November 13, 2023 • 19 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Vince Benedetto delivers the awe-inspiring story of our first president.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we returned to our American stories. Up next, a
story from Vince Benedetto, a friend and a veteran and founder,
president and CEO of Bold Gold Media Group, which owns
and operates radio stations throughout Pennsylvania and New York. Today,
Vince shares with us the story of who he considers
to be America's first true superhero. Take it away, Vince.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Over the past several years, I've been invited to be
the Veterans Day speaker at area public high schools and
middle schools throughout northeast Pennsylvania. As a graduate of the
Air Force Academy and a former Air Force Captain and
OSA Special Agent, I'm frequently asked to speak at events
honoring our military. However, speaking to teenagers is an altogether
different and terrifying experience. During more typical speaking engagements, the
(01:12):
audience are there to hear what I have to say. Specifically,
speaking at a high school, well, they have to be there.
One's thoughts immediately go to how to say things differently
to them in a way that will connect, keep their attention,
and hopefully illuminate something that will contribute to their lives
during their most formidable years. In my most recent remarks,
(01:37):
I decided to go big to challenge the very notions,
whatever they may be, of why they should even care
at all about our veterans preceding my remarks, and to
set the mood, I asked that a short clip from
Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address be played. It's the part
where the newly sworn in president is essentially giving his
audience a tour of the Washington Mall. He's pointing out
(01:58):
the major monuments representing the giants from our history.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Standing here, one faces a magnificent vista.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
At the end of this open mall.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Are those shrines to the giants on whose shoulders we
stand directly in front of me.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
A monument to a monumental.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Man, George Washington, father of our country, a man of
humility who came to greatness.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Reluctantly those to Washington, to Jefferson, and to Lincoln. But
shortly after he turns his attention to those quote sloping
hills just beyond, you know, to Arlington National Cemetery.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
With its row upon row of simple white markers bearing
crosses or stars of David. They add up to only
a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid
for our freedom.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
From amongst those thousands upon thousands of white markers, he
resurren the story of Martin Trepptel.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Under one such marker lies a young man who left
his job in a small town barber shop in nineteen
seventeen to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division.
There on the Western Front, he was killed trying to
carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
On his person was found a diary under the words
my pledge. Martin had written these.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Words, America must win this war.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice,
I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my
utmost as if the issue of the whole struggle depended
on me alone.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Strikingly, during this tender moment of his remark and in
front of the whole world, Reagan's voice cracks as he's
fighting back tears during the telling of this remarkable young hero.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
So upon the.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Completion of this clip, the hundreds of teens in the
audience are paying attention, some even have some tears in
their eyes, along with nearly all of the teachers in attendance.
Now that I feel the mood has been said. It's
my turn to begin my Veterans' Day remarks, and I
ask them some blunt questions that surprise them. I ask,
why do we celebrate our military and our veterans? Why
(04:34):
do you even care that I am a veteran? And
for that matter, why do we honor and celebrate Armed
Forces Day and Memorial Day? I probe them for some
audience participation, and a few hands go up. Some of
the students answer with, quote, they serve their country, quote
our military protects our freedom, and freedom isn't free. And
(04:54):
I'm pleased with these responses, as they are all excellent
answers to my questions. I then ask another question. I
ask who here has seen an American soldier in uniform?
Every hand in the room goes up, every single one.
I ask, well, what did you feel when you saw
(05:15):
those soldiers in uniform? And I kind of prod them
to shout out some answers, and some said pride, patriotism, safety.
I proceed with my line of questioning, so I say,
who here has seen an American soldier and felt afraid?
Not one hand goes up, but I prod them a
(05:35):
little more. I say, no, one I mean, our soldiers
are very powerful people. They are trained to fight, they
have guns. No one here has ever felt fear in
their hearts upon seeing a uniform American soldier, and still
not one hand was raised. And at that moment I
tell them, I said, this, this is why we celebrate
(06:00):
Veteran's Day. This is why we celebrate our military in America.
And I share with them that in much of the world,
people do not celebrate their military. They fear it. In
much of the world, the military is viewed as a
tool of the government to oppress them, not to serve them.
I tell them that in order to understand all this,
we need to have a short American history lesson. I
(06:23):
asked them to imagine the world as it was on
July third, seventeen seventy six. At this time, everyone alive
on the planet lived under some form of a dictatorship.
But on July fourth, seventeen seventy six, it all changed. Suddenly,
(06:46):
Americans had declared their independence, and more importantly, Americans had
declared that they were free. However, this still did not
fully answer the question of why we do not fear
our military in America. To understand this, I told them
we would have to turn to a person who is
often considered our first American soldier and a real life superhero,
(07:06):
George Washington. To Washington in seventeen seventy five, having been
appointed as the commander in chief of the Continental Army,
and I reminded them, this is an army that for
the most part didn't even exist at that moment, had
the enormous task of building and leading a fighting force
against the British Empire, the most powerful military force in
(07:28):
the world at that time. As I began to share
with them the story of General George Washington. On the
screen behind me was an image of Washington's command flag
during the American Revolution, as an early testament to his
brilliant leadership instincts. The flag has thirteen equally sized, six
pointed white stars against the blue field. Washington well understood
(07:49):
the parochial and rivalrous mindset of those who would now
need to unite under seemingly impossible odds. In the eighteenth century,
most Americans never traveled outside of their city, let alone
their state. I told him his battle flag did not
represent him, it represented them as a soldier in this
new army under this bold Virginian as they marched into
(08:10):
battle behind him. Whether you were from a small state
or one of the large states, you knew that one
of those stars on his flag represented you and your home.
I asked these young kids, I said, to further, try
and imagine something else. To imagine that after the war,
having won our independence, George Washington was now one of
the most famous people in the world, throughout not only Britain,
(08:31):
but also the halls of Europe. It was assumed that
Washington would now become a king in America. This was
just the way it always had been. The general of
the victorious army becomes the new ruler. It was of
course assumed by King George the Third, who reportedly believed
that the Americans were merely changing quote one King George
for another. The King, having learned that Washington was to
(08:53):
resign his commission and return to his home at Mount Vernon,
believed Washington was the greatest man in the world and
the greatest character here.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Of the age.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And when we come back more from Vince Benedetto on
the story of George Washington, here on our American stories.
(10:09):
And we returned to our American stories when we last
left off, Vince Benedetto was tasked with telling a group
of school students why we respect and love our veterans
here in this country. He mentioned that to understand why,
we have to look back to who, and that's to
George Washington. Let's continue with the story.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I then asked the students to travel with me in
their minds to another moment and place and time in
the final days of the Revolutionary War, to Newburgh, New York,
seventeen eighty three. The new nation was financially struggling and
the Congress was unable to meet its payment obligations to
the Continental Army. This was leading to severe unrest amongst
the officers and soldiers. A plan was actually hatched amongst
(10:56):
some high ranking officers to use the military to take
over or threatened the government until their demands were met. However,
one indispensable man would stand in their way, George Washington.
Learning of the growing plans within his army, Washington called
for a meeting of his officers at their headquarters in Newburgh.
(11:17):
Washington indicated that he would not himself be in attendance,
essentially deferring to the commander below him, General Horatio Gates,
therefore started off the meeting, feeding into the growing frenzy
for hostile action against the Congress. Suddenly, General Washington walked
into the room and took command of the events in progress.
(11:38):
Many of the officers had not seen the general for
some time. They noticed that he had aged, and the
General then did something profound. He explained to them that
this was the moment at the end of the war
where their example was most important. Washington told them they
were men of honor, and this precious moment would require
(11:58):
their greatest patriots and virtue. In essence, this was their
ultimate test. Washington then assured them he was working on
their behalf to resolve their grievances. He pulled a letter
from Congress out of his vest. He began to read
it to them, but his eyesight was failing him and
he was struggling to see the letter. Perhaps sensing his
(12:19):
officers noticed this moment of vulnerability, he paused. He then
reached into his pocket and pulled out his eyeglasses. The
general then looked solemnly at his military family and said
to them, gentlemen, you must pardon me, for I have
not only grown gray, but almost blind in service to
(12:40):
my country. By all accounts, at that very moment the
coup was over. There were tears in the eyes of
his officers. They loved their general, and Washington, who himself
had sacrificed so much, and who at all times had
placed the principles for which they thought above himself, was
holding true, and his example at that moment became their example.
(13:03):
Once again, Washington had saved the revolution. Later that same year,
Washington would do what the whole of the world doubted
would ever have been done. On December twenty third, seventeen
eighty three, one of the greatest days in recorded history,
General George Washington, the most popular and powerful person in
the United States, resigned his commission before the Continental Congress
(13:28):
and returned to his home at Mount Vernon. The world
was stunned. This had not and does not happen until now.
Of course, this would not even be the last time
Washington would willingly walk away from power. When he later
went on to be our first president. The rulers of
other nations again assumed he would serve until his death,
(13:49):
But once again Washington defied the forces of history and
of human nature, and after his second term, he stepped
away and retired again to his beloved Mount Vernon. Sensing
that the students were gaining a new respect for their
history and the father of our country, I desired to
(14:10):
make some final points about what underlines this sense of
trust and love that Americans have for our veterans. I
shared with them that every American who joins our armed
forces takes an oath. Of course, taking an oath prior
to joining a military is not all that special, But
the oath we take to join the American military is very,
very different. I explained to them that in our oath,
(14:34):
our soldiers do something quite peculiar. We swear an oath
not to the president or the government, and not even
to the country itself. We swear an oath to a
certain thing, the Constitution. I pointed out the historical significance
and beauty of swearing to quote, support and defend the
(14:54):
Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. Again,
and we as Americans sense and feel that our military
is not to be feared, but loved, for they are
a powerful force that represents our rights as Americans. Our
sense that government serves the people and not the other
way around, as commonplace. But I had to tell them
(15:17):
throughout most of the world and throughout almost all of history,
this was not the case. What we have here in
America is quite miraculous, and all of this would not
be if not for George Washington. It was George Washington
(15:37):
who defied the way of things. It was George Washington
who enabled the feeling that our military represents the entirety
of the nation. It was George Washington who started the
tradition of the military being subservient to the people's elected
civilian representatives. It was George Washington who had unwavering fidelity
to representative government and our eventual constitutional order. It was
(16:00):
George Washington who successfully was able to help the American
people transfer their love and trust in him into faithfulness
to our constitution and its principles. It was George Washington
who said, quote, the Constitution is the guide which I
never will abandon. It was George Washington who, more than
(16:20):
any other American, was able to get the people to
begin to look beyond their parochial visions and to think
continentally as a union. It was George Washington who showed
us the virtue of the powerful being the servants of
the people and not the other way around. Upon Washington's death,
John Adams wrote, quote, his example is now complete, and
(16:43):
it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens and men,
not only in the present age, but in future generations.
As long as our history shall be read. It was
always Washington. He was America's rock upon which our nation
could be built. He is America's real life superhero. So
(17:09):
why do we honor and celebrate our veterans and our military.
I pose this question to them again. We celebrate them
because they have fought and stand ready to fight, not
just to defend us here and now the living, but
also for all future generations. They defend our important traditions
and customs that must go on if individual liberty is
(17:29):
to go on. We honor our veterans because they signed
on the dotted line to defend with their very lives
if necessary, the idea that, as Abraham Lincoln said in
his Gettysburg Address, government of the people, by the people,
and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
And it is true that without America the world would
be a very very dark place. Without the American soldier,
(17:52):
without our veterans, civilization, at least civilizations we know it
would have perished, the light of individual liber would have
long since been extinguished. It has frequently been remarked, I
told them that the words of Thomas Jefferson would mean
little without the sword of George Washington. Stated similarly, all
of the words of liberty, freedom, and American exceptionalism would
(18:16):
not be without the heroes who defended it all. And
every person who joins the American Armed Forces takes that oath,
and they become part of the long unbroken line of
military service in America that began with George Washington. To
(18:38):
today we can trace it all back to our real
life superhero George Washington.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
And a special thanks to Monty Montgomery for producing the piece.
A Hillsdale graduate and a proud one, and a special
thanks to Vince Benedetto, who built a Hillsdale radio station,
and Reverend Central Michigan. Visit Hillsdale College, you will be
so impressed. The words of Thomas Jefferson would have meant
little without the sword of George Washington. And today we celebrate,
(19:12):
as Vince put it, the long unbroken line of civilian
military service and heroism to defend freedom, not just here
but across the globe. On our American stories,
And we returned to our American stories. Up next, a
story from Vince Benedetto, a friend and a veteran and founder,
president and CEO of Bold Gold Media Group, which owns
and operates radio stations throughout Pennsylvania and New York. Today,
Vince shares with us the story of who he considers
to be America's first true superhero. Take it away, Vince.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Over the past several years, I've been invited to be
the Veterans Day speaker at area public high schools and
middle schools throughout northeast Pennsylvania. As a graduate of the
Air Force Academy and a former Air Force Captain and
OSA Special Agent, I'm frequently asked to speak at events
honoring our military. However, speaking to teenagers is an altogether
different and terrifying experience. During more typical speaking engagements, the
(01:12):
audience are there to hear what I have to say. Specifically,
speaking at a high school, well, they have to be there.
One's thoughts immediately go to how to say things differently
to them in a way that will connect, keep their attention,
and hopefully illuminate something that will contribute to their lives
during their most formidable years. In my most recent remarks,
(01:37):
I decided to go big to challenge the very notions,
whatever they may be, of why they should even care
at all about our veterans preceding my remarks, and to
set the mood, I asked that a short clip from
Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address be played. It's the part
where the newly sworn in president is essentially giving his
audience a tour of the Washington Mall. He's pointing out
(01:58):
the major monuments representing the giants from our history.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Standing here, one faces a magnificent vista.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
At the end of this open mall.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Are those shrines to the giants on whose shoulders we
stand directly in front of me.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
A monument to a monumental.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Man, George Washington, father of our country, a man of
humility who came to greatness.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Reluctantly those to Washington, to Jefferson, and to Lincoln. But
shortly after he turns his attention to those quote sloping
hills just beyond, you know, to Arlington National Cemetery.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
With its row upon row of simple white markers bearing
crosses or stars of David. They add up to only
a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid
for our freedom.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
From amongst those thousands upon thousands of white markers, he
resurren the story of Martin Trepptel.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Under one such marker lies a young man who left
his job in a small town barber shop in nineteen
seventeen to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division.
There on the Western Front, he was killed trying to
carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
On his person was found a diary under the words
my pledge. Martin had written these.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Words, America must win this war.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice,
I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my
utmost as if the issue of the whole struggle depended
on me alone.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Strikingly, during this tender moment of his remark and in
front of the whole world, Reagan's voice cracks as he's
fighting back tears during the telling of this remarkable young hero.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
So upon the.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Completion of this clip, the hundreds of teens in the
audience are paying attention, some even have some tears in
their eyes, along with nearly all of the teachers in attendance.
Now that I feel the mood has been said. It's
my turn to begin my Veterans' Day remarks, and I
ask them some blunt questions that surprise them. I ask,
why do we celebrate our military and our veterans? Why
(04:34):
do you even care that I am a veteran? And
for that matter, why do we honor and celebrate Armed
Forces Day and Memorial Day? I probe them for some
audience participation, and a few hands go up. Some of
the students answer with, quote, they serve their country, quote
our military protects our freedom, and freedom isn't free. And
(04:54):
I'm pleased with these responses, as they are all excellent
answers to my questions. I then ask another question. I
ask who here has seen an American soldier in uniform?
Every hand in the room goes up, every single one.
I ask, well, what did you feel when you saw
(05:15):
those soldiers in uniform? And I kind of prod them
to shout out some answers, and some said pride, patriotism, safety.
I proceed with my line of questioning, so I say,
who here has seen an American soldier and felt afraid?
Not one hand goes up, but I prod them a
(05:35):
little more. I say, no, one I mean, our soldiers
are very powerful people. They are trained to fight, they
have guns. No one here has ever felt fear in
their hearts upon seeing a uniform American soldier, and still
not one hand was raised. And at that moment I
tell them, I said, this, this is why we celebrate
(06:00):
Veteran's Day. This is why we celebrate our military in America.
And I share with them that in much of the world,
people do not celebrate their military. They fear it. In
much of the world, the military is viewed as a
tool of the government to oppress them, not to serve them.
I tell them that in order to understand all this,
we need to have a short American history lesson. I
(06:23):
asked them to imagine the world as it was on
July third, seventeen seventy six. At this time, everyone alive
on the planet lived under some form of a dictatorship.
But on July fourth, seventeen seventy six, it all changed. Suddenly,
(06:46):
Americans had declared their independence, and more importantly, Americans had
declared that they were free. However, this still did not
fully answer the question of why we do not fear
our military in America. To understand this, I told them
we would have to turn to a person who is
often considered our first American soldier and a real life superhero,
(07:06):
George Washington. To Washington in seventeen seventy five, having been
appointed as the commander in chief of the Continental Army,
and I reminded them, this is an army that for
the most part didn't even exist at that moment, had
the enormous task of building and leading a fighting force
against the British Empire, the most powerful military force in
(07:28):
the world at that time. As I began to share
with them the story of General George Washington. On the
screen behind me was an image of Washington's command flag
during the American Revolution, as an early testament to his
brilliant leadership instincts. The flag has thirteen equally sized, six
pointed white stars against the blue field. Washington well understood
(07:49):
the parochial and rivalrous mindset of those who would now
need to unite under seemingly impossible odds. In the eighteenth century,
most Americans never traveled outside of their city, let alone
their state. I told him his battle flag did not
represent him, it represented them as a soldier in this
new army under this bold Virginian as they marched into
(08:10):
battle behind him. Whether you were from a small state
or one of the large states, you knew that one
of those stars on his flag represented you and your home.
I asked these young kids, I said, to further, try
and imagine something else. To imagine that after the war,
having won our independence, George Washington was now one of
the most famous people in the world, throughout not only Britain,
(08:31):
but also the halls of Europe. It was assumed that
Washington would now become a king in America. This was
just the way it always had been. The general of
the victorious army becomes the new ruler. It was of
course assumed by King George the Third, who reportedly believed
that the Americans were merely changing quote one King George
for another. The King, having learned that Washington was to
(08:53):
resign his commission and return to his home at Mount Vernon,
believed Washington was the greatest man in the world and
the greatest character here.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Of the age.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And when we come back more from Vince Benedetto on
the story of George Washington, here on our American stories.
(10:09):
And we returned to our American stories when we last
left off, Vince Benedetto was tasked with telling a group
of school students why we respect and love our veterans
here in this country. He mentioned that to understand why,
we have to look back to who, and that's to
George Washington. Let's continue with the story.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
I then asked the students to travel with me in
their minds to another moment and place and time in
the final days of the Revolutionary War, to Newburgh, New York,
seventeen eighty three. The new nation was financially struggling and
the Congress was unable to meet its payment obligations to
the Continental Army. This was leading to severe unrest amongst
the officers and soldiers. A plan was actually hatched amongst
(10:56):
some high ranking officers to use the military to take
over or threatened the government until their demands were met. However,
one indispensable man would stand in their way, George Washington.
Learning of the growing plans within his army, Washington called
for a meeting of his officers at their headquarters in Newburgh.
(11:17):
Washington indicated that he would not himself be in attendance,
essentially deferring to the commander below him, General Horatio Gates,
therefore started off the meeting, feeding into the growing frenzy
for hostile action against the Congress. Suddenly, General Washington walked
into the room and took command of the events in progress.
(11:38):
Many of the officers had not seen the general for
some time. They noticed that he had aged, and the
General then did something profound. He explained to them that
this was the moment at the end of the war
where their example was most important. Washington told them they
were men of honor, and this precious moment would require
(11:58):
their greatest patriots and virtue. In essence, this was their
ultimate test. Washington then assured them he was working on
their behalf to resolve their grievances. He pulled a letter
from Congress out of his vest. He began to read
it to them, but his eyesight was failing him and
he was struggling to see the letter. Perhaps sensing his
(12:19):
officers noticed this moment of vulnerability, he paused. He then
reached into his pocket and pulled out his eyeglasses. The
general then looked solemnly at his military family and said
to them, gentlemen, you must pardon me, for I have
not only grown gray, but almost blind in service to
(12:40):
my country. By all accounts, at that very moment the
coup was over. There were tears in the eyes of
his officers. They loved their general, and Washington, who himself
had sacrificed so much, and who at all times had
placed the principles for which they thought above himself, was
holding true, and his example at that moment became their example.
(13:03):
Once again, Washington had saved the revolution. Later that same year,
Washington would do what the whole of the world doubted
would ever have been done. On December twenty third, seventeen
eighty three, one of the greatest days in recorded history,
General George Washington, the most popular and powerful person in
the United States, resigned his commission before the Continental Congress
(13:28):
and returned to his home at Mount Vernon. The world
was stunned. This had not and does not happen until now.
Of course, this would not even be the last time
Washington would willingly walk away from power. When he later
went on to be our first president. The rulers of
other nations again assumed he would serve until his death,
(13:49):
But once again Washington defied the forces of history and
of human nature, and after his second term, he stepped
away and retired again to his beloved Mount Vernon. Sensing
that the students were gaining a new respect for their
history and the father of our country, I desired to
(14:10):
make some final points about what underlines this sense of
trust and love that Americans have for our veterans. I
shared with them that every American who joins our armed
forces takes an oath. Of course, taking an oath prior
to joining a military is not all that special, But
the oath we take to join the American military is very,
very different. I explained to them that in our oath,
(14:34):
our soldiers do something quite peculiar. We swear an oath
not to the president or the government, and not even
to the country itself. We swear an oath to a
certain thing, the Constitution. I pointed out the historical significance
and beauty of swearing to quote, support and defend the
(14:54):
Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. Again,
and we as Americans sense and feel that our military
is not to be feared, but loved, for they are
a powerful force that represents our rights as Americans. Our
sense that government serves the people and not the other
way around, as commonplace. But I had to tell them
(15:17):
throughout most of the world and throughout almost all of history,
this was not the case. What we have here in
America is quite miraculous, and all of this would not
be if not for George Washington. It was George Washington
(15:37):
who defied the way of things. It was George Washington
who enabled the feeling that our military represents the entirety
of the nation. It was George Washington who started the
tradition of the military being subservient to the people's elected
civilian representatives. It was George Washington who had unwavering fidelity
to representative government and our eventual constitutional order. It was
(16:00):
George Washington who successfully was able to help the American
people transfer their love and trust in him into faithfulness
to our constitution and its principles. It was George Washington
who said, quote, the Constitution is the guide which I
never will abandon. It was George Washington who, more than
(16:20):
any other American, was able to get the people to
begin to look beyond their parochial visions and to think
continentally as a union. It was George Washington who showed
us the virtue of the powerful being the servants of
the people and not the other way around. Upon Washington's death,
John Adams wrote, quote, his example is now complete, and
(16:43):
it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens and men,
not only in the present age, but in future generations.
As long as our history shall be read. It was
always Washington. He was America's rock upon which our nation
could be built. He is America's real life superhero. So
(17:09):
why do we honor and celebrate our veterans and our military.
I pose this question to them again. We celebrate them
because they have fought and stand ready to fight, not
just to defend us here and now the living, but
also for all future generations. They defend our important traditions
and customs that must go on if individual liberty is
(17:29):
to go on. We honor our veterans because they signed
on the dotted line to defend with their very lives
if necessary, the idea that, as Abraham Lincoln said in
his Gettysburg Address, government of the people, by the people,
and for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
And it is true that without America the world would
be a very very dark place. Without the American soldier,
(17:52):
without our veterans, civilization, at least civilizations we know it
would have perished, the light of individual liber would have
long since been extinguished. It has frequently been remarked, I
told them that the words of Thomas Jefferson would mean
little without the sword of George Washington. Stated similarly, all
of the words of liberty, freedom, and American exceptionalism would
(18:16):
not be without the heroes who defended it all. And
every person who joins the American Armed Forces takes that oath,
and they become part of the long unbroken line of
military service in America that began with George Washington. To
(18:38):
today we can trace it all back to our real
life superhero George Washington.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
And a special thanks to Monty Montgomery for producing the piece.
A Hillsdale graduate and a proud one, and a special
thanks to Vince Benedetto, who built a Hillsdale radio station,
and Reverend Central Michigan. Visit Hillsdale College, you will be
so impressed. The words of Thomas Jefferson would have meant
little without the sword of George Washington. And today we celebrate,
(19:12):
as Vince put it, the long unbroken line of civilian
military service and heroism to defend freedom, not just here
but across the globe. On our American stories,
Host
Lee Habeeb
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