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Speaker 1: The Michael Berry Show. We're always on the lookout for

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Speaker 1: good content, and a lot of it comes from our listeners.

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Speaker 2: I could be you.

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Speaker 1: You can always email me through the website Michael Berryshow

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Speaker 1: dot com. I do read them all. One of our

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Speaker 1: favorite sites and groups is Hillsdale College and they're doing

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Speaker 1: a series called The Story of America. Each episode is

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Speaker 1: a specific top topic and every one of them is

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Speaker 1: hosted by a different person. This week we wanted to

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Speaker 1: share Secretary of State Pete Hegseth talking about the formation

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Speaker 1: of the United States Army. I think we'll end up

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Speaker 1: bringing you some more of these in the coming weeks,

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Speaker 1: and I want a brief programming note on that point

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Speaker 1: is that sometimes we will play other people's content, and

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Speaker 1: we were very clear upfront we did not create this content.

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Speaker 1: But we do have a platform and our goal is

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Speaker 1: to amplify good content and share it and talk about

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Speaker 1: it and brag on it, and hopefully you will then

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Speaker 1: turn and share it, talk about it and brag about it.

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Speaker 1: And whether something goes viral or not, whether it's spreads,

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Speaker 1: I think it's simply the case that when you find

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Speaker 1: something interesting, you share it. Right if you see a

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Speaker 1: movie that you enjoy, you tell everybody about it. If

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Speaker 1: you eat at a new restaurant that you really like.

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Speaker 1: You want them to succeed, and we want Hillsdale College

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Speaker 1: to succeed. They are not at this moment a show sponsor.

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Speaker 1: I hope they will become a show sponsor, but they

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Speaker 1: are not at this moment a show sponsor. But we

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Speaker 1: do recommend that you listen to their content, that you

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Speaker 1: share their content, that you financially support them if you can.

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Speaker 1: And with that, here we go.

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Speaker 2: This year marks the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of

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Speaker 2: the United States Army, a legacy born in turmoil, uncertainty,

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Speaker 2: and nearly insurmountable odds. Two and a half centuries ago,

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Speaker 2: thousands of citizen soldiers answered freedom's call at a moment

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Speaker 2: when tyranny tried to dim the spirit of an emerging nation.

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Speaker 2: Our first heroes forged an institution whose strength, sacrifice, and

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Speaker 2: enduring resolve have come to define our republic. The Army's

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Speaker 2: story begins in the spring of seventeen seventy five, one

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Speaker 2: month after the Massachusetts Militia humbled British regulars at the

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Speaker 2: Battles of Lexington and conquered America's colonial leaders assembled in

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Speaker 2: Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress. The meeting had been

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Speaker 2: called to address long standing grievances with Britain's imperial government,

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Speaker 2: but the recent bloodshed at Lexington and Conquered fundamentally changed

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Speaker 2: the purpose of the gathering. Until then, many colonists had

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Speaker 2: hoped for reconciliation with their mother country. It was increasingly

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Speaker 2: clear that freedom would not be possible without war. The

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Speaker 2: reasons for a united resistance were growing. Among other offenses,

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Speaker 2: the British Parliament had earlier past the Intolerable Acts, which

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Speaker 2: had closed the port of Boston to all trade, forced

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Speaker 2: colonists to house and feed British soldiers, and restricted the

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Speaker 2: colonist's right to public assembly, allowed British officials to be

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Speaker 2: tried in England instead of the colonies, and effectively put

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Speaker 2: Massachusetts under martial law. In April of seventeen seventy five,

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Speaker 2: they fired on American colonists. By the end of May

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Speaker 2: seventeen seventy five, Patriot leaders were calling up militia in

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Speaker 2: all thirteen colonies. They stockpiled guns, ammunition, artillery, and military supplies.

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Speaker 2: Some militia units drilled every day. The battles of Lexington

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Speaker 2: and Conquered prove that minutemen could push back British forces.

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Speaker 2: Those early battles also proved that the colonies needed a

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Speaker 2: united fighting force with a clear chain of command. Mindful

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Speaker 2: of the perilous rode ahead, the delegates to the Second

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Speaker 2: Continental Congress debated establishing an army. Letters from citizens in

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Speaker 2: Massachusetts were read aloud before the Assembly, recounting British acts

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Speaker 2: of tyranny and calling neighboring colonies for assistance. As the

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Speaker 2: Provincial Convention of Massachusetts wrote in a letter to the

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Speaker 2: Continental Congress on June tewodot, we tremble at having an

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Speaker 2: army established here without a civil power to provide for

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Speaker 2: and control them. Having received reports that British troops would

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Speaker 2: soon arrive in great numbers in New York, the Continental

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Speaker 2: Congress directed that if the British were to commit hostilities

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Speaker 2: and invade private property, the inhabitants should defend themselves and

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Speaker 2: their property and repel force by force. Ultimately, the delegates

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Speaker 2: decided they had only one path forward. It was time

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Speaker 2: to create a national army. On June fourteenth, the Second

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Speaker 2: Continental Congress voted to establish the Continental Army, the Official

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Speaker 2: Record read resolved that six companies of expert riflemen be

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Speaker 2: immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia.

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Speaker 2: That each company consists of a captain, three lieutenants, four sergeants,

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Speaker 2: four corporals, a drummer or trumpeter, and sixty eight privates.

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Speaker 2: That each company, as soon as completed, shall march and

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Speaker 2: join the Army near Boston, to be there employed as

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Speaker 2: light infantry under the command of the Chief Officer in

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Speaker 2: the Army. Message to the British was clear. This was

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Speaker 2: not a regional outbreak of violence. It was a unified

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Speaker 2: act of defiance. The colonies intended to join together to

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Speaker 2: defend their freedoms and, if necessary, to fight for independence.

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Speaker 2: The very next day, the Continental Congress unanimously appointed George

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Speaker 2: Washington of Virginia as commander in chief. The Congress wrote, we,

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Speaker 2: reposing special trust and confidence in your patriotism, valor, conduct,

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Speaker 2: and fidelity, do by these precepts constitute and appoint you

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Speaker 2: to be General and Commander in Chief of the Army

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Speaker 2: of the United Colonies for the defense of American liberty

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Speaker 2: and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof, and you are

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Speaker 2: hereby vested with full power and authority to act as

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Speaker 2: you shall think for the good and welfare of the service.

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Speaker 2: That same day, Massachusetts leaders discovered that the British planned

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Speaker 2: to occupy Boston's Charleston Peninsula. On June sixteenth, General Artemus

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Speaker 2: Ward sent Colonels Richard Grindley and William Prescott with about

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Speaker 2: twelve hundred soldiers to fortify the summit of Bunker Hill,

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Speaker 2: overlooking Boston Harbor. The soldiers labored through the night to

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Speaker 2: build the defensive barrier. By early morning, they had erected

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Speaker 2: a strong earthwork position and were joined by New Hampshire

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Speaker 2: Colonel John Stark and his troops. As the sun rose

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Speaker 2: on June seventeenth, the British noticed the Americans occupied the

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Speaker 2: high ground. The British ships opened fire, but could not

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Speaker 2: reach the hastily constructed American positions. British Major General William

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Speaker 2: Howe ordered his troops to assault the hill. The fierce

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Speaker 2: battle that ensued was a tactical victory for the British,

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Speaker 2: but a painful and costly one. The British sustained twice

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Speaker 2: as many casualties as the Americans and pulled back to Boston,

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Speaker 2: where American forces encircled them. American morale was high, and

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Speaker 2: men streamed in from towns and farms volunteering to join.

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Speaker 2: On July third, General George Washington traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts,

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Speaker 2: to assemble his officers, just off the central yard of

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Speaker 2: Harvard College, where he formerly took command of the army.

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Speaker 2: The next day, he wrote, it is hoped that all

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Speaker 2: distinctions of colonies will be laid aside, so that one

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Speaker 2: and the same spirit may animate the whole, and the

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Speaker 2: only contests be who shall render, on this great and

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Speaker 2: trying occasion, the most essential service to the great and

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Speaker 2: common cause in which we are all engaged. Washington then

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Speaker 2: began building the new army. His task was not just

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Speaker 2: about assembling men willing to fight. It was about shaping

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Speaker 2: the character of the men who would forge this new nation.

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Speaker 2: Courage alone was not enough. Washington worked tirelessly to instill

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Speaker 2: good order and discipline, secure supplies, and institute rigorous training

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Speaker 2: to produce soldiers who could fight toe to toe with

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Speaker 2: the British Army, then the best army in the world,

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Speaker 2: Washington wrote, Discipline is the soul of an army. It

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Speaker 2: makes small numbers formidable procures success to the weak, and

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Speaker 2: esteem to all. As the army took shape, each battle

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Speaker 2: told the story of audacity and sacrifice. Washington won his

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Speaker 2: first victory at Boston in seventeen seventy six, but suffered

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Speaker 2: heavily at Quebec. When the British returned that year to

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Speaker 2: New York in full force, the army fought doggedly from

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Speaker 2: Long Island to New Jersey. Washington's army suffered heavy casualties,

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Speaker 2: but never giving up. With winter setting in general, Washington

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Speaker 2: did the unthinkable, the bold Christmas night crossing of the

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Speaker 2: Delaware River in a blizzard, and the subsequent victories at

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Speaker 2: Trenton and Princeton turned the tide of the revolution and

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Speaker 2: proved to the world the unbreakable spirit of the American patriot.

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Speaker 2: These battles were more than military engagements. They were seminal

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Speaker 2: moments that gave birth to our nation. Every volley fire,

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Speaker 2: every battle won, and every sacrifice paid moved our nation

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Speaker 2: one step closer to the promise of self determination and freedom. Today,

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Speaker 2: as we celebrate two hundred and fifty years of the

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Speaker 2: United States Army, we remember that the greatest victory ever

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Speaker 2: for liberty sovereignty and independence was won by ordinary people.

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Speaker 2: The gallant soldiers of Washington's Continental Army answered the call

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Speaker 2: of liberty and rushed into battle not only for their

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Speaker 2: own freedom, but for hours as well. Their story defines

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Speaker 2: us all. It tells us what we stand for and

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Speaker 2: who we are as a nation born through the sacrifice

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Speaker 2: of our first heroes, who gave their lives for the

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Speaker 2: greatest experiment in self government the world has ever known. Today,

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Speaker 2: every soldier who dons the uniform guards that sacred legacy,

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Speaker 2: ensuring that the ideals of freedom, duty, honor, and country

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Speaker 2: continue to shine brightly for the whole world to see.

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Speaker 2: The heroes of Lexington Conquered and Bunker Hill are not

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Speaker 2: long forgotten ancestors. They are brothers in arms, standing to

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Speaker 2: the left and to the right of us. In our formations.

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Speaker 2: To this day, the courage of the Revolutionary War soldier

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Speaker 2: and minuteman beats in the hearts of every American soldier.

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Speaker 2: These individuals strive every day to build a future that

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Speaker 2: embodies the extraordinary spirit of our nation's very first citizen soldiers,

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Speaker 2: as defined by George Washington in seventeen seventy five when

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Speaker 2: he said, when we assumed the soldier. We did not

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Speaker 2: lay aside the citizen. The formation of our army is

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Speaker 2: a testament to the power and enduring spirit of a

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Speaker 2: people determined to secure their destiny of liberty. As your

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Speaker 2: Secretary of Defense, I am profoundly grateful to every individual

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Speaker 2: who has served, from the courageous patriots of the American

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Speaker 2: Revolution who won our freedom, to the soldiers currently serving

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Speaker 2: around the world defending our constitution and way of life. Today,

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Speaker 2: on this momentous two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of America's Army,

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Speaker 2: let us honor the legacy of those who came before

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Speaker 2: us by committing ourselves to building a future worthy of

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Speaker 2: their sacrifice. May we always remember that in our unity

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Speaker 2: there is strength, In our courage, there is hope, and

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Speaker 2: through our service there is an unbreakable promise to defend

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Speaker 2: freedom for all. As we celebrate this rich history, I

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Speaker 2: invite you to reflect on the enduring spirit that began

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Speaker 2: humbly in seventeen seventy five, a spirit that, against all odds,

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Speaker 2: forged our nation's independence, freedom, and liberty. This spirit remains

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Speaker 2: the backbone of our nation today. No matter what challenge

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Speaker 2: we may encounter, This spirit will propel us into the

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Speaker 2: future with unwavering resolve. Thank you for joining me in

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Speaker 2: celebrating our shared heritage. God bless you, God bless the

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Speaker 2: United States Army, God speed to our warriors, and God

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Speaker 2: bless America.

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Speaker 1: If you like the Michael Berry Show and Podcast, please

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Speaker 1: Michael Berryshow dot com, or simply by clicking on our website,

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Speaker 1: Michael Berryshow dot com. The Michael Berry Show and Podcast

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Speaker 1: is produced by Ramon Roebliss, The King of Ding. Executive

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Speaker 1: producer is Chad Nakanishi. Jim Mudd is the creative director.

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Speaker 1: Voices Jingles, Tomfoolery and Shenanigans are provided by Chance McLean.

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Speaker 1: assistant listener and superfan. Contributions are appreciated and often incorporated

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Speaker 1: memory of Rush Limbaugh. Long live Elvis, be a simple

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Speaker 1: man like Leonard SKINNERD told you, and God bless America. Finally,

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Speaker 1: if you know a veteran suffering from PTSD, call Camp

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