1 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: Memorial Day. What is it? Is it important? Well, first 2 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,079 Speaker 1: of all, I want to be clear about something. You've 3 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:19,120 Speaker 1: heard me say this before and I'm gonna say it again, 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: and it really, really is important. You're probably a nice 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:29,479 Speaker 1: person with values, and nice people with values like to 6 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: make sure everyone feels included in something. It's human nature. 7 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,120 Speaker 1: It's what good people do, genuine good hearted people do. 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: You're going to have to set that aside this day 9 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:46,879 Speaker 1: because Memorial Day is not Veterans Day. Memorial Day is 10 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:52,200 Speaker 1: not Veterans Day. Don't do the thing so many people, 11 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: good people, not insulting, don't do the thing they're tempt 12 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: to do. WI wishing a Memorial Day as we honor 13 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: the fallen and veteran and firefighters and first responded. Nope, 14 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: Memorial Day is dedicated to those who have fallen in 15 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:13,040 Speaker 1: battle for this country, and those who fell in battle 16 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:19,039 Speaker 1: for this country deserve their own special day, not watered 17 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: down by niceness or political correctness. They deserve a day 18 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: where we simply honor them. We honor the families they 19 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: left behind, we honor the service, we honor the sacrifice. 20 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: That's what Memorial Day is, and it is important we 21 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 1: do that for a variety of reasons. One, it lets 22 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: future generations know service and sacrifice for your country is 23 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: something your country honors and prioritizes. It's also important because 24 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: it helps the families who lost somebody. It helps them 25 00:01:54,640 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: through their grief. It does a mother, a wife. They 26 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: want to see this. Children who lost their father, they 27 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: want to see and hear father or mother. They want 28 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,799 Speaker 1: to see and hear what dad did, what mom did 29 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:13,959 Speaker 1: was awesome and good. And my country appreciates and honors it. 30 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: Memorial Day is a solemn day where we honor them. Now, 31 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: let me clarify something else. I'm not telling you on 32 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,799 Speaker 1: Memorial Day don't have hot dogs and barbecue and swim 33 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:30,639 Speaker 1: in the pool. I am telling you I served every 34 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: marine I knew if he bought the farm, would want 35 00:02:34,520 --> 00:02:37,080 Speaker 1: you tipping back a cold one and eating a hot 36 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: dog with your family on Memorial Day. They would want 37 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: you to do those things. Just make sure as you 38 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: do it, you take a moment, tell everyone to quiet 39 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 1: down and make sure everybody says a quick prayer for 40 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: those who are gone and for the families they left behind. 41 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: Make sure you remind everyone what the day is about. 42 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: And I've debated how I wanted to do this show. 43 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: We knew we wanted to do a Memorial Day show, 44 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: and I debated exactly what I wanted to do with it. 45 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: So we're gonna bring people on who've lost someone. But 46 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: I thought maybe it would be appropriate to tell the 47 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: story of one guy. I mean, I could do how many, right, 48 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: hundreds of thousands, I could do them. I thought it 49 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: maybe it would be appropriate to tell the story of 50 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: Benjamin Solomon. Who was he? Well, before we get to 51 00:03:26,600 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 1: Benjamin Solomon, let's do something real quick. Let's do a 52 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 1: little history rewind. When it comes to World War Two. 53 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: We know we were attacked by Japan at Pearl Harbor. 54 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: Everyone knows that, right, Everyone knows that, but a lot 55 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: of people don't understand the full reasons behind it. There 56 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 1: was a big economic war going on between US and Japan. 57 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:48,279 Speaker 1: They relied on us for most of their raw materials. 58 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: Japan long before Pearl Harbor, Japan was in China taking 59 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,760 Speaker 1: over huge parts of China, killing a bunch of Chinese people. 60 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: We didn't want him doing anymore. For a variety of reasons, 61 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: we cut them off. They got mad at us. They 62 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: saw war as being inevitable, and so they came up 63 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: with a plan, a plan they knew was crazy, but 64 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: they thought it was their only chance, so they decided 65 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:17,040 Speaker 1: to go for the hail Mary, and that plan was 66 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: attack US at Pearl Harbor by surprise, cripple our fleet there. 67 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 1: They didn't think they were going to do feat US 68 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 1: at Pearl Harbor. That's a complete misconception. They just wanted 69 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: to cripple our fleet there for long enough so they 70 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 1: could then take over this huge amount of all these 71 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,160 Speaker 1: islands in the Pacific and basically fortify all of them 72 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: huge a huge circle around Japan, so there'd be a 73 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: bunch of island fortifications around Japan dig in make it 74 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:52,159 Speaker 1: miserable for Americans to take these islands back. They thought 75 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: Americans were soft and weak, and they thought we wouldn't 76 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: have the stomach for all the losses we would take 77 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: taking the islands back from Japan. But they obviously turn 78 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,839 Speaker 1: out to be wrong about the soft and weak portion 79 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: of it, and Americans, we set sail as soon as 80 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 1: we could, and we started taking things back. Huge naval battles, 81 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: air battles that went with the naval battles, but we 82 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:18,960 Speaker 1: began to chop away at these islands and chop away 83 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:21,240 Speaker 1: at these islands. And there's something you have to understand 84 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: as we get to our story about Ben Solomon. Here, 85 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: there's something you must understand about the Japanese back then. Now, 86 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of Japanese culture. I just think 87 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,160 Speaker 1: it's a wonderful place. I've been there. I enjoy the people. 88 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: I think it's a great culture. It was quite a 89 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: bit radical back then, and a lot of people called 90 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,039 Speaker 1: it a death cult or whatnot, but they did believe 91 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:46,160 Speaker 1: in dying for the cons I can't find very many 92 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: instances in all of history where they didn't surrender. I mean, 93 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: in mass they hardly ever surrendered. They would all die 94 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 1: to the last man. Either they'd kill themselves or they'd 95 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: do some suicidal charge called a Bond's eye charge that's 96 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: going to come into play here in just a moment. 97 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: But Americans quickly realize we're not dealing with normal people 98 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,919 Speaker 1: here who will surrender when it's hopeless. They'll fight to 99 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,240 Speaker 1: the last bullet, and then they'll try to bite you 100 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: to death. They'll fake being wounded. They'll hide a grenade 101 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: under each arm and try to surrender and drop the 102 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: grenades out when you come to them. They they did 103 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: it differently than other people. They did it differently. Now, 104 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:32,120 Speaker 1: as we're taking island after island after island, getting closer 105 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: to Japan, because remember, you can't just skip a bunch 106 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: of them, You got to take the strategic points, and 107 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:42,680 Speaker 1: we're getting closer to Japan. Japan their leadership, they know 108 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: what's coming. They understand American air power. That's what they 109 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: really feared. We had pretty much crippled their navy. They 110 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: couldn't take us there, and they just didn't have the 111 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: planes and anti air stuff to stop our air power. 112 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: And they understood American bombers, we're going to pound the 113 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: Japanese these mainland and the powder if we were allowed 114 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: to get close enough, and obviously eventually that happened. Everyone 115 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,119 Speaker 1: knows about the two nuclear weapons. What you probably don't 116 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: know is we bombed every major city in Japan. We 117 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 1: cooked one hundred thousand people to death in Tokyo and Japan. 118 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,960 Speaker 1: As we're inching closer, they know that's coming. They need 119 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: to stop us from taking these air fields that allow 120 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: the planes to take off and actually reach Japan and 121 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: get back safety, because that's our whole goal with the 122 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: island hopping campaign you've heard about. It's all about air fields. Yeah, 123 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: we got this airfield, now we need that island one 124 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:35,119 Speaker 1: hundred miles away. That don't get us one hundred miles closer. 125 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: So on and so forth. You understand what I'm saying. 126 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:41,040 Speaker 1: I said all that because it leads us to Saipan. 127 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: Saipan was uniquely horrendous. And they were all horrendous, right. 128 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: You know all the names Pellalu, Iwo, Jima, you know 129 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: all the names. I don't have to go into it 130 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:58,239 Speaker 1: right now, but Saipan. Saipan is one of the first 131 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: places we got to where you were close enough to 132 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:07,880 Speaker 1: the Japanese mainland to genuinely threaten the Japanese mainland. That's one. Two. 133 00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: There were actual Japanese people living on the island. This 134 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 1: wasn't some abandoned island out in the Pacific where they 135 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: just decided, all, let's build fort to fortifications here. No no, no, no, 136 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: no no. There were people on the island of Saipan. 137 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 1: And understand, by the time the Marines in the Army 138 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: got to Saipan, Japan knew losing was inevitable. They were 139 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: trying to make it as costly as possible and go 140 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:34,640 Speaker 1: out in an honorable way, but they believed all of 141 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:37,480 Speaker 1: them are going to die anyway, which brings us to 142 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,439 Speaker 1: the story of Benjamin Solomon. He originally started out as 143 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:46,080 Speaker 1: a ground pounder rifleman, excellent guy, and gets promoted up 144 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: through the ranks for a variety of reasons. He's very 145 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: intelligent individual to become a dentist. He's just a dentist. 146 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:58,479 Speaker 1: Now pause for just a moment. Something happened on Saipan 147 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:01,920 Speaker 1: because we were making the island and it was horrible 148 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: to take the island because there were so many caves 149 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: and hideouts and we were always having to root people 150 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,040 Speaker 1: out of these caves that were encountering civilians. Sometimes civilians 151 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: we had to kill in order to It was just 152 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,120 Speaker 1: a terrible, terrible affair. But eventually we got to the 153 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:21,439 Speaker 1: place where Japan they were out of stuff. They didn't 154 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: have any bullet stuff, they didn't have any food left. 155 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: Because our navy was so dominant, they just couldn't get 156 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 1: resupplies in. So we had taken so much of the island. 157 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: We're now down to four or five six thousand Japanese 158 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: depending on the source, and they don't have anything left well, 159 00:09:37,760 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: we're not dealing with people here who are going to 160 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: fire their last bullet and then say, Okay, I'm done, 161 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,200 Speaker 1: I surrender again. We're dealing with a different mentality so 162 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: on Saipan, and you can read stories about it. I've 163 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: read several about how we knew something was coming. Remember 164 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: when I talked about the Japanese bond's eye charge. Would 165 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,640 Speaker 1: this happened a lot throughout the war to where a 166 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:02,920 Speaker 1: unit knew it was gone right out? I mean one guy, 167 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,200 Speaker 1: although they did it. They did it individually too, but 168 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: whole units would decide they can't win, and so they 169 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: would fix bayonets or pull out samurai swords. The officers 170 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: all carry those, and they would simply charge. They would 171 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:17,480 Speaker 1: charge the American lines and we would kill them. We 172 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: would just mow them down like grass. And there are 173 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:22,480 Speaker 1: situations where we killed so many of them we'd have 174 00:10:22,480 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: to push over stacks of dead bodies and they were 175 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,880 Speaker 1: still coming. Imagine what that looks like. You're sitting in 176 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: a fighting hole and you look up and there's a 177 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: hundred Japanese with bayonets and samurai swords charging you and 178 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,280 Speaker 1: your buddy in a in a fighting hole. What's that 179 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: look like, what's that field like? Right? While on Saipan 180 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: there was something different. The Bonsai charges had previously been 181 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 1: an individual or two people, or like I said, one 182 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: hundred man unit. When they ran out of bullets, bombs 183 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,880 Speaker 1: and food on Saipan, they decided it's going to be 184 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:57,280 Speaker 1: all of us. And the Japanese would oftentimes get liquored 185 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,719 Speaker 1: up something fierce the night before or night of a 186 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: bonds eye charge, and they would sing and we would 187 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: hear them singing. They would sing and chant and get 188 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: themselves worked up into a ladder. On Saipan. What happened 189 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: was the largest bonds eye charged by a mile in 190 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:19,320 Speaker 1: World War two. Five thousand Japanese, not five not a 191 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:23,560 Speaker 1: unit of one hundred, five thousand Japanese, including I might 192 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:28,000 Speaker 1: point out women, just civilians. They would hand them sticks 193 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 1: and put knives on the end of it. Five thousand 194 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 1: Japanese decided to charge at the American lines. Now you 195 00:11:36,120 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: take ten men, twenty men, one hundred men, and you 196 00:11:38,559 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: charge a line of US marines or army guys, they're 197 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 1: all just going to die. You take five thousand. You 198 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: can only kill so many of them things before they 199 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: come through you and they started coming through the lines 200 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 1: and pouring through the lines, and people were dying in 201 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: terrible ways. And what I'm about to read for you 202 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: is Ben Solomon's Medal of Honors citation. And I want 203 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:03,200 Speaker 1: you to under stand this citation took place during that 204 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: Bond's eye charge when they charged past the lines and 205 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 1: they got through the lines, and people are being bayonetted 206 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:12,439 Speaker 1: and they're having their heart cut out with samurai swords. 207 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: And once they get through the lines, remember, they start 208 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:17,720 Speaker 1: getting back to the things you keep behind the lines, 209 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:22,719 Speaker 1: things like the medical tents. Without further ado, here is 210 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:27,559 Speaker 1: the Middle of Honor citation of Ben Solomon, Captain US Army, 211 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 1: June seventh, July seventh, I'm Sorry, nineteen forty four, Saipan, 212 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,120 Speaker 1: for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his 213 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,319 Speaker 1: life above and beyond the call of duty. Captain Ben L. 214 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: Salomons was serving at Saipan and the Marianas Islands. On 215 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 1: July seventh, nineteen forty four, as the surgeon for the 216 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: second Battalion, one hundred and fifth Infantry Regiment, twenty seventh 217 00:12:48,400 --> 00:12:52,360 Speaker 1: Infantry Division. The regiment's first and second battalions were attacked 218 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,880 Speaker 1: by an overwhelming force estimated between three thousand and five 219 00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: thousand Japanese soldiers. It was one of the largest attacks 220 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: at tenth at the Pacific Theater during World War Two. 221 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: Although both units fought furiously, the enemies soon penetrated the 222 00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:11,319 Speaker 1: battalion's combined perimeter and inflicted overwhelming casualties, and the first 223 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: minutes of the attack, approximately thirty wounded soldiers walked, crawled, 224 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,800 Speaker 1: or were carried into Captain Solomon's aid station, and the 225 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: small tent soon filled with wounded men. As the perimeter 226 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:26,000 Speaker 1: began to be overrun, it became increasingly difficult for Captain 227 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,719 Speaker 1: Solomon to work on the wounded. He then saw a 228 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 1: Japanese soldier bayonetting one of the wounded soldiers lying near 229 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 1: the tent, firing from a squatting position. Captain Solomon quickly 230 00:13:35,960 --> 00:13:38,880 Speaker 1: killed the enemy soldier. Then, as he turned his attention 231 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:41,959 Speaker 1: back to the wounded, two more Japanese soldiers appeared in 232 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: the front entrance of the tent. As these enemy soldiers 233 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:48,959 Speaker 1: were killed, four more crawled under the tent walls, rushing them. 234 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,559 Speaker 1: Captain Solomon kicked the knife out of the hand of one, 235 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:55,760 Speaker 1: shot another and bayonetted a third. Captain Solomon butted the 236 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 1: fourth enemy in the stomach and wounded in A wounded 237 00:13:58,559 --> 00:14:02,440 Speaker 1: comrade then shot and killed the enemy soldier. Realizing the 238 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: gravity of the situation, Captain Solomon ordered the wounded to 239 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:07,520 Speaker 1: make their way as best they could back to the 240 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: regimental aid station while he attempted to hold off the 241 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,439 Speaker 1: enemy until they were clear. Captain Solomon then grabbed a 242 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: rifle from one of the wounded and rushed out of 243 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 1: the tent. After four men were killed. While manning a 244 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:24,000 Speaker 1: machine gun, Captain Solomon took control of it. When his 245 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: body was later found, ninety eight dead enemy soldiers were 246 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: piled in front of his position. Captain Solomon's extraordinary heroism 247 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,360 Speaker 1: and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest 248 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, 249 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:46,680 Speaker 1: his unit, and the United States Army. That is what 250 00:14:46,800 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 1: today is about, honoring men like that. We'll be back. 251 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: Each morning, the President of the United States receives a 252 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: highly classified briefing on the most important issues facing the country. 253 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: It's called the President's Daily Brief or PDB. It's delivered 254 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: by America's spies and analysts. Well, now you can hear 255 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: your very own PDB in the form of a podcast 256 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: hosted by me Brian Dean Wright, a former CIA operations officer. 257 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: Each morning at six am Eastern, I'll bring you fifteen 258 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:27,520 Speaker 1: to twenty minutes of the most important issues facing the country, 259 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:31,160 Speaker 1: giving you the critical intelligence and analysis you need to 260 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 1: start your morning. Joining me now obviously, as you well know, 261 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: longtime hero and mine, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, author of 262 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: a book you should probably get your hands on right 263 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 1: about now called Tragic Consequences, Colonel, before we go into 264 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 1: Memorial Day and honoring the fall, and what tragic consequences? 265 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 1: What are you talking about? Well, look at what's happening 266 00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:07,600 Speaker 1: all around is two marines wrote this poot Marines and 267 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: the motto of semper fidelis. And what we intended was 268 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:12,760 Speaker 1: to get something out because I'm getting to be kind 269 00:16:12,760 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: of old, so I wanted something that my eighteen grandkids 270 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: could look at and say, this is the kind of 271 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 1: person I want to model, not just me, but those 272 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: who feel the same way I do about what's happening 273 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,160 Speaker 1: to our country. And I know this is going to 274 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: come as a prize to the Washington Compost. But marines 275 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: cannot only read but we also write about being faithful. 276 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:36,760 Speaker 1: So our timing for this was all based intentionally on 277 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:39,680 Speaker 1: the twenty twenty two election cycle. Came out the first 278 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:42,160 Speaker 1: week of May, and it's because we're in the middle 279 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: of the primaries and the kinds of folks that we 280 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: nominate and elect are going to define the future for 281 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: my eighteen grandkids. So now we're in the midst of 282 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,680 Speaker 1: this aftermath of another massacre. People watching us right now 283 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:58,360 Speaker 1: are asking themselves what's happening to our country? And what's 284 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:03,200 Speaker 1: happening is our country is descend into a culture of darkness, depravity, 285 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,760 Speaker 1: society totally lacking in moral restraint, where the sanctity of 286 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 1: human life has little value. Look in the last eleven days, 287 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 1: thirty two Americans have been killed by armed assassins. Made fourteenth, 288 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,439 Speaker 1: eight filled, eighteen year old opens fire in a crowded 289 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:22,840 Speaker 1: grocery store in Buffalo, New York, killing ten, wounding four. 290 00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 1: All but two of his victims were black, and he 291 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: told investigators all he cared about was the color of 292 00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:31,800 Speaker 1: their skin. Sunday, May fifteenth, the lone gunman opens fire 293 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,000 Speaker 1: on a Geneva Presbyterian church in Orange County, California, killing 294 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: one and seriously wounding four more. The purp told investigators 295 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:42,160 Speaker 1: he's angry about tension between China and Taiwan and wanted 296 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: to kill as many Taiwan these Americans as he could. 297 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: And of course, last Tuesday, in an elementary school Valaday, Texas, 298 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: an eighteen year old lone gunmen, as they described him, 299 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:55,479 Speaker 1: killed nineteen school children, two adults, and wounded seventeen others. 300 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: All three of these characters Jesse had the same thing 301 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: in common. They reject the sanctity of human life. That's 302 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,199 Speaker 1: what this book is all about, is the sanctity of 303 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,040 Speaker 1: human life and the freedoms that we enjoy in this country, 304 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:11,120 Speaker 1: and what we need to be able to do to 305 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:14,439 Speaker 1: take back our country from the crazies. Remember, in the 306 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 1: aftermath of that shooting out there in Texas, Nameless. I 307 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:20,360 Speaker 1: know his name, and we don't need to use it. 308 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,760 Speaker 1: Arizona Congressman texted and tweeted several members of Congress with 309 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:29,360 Speaker 1: obscene language about urging people to pray. He didn't like that. 310 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: At this very minute, we still have proabortion activists threatening 311 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:39,360 Speaker 1: Supreme Court justices Ledo to Thomas Gorsa, Cavanan Barrett. This 312 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:44,239 Speaker 1: cultural degradation is no accident. It's a tragic consequence of 313 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,320 Speaker 1: the anti God campaign the far left has been waging 314 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: for decades against us. And so when I hear some 315 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 1: anti God ideologue decrying violence and crudeness in our culture, 316 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 1: I would like to ask them, what did you think 317 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: was going to happen when you drove God out of 318 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 1: our schools, our government, and the public square our starting point? 319 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: My high school class, high school class in America allowed 320 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: to pray in public schools. I remember the prayer. It 321 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:17,400 Speaker 1: was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court the following year 322 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,680 Speaker 1: after I graduated from high school. Almighty God, we acknowledge 323 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,880 Speaker 1: our dependence upon THEE and beg your blessings on us, 324 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: our parents, our teachers, and our country. Step two in 325 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,360 Speaker 1: this process nineteen seventy three case now very well known 326 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 1: as ro versus Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that women 327 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:38,600 Speaker 1: have a quote right to kill unborn babies with no restrictions. 328 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 1: The forty nine years since that right was granted, more 329 00:19:42,320 --> 00:19:46,640 Speaker 1: than sixty million babies had been killed. Rovio Wade did 330 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 1: more than legalize and fanticide. It launched an assault on 331 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 1: the sanctity of human life. Polarized our politics resulted in 332 00:19:54,760 --> 00:20:00,439 Speaker 1: threats against justices and against May of twenty twenty, Senate 333 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told a pro abortion activist quote, 334 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:06,880 Speaker 1: I want to tell you Gorsk. I want to tell 335 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:10,439 Speaker 1: you Kavanaugh, you've released a whirlwind and you'll pay the price. 336 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:13,399 Speaker 1: You won't know what hit you if you go forward 337 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 1: with these awful decisions. Sounds pretty threatening to me. That's 338 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,160 Speaker 1: the kind of thing that's happening around is And this 339 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,199 Speaker 1: book has got the cure in it because every chapter 340 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:25,359 Speaker 1: has things that we as individuals can do, and that 341 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,119 Speaker 1: gathering in churches, those gathering in the public square, the 342 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: kinds of people that you and I admire. They have 343 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 1: a responsibility now to help save this country. And I'll 344 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:42,360 Speaker 1: be selfish. It's from my eighteen grandkids, Jesse Colonel switching 345 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:45,160 Speaker 1: gears here, but honestly, probably not switching gears. It's a 346 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,679 Speaker 1: Memorial Day special and we're honoring the fallen here and 347 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:52,119 Speaker 1: one of the forgotten bunches, the Vietnam crew. Because of 348 00:20:52,160 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 1: the ugliness of the conflict and the reasons behind it, 349 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:57,919 Speaker 1: but we had a lot of brave young men go 350 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,560 Speaker 1: over to Vietnam and give their lives, and they gave 351 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,040 Speaker 1: their lives for this country. They're no less patriotic than 352 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:05,360 Speaker 1: somebody who died on the beaches of Normity. Those men 353 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:09,119 Speaker 1: are heroes. Do you know any of them? Sure? I 354 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: held some of my arms as they were dying, Jesse. 355 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:15,679 Speaker 1: Over fifty seven thousand young Americans. They're listed on that wall. 356 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: I look at those names every time I go to 357 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 1: the wall, the guys that I held, the guys who 358 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: had the great blessing of being able to stay with 359 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: and live with you. It turns out I used to 360 00:21:26,480 --> 00:21:30,520 Speaker 1: say they were mine, but they weren't mine. I was theirs, 361 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:35,200 Speaker 1: and they were remarkable young Americans. I think that the 362 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,399 Speaker 1: way they were welcome home should never ever happen again. 363 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,280 Speaker 1: Thank god, it's not happening to those who served in 364 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: the longest war. Remember if Vietnam was the longest war 365 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: for a long time until this one. And thank god, 366 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 1: we're not treating those who are the veterans of this 367 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:53,359 Speaker 1: war the same as the veterans of my war, because 368 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:55,640 Speaker 1: when they came home, they never even got so much 369 00:21:55,640 --> 00:22:01,160 Speaker 1: of as thank you as or even a welcome home colonel. 370 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,160 Speaker 1: What's the best way for somebody to honor the fallen 371 00:22:05,640 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 1: on Memorial Day, there's a lot of argumentent out there. 372 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: You should do this, you shouldn't do that. I've always 373 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 1: told people, Hey, I guarantee any marine I knew who 374 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:17,439 Speaker 1: gave his life in combat, he would want you to 375 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:19,920 Speaker 1: gather with your family, have a beer and a hot dog, 376 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 1: swim in a pool. Yes, gather for a moment and 377 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: talk about them and what their sacrifice meant. But they 378 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 1: would want you to enjoy being an American. It's what 379 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: they'd want most, absolutely right. You know, when I was 380 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:34,399 Speaker 1: a kid back in the fifties, actually the forties and 381 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:37,160 Speaker 1: the fifties, we used to have a parade down the street. 382 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,640 Speaker 1: My dad was the senior officer in that little town 383 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: in upstate New York because his last duties station was 384 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 1: an Upstate New York, and so we grew up there, 385 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 1: my brothers and I and our sister, and we remember 386 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: the parade. Dad would always be out in the front 387 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:53,400 Speaker 1: because he was the senior guy, a veteran, a hero. 388 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,360 Speaker 1: My first year I ever knew was my dad, And 389 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:59,560 Speaker 1: so we'd go to go to the parade the high 390 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,159 Speaker 1: school and would play, go to the ball field, have 391 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:05,199 Speaker 1: a ball game, eat hot dogs, and Hamburgers, and the 392 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: politicians made mercifully brief statements about what it was all about, 393 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: and we'd praise those who'd worked, fought, served of the 394 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: sixteen and a half million men and women in World 395 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: War Two, because that's when I was a kid. Then 396 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,000 Speaker 1: comes to the Korean War, and then of course the 397 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:22,919 Speaker 1: Vietnam War. I love it when people call it the 398 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,119 Speaker 1: Cold War because it was cold for everybody who didn't 399 00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: fight in it, and literally millions of us did. The 400 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:34,320 Speaker 1: idea of Veterans Day being something model it's not. It is, 401 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:36,359 Speaker 1: and I'll give you a way that people can honor it. 402 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,840 Speaker 1: Hire a veteran. You can't put out a sign that 403 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: says veterans only need apply. There's lots of help wanted 404 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:46,920 Speaker 1: signs out there. How about changing years to a veteran 405 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: wanted and give them a good job, because veterans, no 406 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,679 Speaker 1: matter what era they come from, are going to be 407 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: better at doing what they needs to be done than 408 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:57,919 Speaker 1: anybody else they could find. And that's the case for 409 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,280 Speaker 1: almost every veteran out there. It's not a matter of 410 00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,240 Speaker 1: everybody wringing their hands over PTS or something like that. 411 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,880 Speaker 1: It's giving them a great job because every veteran wants 412 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:10,040 Speaker 1: to be able to provide for his or her family, 413 00:24:10,359 --> 00:24:12,560 Speaker 1: and that's I think the finest way you could honor 414 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: veterans who have fallen was by giving those who are 415 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,160 Speaker 1: still living the kind of living that would make them 416 00:24:18,280 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: honorable in their in their towns, villages, cities, whatever they're doing. 417 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: Give them a good job. Thank you, colonel. Colonel, appreciate 418 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 1: you very much. Simprify sir, semprifive friend. By the way, 419 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:33,760 Speaker 1: you can get this book at fifteen percent off, and 420 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:35,560 Speaker 1: if you go to I got to get it right, 421 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 1: faithful text dot com, because I can assure you Amazon 422 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 1: is eventually going to ban this book or they'll just 423 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:44,960 Speaker 1: you know, do the soft banning by saying we're out 424 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,640 Speaker 1: of them. Well, they go to faithful text dot com 425 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:49,879 Speaker 1: and they can get it at fifteen percent off and 426 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:54,440 Speaker 1: we do have books. Thanks Jesse, appreciate your colonel. Semper five, 427 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: Semper five. All right, we're going to talk about Band 428 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:01,640 Speaker 1: of brother as you heard of that, right, let's talk 429 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:21,159 Speaker 1: about that next Band of Brothers. You've probably heard of it. 430 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: I did that great HBO mini series on it. Maybe 431 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: you have some vague understanding of what it was about. 432 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,480 Speaker 1: But we thought we should bring the expert in to 433 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:33,240 Speaker 1: talk about it on this Memorial Day special to honor 434 00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:37,879 Speaker 1: the people who fell. Jared Frederick, author of Fierce Valor, 435 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:43,159 Speaker 1: The True Story of Ronald Spears and his Band of Brothers, Okay, Jared, 436 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:45,480 Speaker 1: who were the Band of Brothers For those who don't know, 437 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: the Band of Brothers were an iconic group of paratroopers 438 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:54,640 Speaker 1: who consisted of Easy Company in the five of sixth 439 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:58,440 Speaker 1: Parachute Infantry Regiment of the one hundred first Airborne Division 440 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 1: in the nineteen forties. And these were crack troops who 441 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:09,880 Speaker 1: were involved in experimental warfare. The likes of parachuting into 442 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,000 Speaker 1: a combat zone had never really been done before, and 443 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:17,360 Speaker 1: so these gentlemen were the pioneers of that. And the 444 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:21,720 Speaker 1: Band of Brothers, as depicted in Stephen Ambrose's book and 445 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:26,199 Speaker 1: the subsequent HBO miniseries, are perhaps the best known of 446 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: such an elite unit in that global conflict. Now, you 447 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 1: mentioned parachuting in a lot of people have seen movies 448 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 1: like Saving Private Ryan, and they know about the landing 449 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:40,119 Speaker 1: on the beaches of Normandy on D Day, but a 450 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:43,840 Speaker 1: lot of people don't realize what was happening behind the 451 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:49,480 Speaker 1: German lines. How did they get there? The earliest elements 452 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:52,960 Speaker 1: of D Day actually took place about six hours prior 453 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 1: to the opening combat that viewers might be familiar with 454 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 1: in saving Private Ryan, and in essence, you have about 455 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:05,119 Speaker 1: thirteen thousand Allied paratroopers dropped behind the lines whose intention 456 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:13,320 Speaker 1: was to read havoc, cut communications, destroy German infrastructure, create confusion, 457 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: and ultimately paved the way for the amphibious troops who 458 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 1: would be hitting the shores just as the sun was 459 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,320 Speaker 1: coming up at each hour. And so all of these 460 00:27:24,400 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 1: different elements and operations were interconnected in one form or another. 461 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 1: It was a very multifaceted, monumental operation that was completely 462 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 1: dependent upon time, Jared. Not everybody lived all the way 463 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:42,640 Speaker 1: to the ground, did they. A lot of people don't 464 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: realize this when it comes to those paratroopers. It's not 465 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 1: like the Germans were unaware of the potential for American 466 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 1: planes to come over and drop things they didn't like, 467 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,080 Speaker 1: men and arms. Not every one of those paratroopers made 468 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,920 Speaker 1: it down to touch grass in France, did it? Now? 469 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:00,880 Speaker 1: And this is one of the somber reminders of why 470 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:06,159 Speaker 1: we reflect upon Memorial Day when we ponder the consequences 471 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:11,000 Speaker 1: of Normandy and so many other campaigns throughout American history. 472 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: We need to look no further than the many dead 473 00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:18,480 Speaker 1: paratroopers who could be found beyond Normandy Shores on June sixth, 474 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 1: nineteen forty four. Although the Germans had been anticipating the 475 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:27,520 Speaker 1: invasion in another sector of France, they were certainly still 476 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:32,760 Speaker 1: anticipating a potential Allied push in this vicinity, and there 477 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: were many deadly lethal traps that awaited the Allied service 478 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: members of all nations as they pushed to shore or 479 00:28:39,560 --> 00:28:44,880 Speaker 1: were dropped behind lines. What kind of traps? Well, the 480 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:49,600 Speaker 1: Germans had flooded the fields and anticipation of troopers dropping 481 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:53,360 Speaker 1: behind the lines. These paratroopers had over one hundred pounds 482 00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: of gear often attached to them, and so there was 483 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:01,240 Speaker 1: the intention or the hope on the German part that American, British, 484 00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,760 Speaker 1: Canadian troops who either parachuted or landed by glider into 485 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 1: those water logged pastures, that many of them would drown 486 00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 1: before they were able to even get to any of 487 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,080 Speaker 1: their combat equipment. And so that was one of many 488 00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:19,000 Speaker 1: lethal traps that the Germans had left behind. God have mercy. 489 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:21,239 Speaker 1: What else did you learn writing this book. I mean, 490 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:23,520 Speaker 1: I can imagine amount of research that goes into writing 491 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:25,600 Speaker 1: this book. What else did you learn about the sacrifices 492 00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:29,680 Speaker 1: these men made? I learned a lot about Ronald Spears, 493 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:32,720 Speaker 1: in particular as I was writing Fierce Fowler with my 494 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:36,840 Speaker 1: co author Eric Dore. And what it demonstrated to us 495 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: is the very difficult, morally ambiguous situations that combat leaders 496 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 1: often find themselves in. And at times these were decisions 497 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: that would plague or haunt people for the remainder of 498 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 1: their lives. Should I have gone left or right? What 499 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 1: would have been the consequences if I had done A 500 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,680 Speaker 1: instead of B. Would this may and still have been 501 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:03,280 Speaker 1: alive if I had chosen a different course of action? 502 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: These are the really, really hard things that leaders have 503 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:13,360 Speaker 1: to take into account, both then and now, and in 504 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:17,120 Speaker 1: examining the life of Ronald Spears, we were able to 505 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:21,600 Speaker 1: get a very nuanced interpretation of all the complexities that 506 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 1: leadership includes. What do you want people to know this 507 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:31,800 Speaker 1: Memorial Day? I would say as people go to their 508 00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:38,640 Speaker 1: local cemeteries military memorials, is to not only think of 509 00:30:38,800 --> 00:30:42,640 Speaker 1: Memorial Day as a national holiday, but remember the young 510 00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 1: men and the ladies from your hometown people who might 511 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: not have a book or a movie made about them, 512 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:54,880 Speaker 1: because their stories are symbolic of a broader whole. And 513 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: as the old saying goes, all history is local and 514 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:00,160 Speaker 1: it's important for us to take our local heroes into 515 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 1: account as well as our famous national ones. Amen, Jed, 516 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:07,959 Speaker 1: thank you so much, my man. I appreciate you. Thank you. 517 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:13,720 Speaker 1: All right, I'm up. We're gonna hear the story of 518 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:17,680 Speaker 1: a fallen marine and his family and how they moved on. 519 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:37,960 Speaker 1: Next joining me now, Renee Nichols. She's a gold Star sister. 520 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,040 Speaker 1: She's the author of the book Always My Hero, The 521 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:44,880 Speaker 1: Road to Hope in Healing, In Healing, Following my brother's 522 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 1: death in Afghanistan. Renee, first and foremost, Who was Major 523 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: Sam Griffith? What happened? Sam was my older brother. We 524 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:59,120 Speaker 1: were about about two years apart, and he was on 525 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:04,640 Speaker 1: his third ointment. His first two were in Iraq. He 526 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 1: was an F eighteen fighter pilot, and then after his 527 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:13,160 Speaker 1: first tour, he decided that he wanted to be on 528 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:16,360 Speaker 1: the ground, and so that's when he joined the Fourth 529 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 1: Anglico and he deployed to Iraq a second time on 530 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:25,760 Speaker 1: the ground. It was uneventful and and then his third time, 531 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: he volunteered to go to Afghanistan. And you know that's 532 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 1: the one my parents really worried. Renee. I was on 533 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:38,160 Speaker 1: the ground. It was not fun. Why the world would 534 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,440 Speaker 1: somebody leave the coolness of flying in F eighteen to 535 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:43,760 Speaker 1: go down on the ground and eat crappy food and 536 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 1: poop in the weeds. You know, when I talked to 537 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:52,680 Speaker 1: my mom about this, you know, my brother just felt like, 538 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:56,000 Speaker 1: you know, he had he had done a tour in 539 00:32:56,040 --> 00:33:00,080 Speaker 1: the air, and he had a lot of expertise that 540 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,920 Speaker 1: he just wanted to to bring to these other marines. 541 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: And I think he just really wanted to make a difference. 542 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 1: And you know, he did extensive training. He became a 543 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:15,840 Speaker 1: jatack and he trained these marines and you know, after 544 00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:19,280 Speaker 1: training them, he wanted to deploy with them. And his goal, 545 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:22,560 Speaker 1: you know, he said before he deployed, his goal was 546 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: to make sure that each and every single one of 547 00:33:24,360 --> 00:33:29,240 Speaker 1: them came home alive. And unfortunately he didn't, but they did. 548 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:32,880 Speaker 1: That's a kind of man who builds nations right there, 549 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:39,640 Speaker 1: what happened in Afghanistan. He was you know, he was 550 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:43,560 Speaker 1: a forward air controller, so he would watch you know, 551 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:48,560 Speaker 1: radio video screen and call in air support. And he 552 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,400 Speaker 1: saw one of his marines under heavy fire for a 553 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:56,000 Speaker 1: few days, and you know, Sergeant Hartstall came back to 554 00:33:56,480 --> 00:34:00,640 Speaker 1: base and my brother basically said, you know you need 555 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:04,080 Speaker 1: a break, you need some rest. You're gonna do what 556 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:06,960 Speaker 1: I do. You're gonna take the radio, um, and I'm 557 00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:10,200 Speaker 1: going to take your place tomorrow and U and then 558 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:12,799 Speaker 1: Sergeant Winters, you know he has Sergeant Winters if if 559 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:14,920 Speaker 1: he would come, you know with him. It was a 560 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:19,560 Speaker 1: four man team and two of them stayed behind and 561 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:24,640 Speaker 1: Salmon and Sergeant Winters um went out on patrol the 562 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:28,239 Speaker 1: next day and they got about two hundred feet from 563 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 1: the from the compound and you know, bullets just started 564 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:35,839 Speaker 1: to rain down and they were able to, um, you know, 565 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:40,160 Speaker 1: get behind the mound and um actually there was a 566 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:46,080 Speaker 1: ditch there and um, you know Sam dow that uh, 567 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:48,399 Speaker 1: you know, they were just getting ambush. They were they 568 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:49,839 Speaker 1: were going to lose a lot of lives. They were 569 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:55,280 Speaker 1: out there with the British Marines as well. So um, 570 00:34:55,320 --> 00:34:58,359 Speaker 1: he decided to expose himself so that he could at 571 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,799 Speaker 1: least get a visual from the or you know, where 572 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:05,960 Speaker 1: the gunfire was coming from. And Unfortunately he lost his life. 573 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: They were able to make positive identification and um, you know, 574 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:15,839 Speaker 1: his actions ended up saving all the guys out there 575 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:22,640 Speaker 1: that day. That's wonderful. Beyond the marine pilot and ground pounder, 576 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 1: the kind of guy was Sam. What was he like 577 00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:26,040 Speaker 1: as a kid, What was he like as an adult? 578 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:32,120 Speaker 1: He was, Um, he was hilarious. He was a prankster. 579 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:36,359 Speaker 1: He was a jokester. He loved making people laugh. Um. 580 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:39,240 Speaker 1: You know, that's that's the side I grew up with, 581 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:43,880 Speaker 1: is you know, he was just this this humble guy 582 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:47,520 Speaker 1: that was friends with everybody. And I remember that even 583 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:52,279 Speaker 1: through through school and through high school, he just befriended everybody. Um. 584 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:56,320 Speaker 1: He was just very kind. And even if you met him, 585 00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:58,920 Speaker 1: you know, after he became a pilot, even if you 586 00:35:59,040 --> 00:36:01,719 Speaker 1: met him on the street, you wouldn't have even known 587 00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:03,520 Speaker 1: he was a pilot. You would have never known he 588 00:36:03,560 --> 00:36:06,760 Speaker 1: was an officer. You know, he never boasted about those things. 589 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:10,720 Speaker 1: And um, and that's one thing that his marines remember 590 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:13,640 Speaker 1: about him is that even though he was their commander, 591 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:17,120 Speaker 1: he was just one of them, you know, he was 592 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:21,759 Speaker 1: there was a real brotherhood because he just never saw 593 00:36:21,840 --> 00:36:28,360 Speaker 1: himself better than anybody else. Just just an amazing person. Obviously, 594 00:36:28,440 --> 00:36:31,600 Speaker 1: this is not something that's easy or fun for a family. 595 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:33,760 Speaker 1: I mean, what could be more devastating than to lose 596 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:37,280 Speaker 1: your older brother, lose somebody who's such a wonderful human being. 597 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:41,520 Speaker 1: How does a family deal with that? How do you 598 00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:43,680 Speaker 1: get by? How do you move on? I mean, I 599 00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:45,600 Speaker 1: think about my own sons. I think about the thing 600 00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:52,840 Speaker 1: about losing my own brothers. It just kills me. Yeah. Actually, 601 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:56,000 Speaker 1: you know, I you know, after I wrote the book, 602 00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:58,680 Speaker 1: I well, the reason why I wrote the book is 603 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:01,440 Speaker 1: because I really wanted to give siblings a voice, because 604 00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: I consider them they forgotten mourners. Because after a loss, 605 00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:11,040 Speaker 1: and I think after any kind of loss, it's natural 606 00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:16,040 Speaker 1: for people to gravitate towards the parents and the spouse 607 00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:19,880 Speaker 1: and the children, and the siblings often become sort of 608 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:24,720 Speaker 1: the support system for everybody else. And there's been studies 609 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:27,640 Speaker 1: that show that siblings don't even really begin the grieving 610 00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:31,719 Speaker 1: process and until about two years after the loss, and 611 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:34,200 Speaker 1: that's sort of where I was. And in about four 612 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:39,480 Speaker 1: months after my brother was killed, you know, I fell 613 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:44,600 Speaker 1: into a very very deep depression. I was hospitalized. I 614 00:37:44,640 --> 00:37:48,160 Speaker 1: was having suicidal ideation. I just I didn't know how 615 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:50,879 Speaker 1: to cope in life without him. You know, he was 616 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:53,880 Speaker 1: we had been together since we were born, and he 617 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,160 Speaker 1: was my best friend and he was like a father 618 00:37:56,239 --> 00:38:00,200 Speaker 1: figure to me. And so you know, I just I 619 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:04,879 Speaker 1: really postponed my own my own grief for a long time. 620 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:07,719 Speaker 1: It took me a long time to to get out 621 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:11,600 Speaker 1: of that, but I did, and I wanted to write 622 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:14,600 Speaker 1: my story. You know. I wrote Always My Hero UM 623 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:18,600 Speaker 1: to give siblings a voice. And even as recently the 624 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:21,200 Speaker 1: last eighteen months, I've been working on the screenplay and 625 00:38:21,239 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: I just did the final edits yesterday, and so I've 626 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:29,480 Speaker 1: really been immersed, um the last couple of days, especially 627 00:38:29,560 --> 00:38:32,080 Speaker 1: just going over it over, you know, just reading it 628 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:35,560 Speaker 1: over and over and over. You know about that sibling bond, 629 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:39,960 Speaker 1: and um, you know, it's a really important story to tell. 630 00:38:40,040 --> 00:38:44,600 Speaker 1: It's really important that other siblings, especially you know, gold 631 00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:48,440 Speaker 1: Store siblings. UM. Really, anybody who has lost somebody that 632 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:51,920 Speaker 1: they worked close to, you know, brother sister relationship, you 633 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,319 Speaker 1: know that they feel validated. And um, you know, I 634 00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:59,560 Speaker 1: was reading statistics and there's more households that have siblings 635 00:39:00,080 --> 00:39:05,759 Speaker 1: than have fathers. So that's an overwhelming statistic when you 636 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:09,959 Speaker 1: think about siblings spend more time their entire lives than 637 00:39:10,239 --> 00:39:15,040 Speaker 1: any other person, yet they're the least recognized, you know, 638 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:20,319 Speaker 1: after a tragedy like this. Renee, thank you so much 639 00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:22,680 Speaker 1: for writing the book, for helping people through it. I 640 00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:25,680 Speaker 1: appreciate you. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. 641 00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:31,480 Speaker 1: I really appreciate the opportunity. Yes, man semplified, thank you. 642 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:53,960 Speaker 1: All right, we've got final thoughts. Thanks all right. Memorial Day? 643 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:57,600 Speaker 1: What should you do? What should you not to? Listen? 644 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:03,520 Speaker 1: There is value and remembering the fallen, remembering the fallen. 645 00:40:03,560 --> 00:40:06,680 Speaker 1: There's value for the future of the country because what 646 00:40:06,680 --> 00:40:13,360 Speaker 1: you're doing is you're telling the next generation. Hey, service, sacrifice, duty, honor. 647 00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:18,040 Speaker 1: These are good things. Remember, culture is not complicated. Culture 648 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:21,640 Speaker 1: is simply what you incentivize and what you disincentivize. And 649 00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:23,400 Speaker 1: what you incentivize you're going to get more of, and 650 00:40:23,440 --> 00:40:26,560 Speaker 1: what you disincentivize you're going to get less of. Today, 651 00:40:26,800 --> 00:40:31,360 Speaker 1: Memorial Day is a wonderful day. To honor the fallen. 652 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:34,160 Speaker 1: Pull out a medal of honor, citation. They're all online 653 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:37,239 Speaker 1: for free. Read some of the posthumous ones of men 654 00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:39,120 Speaker 1: who gave their lives. Read them to your kids, Read 655 00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:41,320 Speaker 1: them to your wife, read them to your husband. Gather 656 00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:45,239 Speaker 1: your family together, but enjoy yourself too. Have a hot dog, 657 00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:48,160 Speaker 1: enjoy the pool, shoot off some fireworks, have a beer. 658 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:50,680 Speaker 1: I'm telling you, those who gave their lives for this 659 00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:53,719 Speaker 1: country would want you to, all right, So we honor 660 00:40:53,760 --> 00:41:08,480 Speaker 1: the fallen on this Memorial Day. Let's see. Each morning, 661 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:11,640 Speaker 1: the President of the United States receives a highly classified 662 00:41:11,640 --> 00:41:14,680 Speaker 1: briefing on the most important issues facing the country. It's 663 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:18,200 Speaker 1: called the President's Daily Brief, or PDB. It's delivered by 664 00:41:18,239 --> 00:41:21,399 Speaker 1: America's spies and analysts. Well, now you can hear your 665 00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:24,720 Speaker 1: very own PDB in the form of a podcast hosted 666 00:41:24,719 --> 00:41:28,400 Speaker 1: by me Brian Dean Wright, a former CIA operations officer. 667 00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:31,440 Speaker 1: Each morning at six am Eastern, I'll bring you fifteen 668 00:41:31,480 --> 00:41:34,120 Speaker 1: to twenty minutes of the most important issues facing the country, 669 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:37,879 Speaker 1: giving you the critical intelligence and analysis you need to 670 00:41:37,880 --> 00:41:39,040 Speaker 1: start your morning.