaker 5: as Christ said in the Bible, for this nation, for
17:51
Speaker 5: the people, for the freedom we enjoy. So I think
17:54
Speaker 5: this is something that not only should we celebrate, but
17:58
Speaker 5: we should memorialize as you remember on this important day.
18:02
Speaker 2: That's the key.
18:02
Speaker 1: You kicked it off saying, Hey, a lot of people
18:04
Speaker 1: say it's a beginning of summer and no more school
18:06
Speaker 1: and barbecues and it's a party. But memorialize and what
18:09
Speaker 1: is that root word memory? We have to remember. We
18:11
Speaker 1: have to honor these men and women that we've lost.
18:14
Speaker 5: What Americans haven't done in many cases, it's visit one
18:19
Speaker 5: of these cemeteries where our brave men and women have
18:24
Speaker 5: been interned. And I think that's something that would be
18:28
Speaker 5: humbling for anyone, but certainly to take your your your
18:33
Speaker 5: little ones, your children, and try to understand that why
18:38
Speaker 5: we are set aside this particular day to remember these
18:44
Speaker 5: people who died so long ago. They had families, they
18:48
Speaker 5: had you know, ambitions and the like. But we need
18:52
Speaker 5: to remember that. And you know that's why, you know,
18:55
Speaker 5: many of us continue to fly the American flag, some
19:00
Speaker 5: on half mass on this particular day. Others take an
19:05
Speaker 5: opportunity to reach out to gold Star families or veterans
19:10
Speaker 5: and thank them for the service. You know, it's always
19:13
Speaker 5: helpful and encouraging to me when people tell me thank
19:18
Speaker 5: you for your service, because most of us don't hear
19:21
Speaker 5: that nearly enough, because it's all of us that have
19:27
Speaker 5: served under arms for long periods of time. Understand there
19:30
Speaker 5: are great sacrifices, and obviously some people at least one
19:35
Speaker 5: point two million have paid the ultimate.
19:39
Speaker 1: Yep, they sure have, and I wish we did more
19:42
Speaker 1: than just one day a year to remember that over
19:46
Speaker 1: one point two million lives lost. Colonel Robert McGinnis retired
19:51
Speaker 1: as always, thank you, sir for when in on this
19:54
Speaker 1: Memorial Day, and again, thank you for your service.
19:56
Speaker 2: God bless you.
19:58
Speaker 4: Thank you, Dan.
20:01
Speaker 2: Straight ahead.
20:01
Speaker 1: It's a site that no parent should ever have to
20:04
Speaker 1: witness bearing their child. But for many American Gold Star
20:08
Speaker 1: families it's a reality, and it's a tragic reminder the
20:10
Speaker 1: scars of war. The loved ones who are left behind
20:13
Speaker 1: to pick up the pieces coming up to parents who
20:17
Speaker 1: lost their kids at Abbey Gate during the Afghanistan exit
20:20
Speaker 1: debacle will be here to share their stories. Please stay
20:23
Speaker 1: with us. For all of our viewers out there asking
20:33
Speaker 1: where to watch one American News, we'd like to introduce.
20:36
Speaker 2: You to OAAN Live.
20:38
Speaker 1: OA and Live is the best way to stay up
20:39
Speaker 1: to date on the hardest hitting news and our talk shows.
20:42
Speaker 1: And the best part is O and Live is only
20:44
Speaker 1: four ninety nine per month incredible, honest and unbiased reporting
20:49
Speaker 1: at a fraction of the cost of cable. So just
20:51
Speaker 1: click on the link at the top of our homepage
20:53
Speaker 1: oann dot com to easily sign up for the news
20:57
Speaker 1: and conservative talk you can't get anywhere else. Welcome back,
21:10
Speaker 1: Thanks for taking with us for this special Memorial Day,
21:12
Speaker 1: Real America. It's the visitor that no military parent or
21:16
Speaker 1: spouse wants to get a military chaplain knocking on your
21:19
Speaker 1: door to inform you your loved one has paid the
21:22
Speaker 1: ultimate sacrifice in the defense of this great nation. For
21:25
Speaker 1: my next guest, Mark Schmidz and Paula Canow's self. That
21:28
Speaker 1: horrific day came back on August twenty six, twenty twenty one,
21:31
Speaker 1: when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the abbey
21:34
Speaker 1: gate in front of the Kabo Airport in Afghanistan. I
21:37
Speaker 1: spoke with them earlier about the losses of their sons,
21:40
Speaker 1: Lance Corporal Jared Schmidtz and Staff Sergeant Ryan Canos, and
21:44
Speaker 1: why they hope all Americans will do what's right and
21:49
Speaker 1: honor the memory of the fallen on Memorial Day. Take
21:52
Speaker 1: a look, Paula, Mark, thank you so much for joining
21:55
Speaker 1: me again, guys, and especially on such a what do
21:59
Speaker 1: I call it as a veteran and talking with gold
22:02
Speaker 1: Star families, a solemn day, a day that when I
22:06
Speaker 1: interviewed others for this special I was talking with historians
22:10
Speaker 1: and former active duty and politicians and everything else talking
22:13
Speaker 1: about the meaning of Memorial Day. But when I get you,
22:16
Speaker 1: guys on it obviously takes a way way different meaning
22:19
Speaker 1: and tone. So let me first, as I was always
22:21
Speaker 1: taught by my Grandma. Ladies, first, Paula, let me start
22:24
Speaker 1: with you Memorial Day. Talk to me about what it
22:30
Speaker 1: means to you now being a gold Star mom and
22:35
Speaker 1: the significance and the importance of the nation taking time
22:39
Speaker 1: to honor the fallen.
22:42
Speaker 6: Well, it used to be a teacher, so Memorial Day
22:45
Speaker 6: meant me long ago that we were closing out school,
22:48
Speaker 6: and it also meant to me that we were going
22:51
Speaker 6: to have a special time of maybe remembrance in our country.
22:55
Speaker 6: But it never hit quite as home as it did
22:57
Speaker 6: when we lost my father, Into who served in World
23:01
Speaker 6: War Two with the Mani eight, and then later in
23:04
Speaker 6: twenty one we lost Ryan and that was a devastating
23:08
Speaker 6: blow to lose someone before your time.
23:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, parents are never supposed to bury their kids, mark
23:16
Speaker 1: to you, same question, my friend.
23:20
Speaker 4: Well, for many people, including myself, back in the day,
23:23
Speaker 4: it was barbacues and voting. You know, we had most
23:28
Speaker 4: of our family has been military, so of course we
23:32
Speaker 4: had that solemn part of the holiday. Weekend was always
23:39
Speaker 4: spent honoring those that we knew or people in our
23:44
Speaker 4: family that had passed. We would typically go by the
23:47
Speaker 4: cemetery and see them. But now obviously it's a whole
23:51
Speaker 4: different meeting. It's hard not to get agitated with people
23:56
Speaker 4: that are out there just trying to straight up and
24:00
Speaker 4: enjoy the weekend. For having a day off of work
24:02
Speaker 4: and a day out of school. But you know, not
24:06
Speaker 4: everybody's been through the same things that we've been through,
24:08
Speaker 4: and I respect that, but I just hope that if
24:11
Speaker 4: I could take some time to remember why we have
24:15
Speaker 4: this holiday. It's truly important to remember the roots.
24:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is, and I want to dive into that
24:23
Speaker 1: deeper in just a sec Mark, I want to go
24:25
Speaker 1: back to Paula and talk about Ryan and when Memorial
24:31
Speaker 1: Day veterans days, things that when we honor our military,
24:34
Speaker 1: whether it's fall in active duty or just remember them
24:37
Speaker 1: in general. Do you have a story, maybe, Paula, of
24:40
Speaker 1: when you guys had a Memorial Day event or something with.
24:48
Speaker 2: Ryan that kind of sparks a.
24:49
Speaker 1: Memory right now on this Memorial Day that you can
24:52
Speaker 1: tell us about, Like maybe you guys went to a
24:55
Speaker 1: grave site, you went to a museum, you did something
24:59
Speaker 1: celebratory on Memorial Day with him to honor troops, maybe
25:03
Speaker 1: before he was even in.
25:05
Speaker 6: Well, when Ryan was a senior in high school, he
25:09
Speaker 6: was able to decide where he wanted to go on
25:11
Speaker 6: his senior trip. So we took it as a family
25:14
Speaker 6: up to Arlington and to d C for his senior trip.
25:19
Speaker 6: That was his choice. He could win anywhere in the world,
25:22
Speaker 6: and he chose to go Washington, d C. Two weeks
25:24
Speaker 6: before he went into basic training. And his logic was
25:28
Speaker 6: he wanted to study and walk among the history of
25:32
Speaker 6: our nation.
25:33
Speaker 7: And when the end.
25:34
Speaker 6: Of that trip happened, he walked among the heroes of
25:37
Speaker 6: Arlington National Cemetery and there he now lies in Arlington
25:41
Speaker 6: National Cemetery. Five years later as he was killed in
25:46
Speaker 6: the pullout in Afghanistan in twenty twenty six or twenty
25:50
Speaker 6: twenty one.
25:52
Speaker 1: Wow, I had no idea that was coming. But the
25:55
Speaker 1: poignancy of that trip, I'm over here getting chills. Mark again,
26:00
Speaker 1: same question to you about Jared. Is there something when
26:04
Speaker 1: he was younger, when he was in that you guys
26:06
Speaker 1: may have done as a family or he did that,
26:08
Speaker 1: you know, maybe without you guys on a Memorial Day
26:10
Speaker 1: or veteran something honoring our troops.
26:14
Speaker 4: Well, my son's choice of a senior trip was the Bahamas.
26:20
Speaker 4: I can't compare to to Ryan.
26:24
Speaker 2: He had fun. That's good. I think my kid's senior
26:27
Speaker 2: trip is Disneyland this year. So whatever, right now.
26:32
Speaker 4: Again, he once he really made up his mind that
26:36
Speaker 4: the Marine Corps was the way he was going to go.
26:40
Speaker 4: He he would make it a point to have us
26:46
Speaker 4: go by at least one of the local memorials. We
26:49
Speaker 4: had many here in the Saint Louis area, you know,
26:53
Speaker 4: just to just to walk around and read stories and
26:57
Speaker 4: plaques about different different heroes from from decades past. And
27:03
Speaker 4: you know, he didn't have us take a trip to
27:05
Speaker 4: TC like Ryan did, but he just liked the idea
27:10
Speaker 4: of being able to have a beer and Bahamas at
27:12
Speaker 4: the age of eighteen, I guess. But yeah, it's it's
27:18
Speaker 4: it's ironic, I guess, especially I think in Paula's case,
27:22
Speaker 4: that they take a trip to Arlington and there and
27:25
Speaker 4: there he lies and you know, wow, it's just how
27:30
Speaker 4: things can go full circle the way they do sometimes.
27:33
Speaker 1: Yeah, very powerful, paul I want to go back to
27:36
Speaker 1: something that Mark said a little bit ago and get
27:38
Speaker 1: both your takes on this as well. And that is
27:41
Speaker 1: what the and I don't like to use this word
27:43
Speaker 1: because as veterans we know it's much much more, but
27:47
Speaker 1: what the holiday has become known as Memorial Day when
27:52
Speaker 1: it was supposed to be so much more years and
27:55
Speaker 1: years ago, when we actually started this tradition of honoring
27:58
Speaker 1: the fallen and knowing Paula and Mark that we have
28:01
Speaker 1: lost now almost one point three million Americans since the
28:06
Speaker 1: Revolutionary War.
28:08
Speaker 2: It's a staggering number.
28:09
Speaker 1: But in my humble opinion, we wouldn't have this great
28:13
Speaker 1: republic if we didn't have folks like Jared and like Ryan,
28:17
Speaker 1: and so just your thoughts and by all means, Paula
28:21
Speaker 1: and Mark, I know you feel like on loaden say
28:23
Speaker 1: it how it is your feelings on what Memorial Day
28:26
Speaker 1: has become for most Americans and what it should be,
28:30
Speaker 1: especially you guys being gold Star parents.
28:32
Speaker 6: Paula, you first, well, actually, I think it's become a
28:37
Speaker 6: very much more patriotic time in our country since Trump
28:41
Speaker 6: came into office.
28:42
Speaker 1: Well, that's agreeable, Yes, I agree with that.
28:44
Speaker 2: In general.
28:45
Speaker 1: I think maybe the way people viewed it, let's say,
28:47
Speaker 1: before Donald Trump took back over and.
28:49
Speaker 6: Beyond, well, we all sometimes don't do very well add
28:58
Speaker 6: what we should be doing in our country when it
29:01
Speaker 6: comes to things that are not touching us as greatly.
29:05
Speaker 6: And so Memorial Day is really looking at the one
29:10
Speaker 6: percent of our nation making the difference for the ninety
29:13
Speaker 6: nine percent of our nation, and then a percent of
29:15
Speaker 6: that one percent is the ones that are the fallen.
29:18
Speaker 6: So it's hard for a ninety nine percent of our
29:21
Speaker 6: nation to understand completely without that devastating loss. And so
29:27
Speaker 6: a gold Star family is one that is to be
29:31
Speaker 6: revered for the fact that they are a very elite
29:34
Speaker 6: group of individuals in this country that weigh so heavy
29:39
Speaker 6: on their hearts during this time because they know the
29:42
Speaker 6: price that had to be paid. And so it is
29:45
Speaker 6: up to us as gold Star families to educate more
29:48
Speaker 6: and more of our country, going into our schools, making
29:52
Speaker 6: sure that we're in the community events, that we're supporting
29:54
Speaker 6: our military ourselves, so that the community does see that
29:59
Speaker 6: there is an need for us to keep being patriotic
30:02
Speaker 6: in this country and keep moving forward with our military
30:05
Speaker 6: who is holding the fort down for us, so to speak,
30:09
Speaker 6: by protecting our borders and by doing what is necessary
30:13
Speaker 6: for our interests in this country.
30:17
Speaker 1: Mark, like I said, I know you were kind of
30:19
Speaker 1: chomping at the been a minute ago saying that, you know, and.
30:23
Speaker 2: I feel you. I feel you. When I hear people go.
30:27
Speaker 1: Hell, you're a vet, Hey, Happy Memorial Day, I pull
30:30
Speaker 1: them aside and I'm not mean about it. I'm nice
30:32
Speaker 1: about it. I'm like, hey, just do us a favor.
30:35
Speaker 1: Don't say Happy Memorial Day. You know what memorial is,
30:38
Speaker 1: right memory, we're remembering the fallen, you know. Just say
30:42
Speaker 1: thank you for your service, and if it's a grieving
30:45
Speaker 1: gold Star family, say sorry for your loss something like that.
30:48
Speaker 2: But don't go walk around going.
30:50
Speaker 1: Happy Memorial Day. Hey, I'm going to get hammered today.
30:52
Speaker 1: I got a day off of work. I don't think
30:54
Speaker 1: people want to hear that.
30:55
Speaker 2: So Mark, here, turn my friend.
30:58
Speaker 4: We would you say thank you for your service to
31:01
Speaker 4: a veteran. Probably the best response I've heard yet from
31:04
Speaker 4: a veteran back to a civilian is make it worth it,
31:08
Speaker 4: and there you go, you know, And I think that's
31:11
Speaker 4: something that people need to never forget is obviously those
31:15
Speaker 4: that have made the ultimate sacrifice, that's what the day
31:18
Speaker 4: is all about. But those that have come back, you know,
31:24
Speaker 4: they've made sacrifices as well, simply by signing up to
31:28
Speaker 4: be that one percent to afford the freedoms that we
31:31
Speaker 4: all enjoy. And you need to make it worth the
31:34
Speaker 4: surface service and sacrifice that they've made for you, and
31:38
Speaker 4: people just lose sight of that so quickly, you know.
31:40
Speaker 4: I think that's where Paula and I and some of
31:44
Speaker 4: the other families, we were faced with an unbelievable tragedy
31:50
Speaker 4: and losing our kids, and you know, you're faced with
31:53
Speaker 4: the situation, what the hell do we do now? And
31:56
Speaker 4: you know, some of us have created organizations, as Paula mentioned,
32:01
Speaker 4: you know, making sure that we honor our military ourselves
32:04
Speaker 4: and were many of us are doing that through our
32:08
Speaker 4: nonprofits that are specifically targeting the military community out there
32:12
Speaker 4: to make sure that they're getting taken care of. Because
32:15
Speaker 4: it doesn't matter who's inn office. I think the VA
32:19
Speaker 4: has not done enough for our veteran community. In law enforcement,
32:22
Speaker 4: for that matter, can be lumped in there any gun
32:25
Speaker 4: caring first responder, and that's who my organization caters to.
32:30
Speaker 4: And to me, every day is Memorial Day in that sense.
32:35
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm out there just like Paula and some
32:37
Speaker 4: of the other.
32:38
Speaker 2: Guys are very active. I know that.
32:40
Speaker 1: Paul even said she's on a base I think right
32:43
Speaker 1: now getting ready to do some stuff with troops this week.
32:45
Speaker 2: You guys are always doing stuff. I love it.
32:47
Speaker 1: We're coming up on the end of time with a
32:49
Speaker 1: few seconds left. I just want to give you both
32:51
Speaker 1: a final word on your beautiful family members that we
32:56
Speaker 1: lost your sons. So Paula, to you first, a quick
32:59
Speaker 1: memory about Ryan and Mark.
33:02
Speaker 2: The same with Jared, Paula, go.
33:04
Speaker 6: Ahead, Well, I miss his voice and his smile. I
33:09
Speaker 6: miss a sense of humor. I miss just being able
33:13
Speaker 6: to pick up the phone and just connect with them.
33:15
Speaker 2: Yeah.
33:16
Speaker 6: I miss I miss having mind but both my voice
33:20
Speaker 6: together like they always were. And I'm sure that anyone
33:25
Speaker 6: out there grieving as we are on Memorial Day understand
33:30
Speaker 6: that freedom really isn't free, that there's a price to
33:33
Speaker 6: pay for all that we have in this country that
33:36
Speaker 6: many people want to have, and there's someone somewhere that's
33:40
Speaker 6: willing to step up to say here, am I send.
33:44
Speaker 2: Me Mark, Well, I collect myself your turn.
33:54
Speaker 4: Jared's goofy personality, I think everybody misses that, and he's
33:58
Speaker 4: got a couple of friends that can kind of mimick
34:00
Speaker 4: the way he acted. And it just brings me right
34:03
Speaker 4: back to the last days I saw him prior to
34:05
Speaker 4: being deployed. His sisters missing tremendously. All of his friends
34:10
Speaker 4: do as well, and I've run into many of them gravesite,
34:15
Speaker 4: you know, coming down to pay their respects. I'm down
34:18
Speaker 4: there as well. And it's moving and touching. And we
34:22
Speaker 4: were just on stage Friday night at the Kid Rock concert.
34:25
Speaker 4: The entire nineteen thousand people in the audience were chanting Jared, Jared, Jared.
34:30
Speaker 4: That just tore me up. I mean a good way,
34:33
Speaker 4: of course. But of course, you know, these kids are
34:35
Speaker 4: not forgotten, and we're going to see to it that
34:38
Speaker 4: their names are always remembered.
34:40
Speaker 1: Yes, on this Memorial Day, we will not forget Steph
34:45
Speaker 1: Sergeant Ryan canows before, not forget Lance Corporal Jared Schmidt's,
34:49
Speaker 1: Mark Schmidt's father, Paula Knaw's self mother. You guys, thank
34:53
Speaker 1: you so much for spending a few moments with me.
34:55
Speaker 1: I hope that your words will ring around the country
35:00
Speaker 1: and people will hear this message and remember the true
35:03
Speaker 1: meaning of Memorial Day in America.
35:05
Speaker 2: God bless you both. Thank you.
35:07
Speaker 7: Thank you Dan.
35:08
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you Dan.
35:11
Speaker 1: So heart wrenching, folks. Let me just tell you, I
35:14
Speaker 1: can't imagine what gold Star families go through, So if
35:16
Speaker 1: you would, let's try to keep them all in our prayers.
35:20
Speaker 1: They at least deserve that, don't they Coming up? What
35:23
Speaker 1: happens when a loved one is killed in action? Who
35:26
Speaker 1: pays for the funeral, What if any benefits are the
35:29
Speaker 1: loved ones entitled to that are left behind. Marine Corps
35:32
Speaker 1: veteran and founder of Vetcom Kate Monroe will be here
35:35
Speaker 1: with all that information.
35:36
Speaker 2: Next, don't go away.
35:46
Speaker 1: For all of our viewers out there asking where to
35:48
Speaker 1: watch One America News, we'd like to introduce.
35:50
Speaker 2: You to OAN Live.
35:52
Speaker 1: OA and Live is the best way to stay up
35:53
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35:56
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35:58
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36:03
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36:05
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36:07
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36:10
Speaker 1: the news and conservative talk you can't get anywhere else.
36:24
Speaker 1: Thanks for sticking around, folks for this special edition of
36:26
Speaker 1: Real America on this Memorial Day. Our next guest served
36:29
Speaker 1: in the United States Marine Corps proudly, and then years
36:32
Speaker 1: later after her service, she noticed a void that needed
36:35
Speaker 1: to be filled, and that was making sure that veterans
36:38
Speaker 1: and vets family members know about and understand all the
36:41
Speaker 1: benefits that they're entitled to after their service, and God forbid,
36:45
Speaker 1: if they're killed in action, So Kate Monroe decided to
36:49
Speaker 1: do something about it and created a company Vetcom, which
36:51
Speaker 1: helps to connect our veterans and their families with the
36:54
Speaker 1: VA to ensure they get every single benefit they have
36:58
Speaker 1: coming to them. Kate, nice to see you again and
37:02
Speaker 1: thank you for joining me on this very special day
37:04
Speaker 1: where we honor the brave men and women who have
37:06
Speaker 1: paid the ultimate sacrifice. You and ib and veterans, we
37:10
Speaker 1: understand what it means to sign on that dotted line,
37:13
Speaker 1: and as I've been doing throughout this whole special been
37:16
Speaker 1: talking with different veterans and historians about the true meaning.
37:19
Speaker 1: But the reason I wanted you on specifically was to
37:22
Speaker 1: talk about all of the not just the pomp and
37:25
Speaker 1: circumstance and ceremony that we always do when we lose someone.
37:30
Speaker 2: In the service of this nation, but then what happens.
37:34
Speaker 1: During and then after to them their remains and their
37:38
Speaker 1: family members, and how the VA and the government takes
37:42
Speaker 1: care of our fallen. You run an organization that helps
37:45
Speaker 1: people get those benefits, and I just think it's fitting
37:48
Speaker 1: on a Memorial Day to talk to somebody about how
37:50
Speaker 1: can those families and how do we honor the memory
37:53
Speaker 1: of those folks when they're loss. So first and foremost,
37:56
Speaker 1: let me say thank you for your service.
37:58
Speaker 7: How are you have served? Thank you for your service?
38:01
Speaker 1: And I know you're struggling with the voice today, so
38:04
Speaker 1: I won't hold you up too long. What does VETCOM
38:08
Speaker 1: your nonprofit? I know that you help with the student
38:11
Speaker 1: loans and the health benefits and everything else, But what
38:13
Speaker 1: happens when someone is killed? For instance, we're in a
38:17
Speaker 1: ran right now, right with the conflict we've lost and
38:19
Speaker 1: believe I think the death tolls up to fifteen now
38:23
Speaker 1: with some of the airmen in that plane, some of
38:25
Speaker 1: the folks in.
38:26
Speaker 2: The barracks that were hit.
38:27
Speaker 1: What is the process when a member of our military
38:31
Speaker 1: is killed in action? What happens with their body? When
38:34
Speaker 1: they're brought home, the ceremony? And then what benefits are
38:37
Speaker 1: the family entitled to?
38:40
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's a twofold question.
38:41
Speaker 8: I mean for us, you know, as much as we
38:43
Speaker 8: like to celebrate Memorial Day, it's really Veterans Day every
38:47
Speaker 8: day at BETcom, because our philosophy is it's sort of
38:52
Speaker 8: sad that we exit people from the service with the
38:54
Speaker 8: thank you for your service, and then we give them
38:56
Speaker 8: a gun salute and give their family a flag and
38:59
Speaker 8: give them a massive amount of bureaucracy to go through
39:02
Speaker 8: in order to be able to get or keep the
39:05
Speaker 8: benefits from their veteran It's very sad. You would not
39:08
Speaker 8: believe that thousands of people that come to vetcom because
39:11
Speaker 8: they lost somebody you know, recently in a war, or
39:14
Speaker 8: somebody you know committed suicide, or somebody just died naturally
39:17
Speaker 8: at old age or by cancer. I mean, we had
39:19
Speaker 8: somebody come to us the other day and they were
39:22
Speaker 8: in their eighties and this woman and her husband had
39:24
Speaker 8: been living off of his benefits for a very long time,
39:27
Speaker 8: and because he didn't die of what he was rated for,
39:31
Speaker 8: his benefits went away the next month.
39:33
Speaker 7: And now she can't buy groceries.
39:34
Speaker 8: So, I mean, there's a lot bigger problems at scale
39:37
Speaker 8: than we're just dealing with. But what really happens is
39:40
Speaker 8: you would think it would be so easy, like they
39:41
Speaker 8: would just assign the benefits to the families, but they don't.
39:44
Speaker 7: They have to Actually the family now has.
39:46
Speaker 8: To get on their uniform. They have to go to
39:48
Speaker 8: war with the VA in order to get paid. It's
39:50
Speaker 8: very sad.
39:51
Speaker 2: That is very sad.
39:53
Speaker 1: One thing we do do correct is the dignified transfer.
39:59
Speaker 1: I will say it least the government. When a man
40:02
Speaker 1: or woman in uniform is killed in action and we
40:05
Speaker 1: bring them home, or god forbid they die on home
40:08
Speaker 1: soil in a training accident, we do bring them.
40:11
Speaker 2: Home properly and do that proper burial.
40:15
Speaker 1: And that is something and I've seen different scenarios, and
40:18
Speaker 1: so Kate fill me in. Is that something then that
40:21
Speaker 1: the family decides with the government and the unit on
40:24
Speaker 1: how to bring them home, how to do the transfer,
40:27
Speaker 1: then how to bury them. The families involved with the
40:30
Speaker 1: military in doing all of that correct.
40:33
Speaker 8: Really the only thing that the military does if somebody
40:36
Speaker 8: dies actually over in battle, they get that service member home.
40:40
Speaker 8: And then it's quite a bit of a hassle in
40:43
Speaker 8: order to bury a veteran and lay them to rest,
40:46
Speaker 8: even if you have some money, and even if you
40:49
Speaker 8: have say the American Legions show up and help them
40:51
Speaker 8: lay to rest with the flags and the gun salute,
40:55
Speaker 8: but it's still very difficult. They do get them home,
40:57
Speaker 8: but the family still has to do a ton of
40:58
Speaker 8: leg work in order to lay them to rest. And
41:01
Speaker 8: to note here in San Diego a couple of years
41:04
Speaker 8: ago I found out through a crazy set of circumstances
41:06
Speaker 8: that there was about fifteen veterans dying on the street
41:10
Speaker 8: in San Diego homeless every single month, and they were
41:13
Speaker 8: being cremated.
41:13
Speaker 7: And thrown in the trash.
41:15
Speaker 8: And I asked the city of San Diego if I
41:17
Speaker 8: could give them a proper sendoff, and they never even
41:20
Speaker 8: wrote me back.
41:21
Speaker 7: So, you know, on one hand, maybe we teach, maybe we.
41:24
Speaker 8: Help these heroes when they die in battle, but then
41:27
Speaker 8: if somebody ends up on the street, we lose little
41:29
Speaker 8: or nothing to give them any dignity whatsoever.
41:32
Speaker 1: So once all that dignified transfer happens and the body's
41:35
Speaker 1: handed over, then it's literally one hundred percent up to
41:38
Speaker 1: the families. If they want to have the twenty one
41:40
Speaker 1: gun salute and the flag folding handed to the mother
41:43
Speaker 1: or the spouse, all that stuff we always see right
41:46
Speaker 1: in the movies. They've got to foot the bill for that.
41:49
Speaker 1: The government just pays to get the body home and
41:51
Speaker 1: that's it.
41:52
Speaker 8: Well, the government does help to do, you know, some
41:54
Speaker 8: of the funeral expenses, but it's still a ton of planning.
41:57
Speaker 8: You know, if you've ever been to a funeral, you
41:58
Speaker 8: know it's quite a lot. Some of these families they've
42:01
Speaker 8: never laid a veteran to rest. What if this is
42:03
Speaker 8: the first person in their family that served. When we
42:05
Speaker 8: laid my grandpa to rest, thankfully, he was a man
42:08
Speaker 8: about town and he was very well loved, and the
42:11
Speaker 8: Legion came out and there was hundreds of bikers and
42:13
Speaker 8: he had a massive, beautiful funeral, and my grandma got
42:16
Speaker 8: the flag. Similarly here, you know, David Brambila, the Department
42:20
Speaker 8: commander of the American Legion, asked me to go help
42:22
Speaker 8: a family out in Marietta, and the man actually died
42:25
Speaker 8: the next morning after I made his claim and I
42:27
Speaker 8: went to his funeral and it was absolutely beautiful.
42:30
Speaker 7: But that's not what it's like for every single veteran.
42:33
Speaker 2: Sadly, no, I've heard horror stories.
42:34
Speaker 1: Final one to you is an easy one, so that
42:38
Speaker 1: family members know their rights and what benefits they should
42:43
Speaker 1: be getting during the burial part, the ceremony, and then
42:47
Speaker 1: after the person's laid to rest. Can they get a
42:50
Speaker 1: hold of you for all of that stuff? Like I said,
42:52
Speaker 1: I know you do the loan stuff and the healthcare,
42:53
Speaker 1: but you will help with the memorial part and the
42:56
Speaker 1: burial part as well.
42:58
Speaker 8: We can definitely point him in the right direction. There
43:00
Speaker 8: are really good resources on VA DOTGA. Also, the American
43:04
Speaker 8: Legion has a really big outreach that they do to
43:08
Speaker 8: help you. But certainly if you have those kind of questions,
43:10
Speaker 8: reach out. But if you're a veteran or a veterans
43:13
Speaker 8: family and you're still on this side of the dirt
43:16
Speaker 8: and you're thinking I should get my affairs in order,
43:18
Speaker 8: I should be getting ready. I need to do what's
43:20
Speaker 8: right by me and my family and get some compensation.
43:23
Speaker 8: Let's get you rated for the disabilities you have that
43:26
Speaker 8: you could possibly pass for. That way, you don't leave
43:28
Speaker 8: your family behind the ball, like this woman in her
43:30
Speaker 8: eighties who can't buy groceries. Now, the time is of
43:33
Speaker 8: the essence, so please do reach out to us at
43:35
Speaker 8: vetcom dot US, v tcommam dot us.
43:40
Speaker 1: You know I'm only fifty two this year, but I
43:42
Speaker 1: think I need a private call with you because I
43:43
Speaker 1: don't have my affairs setup, and God.
43:45
Speaker 2: Can we do it?
43:46
Speaker 7: Please?
43:47
Speaker 2: I will?
43:47
Speaker 1: I know I owe you a phone call. Everybody learn
43:50
Speaker 1: more about what vetcom does. Caate Monroe wants a marine,
43:52
Speaker 1: Always a marine. Thank you for your service and the
43:55
Speaker 1: founder of vetcom, and thank you so much for coming
43:57
Speaker 1: on to talk about this on this special solemn day day,
44:00
Speaker 1: God bless you dear.
44:03
Speaker 2: Up.
44:04
Speaker 1: Next, we wrap up our special with a highly decorated
44:06
Speaker 1: Navy Seal officer from Sealed Team six. So keep it
44:09
Speaker 1: right here on Real America on this Memorial Day. For
44:20
Speaker 1: all of our viewers out there asking where to watch
44:22
Speaker 1: One America News, we'd like to introduce.
44:24
Speaker 2: You to OAN Live.
44:25
Speaker 1: OA and Live is the best way to stay up
44:27
Speaker 1: to date on the hardest hitting news and our talk shows.
44:30
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44:33
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44:37
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44:42
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44:45
Speaker 1: conservative talk you can't get anywhere else.
44:58
Speaker 2: Welcome back.
44:59
Speaker 1: As we bring this 'mroyal Day special to a close,
45:01
Speaker 1: I wanted to convey a final message of pride, honor
45:04
Speaker 1: and remembrance, and for that I invited a highly decorated
45:07
Speaker 1: friend of ours to the program to send this message to.
45:10
Speaker 2: You all, so that all of us.
45:12
Speaker 1: Will never forget the one point three million lives who
45:17
Speaker 1: paid the ultimate sacrifice for the United States of America.
45:21
Speaker 1: And with that, here's our interview with retired Navy Seal
45:24
Speaker 1: officer and former member of Seal Team six, Bradley. Geary Bradley,
45:29
Speaker 1: thanks for coming back on the program, brother, and let
45:32
Speaker 1: me first and foremost say a huge thank you for
45:35
Speaker 1: your service to this nation. I read some of your
45:37
Speaker 1: accolades and your intro here. Obviously retired Navy Seal folks,
45:41
Speaker 1: A captain Seal Team six, we all know that's like
45:44
Speaker 1: the baddest of the baddest when it comes to the Seals.
45:47
Speaker 1: So I just got to tip my hat to you
45:48
Speaker 1: and say, thank you, brother, for your service.
45:50
Speaker 2: How you been.
45:52
Speaker 9: Dan, I appreciate it. Thank you, And I always say
45:55
Speaker 9: thanks for paying your taxes because it kept me employed
45:57
Speaker 9: and we had a great time jumping out of airplane,
46:00
Speaker 9: shooting guns and hunting down bad guys.
46:02
Speaker 4: So appreciate it.
46:03
Speaker 1: You Navy Seals make it look so easy and talk
46:05
Speaker 1: about it like it's so easy, and if people actually
46:07
Speaker 1: I just rewatched a documentary this week that came out
46:11
Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen, I think on Netflix or somewhere about
46:13
Speaker 1: the Navy Seals.
46:13
Speaker 2: You probably know it. I think you might have been
46:15
Speaker 2: in it.
46:15
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I was watching the inception how
46:17
Speaker 1: we were using the frogmen at the kind of end
46:19
Speaker 1: of World War Two, and then you guys became seals
46:21
Speaker 1: in the sixties and everything you've done over the last
46:24
Speaker 1: sixty seventy years, and I'm just going wow. I mean,
46:27
Speaker 1: I can't fathom the heroics that you men have pulled
46:30
Speaker 1: off on the teams. Anyway, today we were talking about
46:34
Speaker 1: the fallen, Yes, and on this very special solemn day.
46:37
Speaker 1: First and foremost, I would like Brad to just tell
46:40
Speaker 1: us his take on what Memorial Day means to you
46:43
Speaker 1: and what it should mean to this nation.
46:46
Speaker 9: Yeah, Dan, I appreciate first off, this opportunity to share
46:49
Speaker 9: a little bit. Memorial Day isn't a day where all
46:53
Speaker 9: of a sudden all of our veterans suddenly remember our
46:56
Speaker 9: fallen We remember them every single day. Those wounds never
47:00
Speaker 9: fully heal, they scar over, they become a little bit numb.
47:04
Speaker 9: But every Memorial Day is the day that we choose
47:08
Speaker 9: to share those memories with the American public, with we
47:10
Speaker 9: the people, And that's important for us, and so it's
47:13
Speaker 9: important for you as Americans to know that if you've
47:15
Speaker 9: got a veteran, it's a neighbor down the street. Whatever,
47:19
Speaker 9: This isn't just a day to drink beer have a barbecue,
47:23
Speaker 9: Yes it is. Those are freedoms that have been bought
47:26
Speaker 9: in our blood of our service members.
47:28
Speaker 2: Thank you.
47:29
Speaker 4: But this is a day for you to walk.
47:30
Speaker 9: Down the street, talk to that veteran and ask them
47:32
Speaker 9: the stories and say, hey, would you mind sharing with
47:34
Speaker 9: me a story of one of your fallen, someone who
47:37
Speaker 9: meant a lot to you, someone who paid the ultimate
47:39
Speaker 9: sacrifice foreign nation for the cause for freedom. Greater love
47:43
Speaker 9: is known than this, that someone laid down his life
47:45
Speaker 9: for his brothers, and that's we have seen since the
47:50
Speaker 9: insane women who have been willing to lay down their
47:53
Speaker 9: lives for principles and a cause bigger than their own life.
47:56
Speaker 9: That is a massive sacrifice. And what an opportunity we
47:59
Speaker 9: have is a nation to pause on that day, sit
48:03
Speaker 9: around the table, reflect on that, and if you don't
48:05
Speaker 9: have a vected neighbor, that's okay. Raise a glass toast
48:09
Speaker 9: to the fallen, Toast to their families, these gold star
48:11
Speaker 9: families that have been left behind, and may we just
48:14
Speaker 9: continue to uplift them and our thoughts and our prayers
48:17
Speaker 9: and hope in wish that they will find room to
48:19
Speaker 9: celebrate one more day, to find reason to smile again,
48:23
Speaker 9: to love again, knowing that their loved one paid that
48:25
Speaker 9: ultimate price so that they wouldn't have to, so that
48:28
Speaker 9: we would be protected in our freedoms here in the
48:30
Speaker 9: United States of America.
48:32
Speaker 2: You know, thank you for that.
48:33
Speaker 1: We just had two gold Star families on shortly before
48:35
Speaker 1: you discussing. They lost their loved ones, of course, at
48:37
Speaker 1: Abbey Gate in the debacle exit of Afghanistan thanks to
48:40
Speaker 1: the Biden regime, and you know that's all they want
48:43
Speaker 1: to Just can we honor and remember these people and
48:46
Speaker 1: not forget them.
48:47
Speaker 2: One point three million.
48:48
Speaker 1: Lost their lives in defense of this nations. It's the
48:50
Speaker 1: revolutionary war. And by golly, the Constitution might be the
48:54
Speaker 1: piece of paper that says we've got these liberties and
48:56
Speaker 1: freedoms and rights.
48:56
Speaker 2: But guess what if brave men like you and the
49:00
Speaker 2: and everybody.
49:00
Speaker 1: Else that served this nation didn't go out and serve
49:02
Speaker 1: it and then many pay that ultimate sacrifice, we wouldn't
49:05
Speaker 1: be able to enjoy those freedoms and liberties. And so
49:08
Speaker 1: in closing here, I just want you to readly kind
49:11
Speaker 1: of go over the importance of why we honor the
49:14
Speaker 1: dead so professionally, so much pomp and circumstance, from the
49:19
Speaker 1: dignified transfer, the fold and the flag, the twenty one gun.
49:22
Speaker 1: Go over those things and remind us as kind of
49:24
Speaker 1: this final thing to close this special out of why
49:27
Speaker 1: we need this day. I think we need more in
49:28
Speaker 1: one day to remember the fall in my friend.
49:31
Speaker 9: I agree with you, I agree, but we'll take a day.
49:33
Speaker 9: We'll take a weekend. How's that a long weekend? As
49:36
Speaker 9: we talked earlier, I was reminded of saying the pen
49:39
Speaker 9: is mighter than the sword, but only when the other
49:42
Speaker 9: hand is resting on the hilt of a sword. Peace
49:46
Speaker 9: is established through words, and words matter, but there has
49:49
Speaker 9: to be the threat of violence. There has to be strength,
49:52
Speaker 9: There has to be restrained strength behind that. So why
49:55
Speaker 9: it's important, why we treat this so solemnly. The best
49:58
Speaker 9: story I can tell you is from the surviving spouse
50:01
Speaker 9: to one of my closest and best friends in the
50:02
Speaker 9: seal teams that I lost in two thousand and five,
50:05
Speaker 9: Danny Deets, and we were at his funeral and his
50:08
Speaker 9: wife Patsy, as we walked to his gravesite in Colorado,
50:12
Speaker 9: the local city surprised us with a horse drawn carriage,
50:15
Speaker 9: and so we walked behind that carriage unexpectedly for a
50:18
Speaker 9: mile to his grave. Patsy hadn't planned on this, none
50:20
Speaker 9: of the women had, so she was wearing heels for
50:23
Speaker 9: a mile. She walked in heels, and about halfway through
50:26
Speaker 9: that we looked down and saw her fleet feet or
50:29
Speaker 9: a bloody pulp. They're pouring blood over the cement as
50:32
Speaker 9: she walked, leaving a trail of blood behind her. As
50:35
Speaker 9: we followed her husband in this horse drawn casket, my
50:39
Speaker 9: wife looked at Patsy and said, Patsy, why don't.
50:41
Speaker 2: You ride with Danny?
50:42
Speaker 9: And she said no, if my husband didn't quit, and
50:46
Speaker 9: if he felt every ounce of pain, I owe it
50:48
Speaker 9: to him to suffer with him in this way, in
50:51
Speaker 9: this moment, I will not quit. I will follow him.
50:54
Speaker 9: I am in my place walking with these other spouses
50:57
Speaker 9: and his teammates behind him. I think that gave us
51:00
Speaker 9: such a great representation of what it means to remember
51:03
Speaker 9: the dead, and why we do it so solemnly. When
51:06
Speaker 9: we choose to suffer with them, even in a small amount,
51:09
Speaker 9: when we choose to pause and reflect, when we choose
51:12
Speaker 9: to toast to them. As Patsy so eloquently says, to
51:16
Speaker 9: live in the hearts of those you love is never
51:18
Speaker 9: to die.
51:20
Speaker 4: That's why we do what we do.
51:22
Speaker 9: That's why we care so deeply.
51:23
Speaker 4: That's why we love so deeply.
51:25
Speaker 9: To those who misread this, don't pity us envious that
51:30
Speaker 9: we knew such men and were considered their friends.
51:34
Speaker 1: Amen, beautiful retired US Navy Seal Bradley Geary, thank you
51:38
Speaker 1: for reminding us what Memorial Day is all about.
51:41
Speaker 2: God bless you, brod D. Thank you for your servi blessure.
51:45
Speaker 2: As we say goodbye this evening.
51:47
Speaker 1: My hope in my heart is that while you're out
51:50
Speaker 1: there enjoying maybe a barbecue or a cocktail right now,
51:53
Speaker 1: or a day off of work, you just take a
51:55
Speaker 1: moment out of your day at some point, whether it's tonight,
51:58
Speaker 1: whether it's tomorrow or next week, say thank you to
52:01
Speaker 1: a vet.
52:02
Speaker 2: Call and check on a veteran.
52:04
Speaker 1: Take your kids and your family members to a veteran cemetery,
52:07
Speaker 1: give them a quick history lesson, so that as a
52:10
Speaker 1: nation we will always remember to never ever forget our
52:14
Speaker 1: fallen God bless you all, appreciate you so much, and
52:18
Speaker 1: God bless the United States of America.
52:20
Speaker 2: Good night.
52:28
Speaker 1: For all of our viewers out there asking where to
52:30
Speaker 1: watch one American news, we'd like to introduce.
52:32
Speaker 2: You to OAN Live.
52:34
Speaker 1: OAN Live is the best way to stay up to
52:36
Speaker 1: date on the hardest hitting news and our talk shows.
52:39
Speaker 1: And the best part is on Live is only four
52:41
Speaker 1: ninety nine per month incredible, honest and unbiased reporting at.
52:45
Speaker 2: A fraction of the cost of cable.
52:47
Speaker 1: So just click on the link at the top of
52:49
Speaker 1: our homepage oann dot com to easily sign up for
52:52
Speaker 1: the news and conservative talk you can't get anywhere else.