0:02 who are you and where are you going what do you [Music] want hello and welcome to the wa a while show special edition for Veterans Day I'm your host Kevin bemel and the special editions come when there's a holiday day of of import for us as Americans today as as I've um I as I
0:37 once discussed on I believe it was business lessons from the military is one of three holidays that uh commemorate or Mark the service of people who have been in the military um there is Armed Forces Day which which um uh SE celebrates those people who are actively serving there is Memorial Day which which commemorates those who died um while serving in the American Military and there is Veterans Day today which is
1:13 today the 11th of November each year and that and Veterans Day celebrates those who served in the military um but were fortunate enough not not to die so um for example I'm a military veteran and for for today's show first of all I'm going to go through um a little bit of the the history of Veterans Day so you can understand what it's all about and then I'm going to be reading a speech by that Ronald Reagan gave at pant to Hope
1:50 um in commemoration of dday so first of all um Veterans Day basically dates back to the uh first world war it was originally known as Armistice Day so the Armistice ending World War I happened at the 11th Hour I.E 11: a.m. on November 11th so the 11th month the 11th day at the 11th Hour in 1918 and hostilities ceased and um at
2:27 the time World War I was not known as World War I because it was the only World War it was known as The Great War and so Armistice Day was created to honor those who had um fought in in the Great War in the F what became the first world war so Armistice Day um became a national holiday in 1938 when Congress passed a resolution making it so and it's it's fol Focus was honoring veterans of World War I um and and and
3:05 it was a day dedicated to promoting World Peace So I think there's this idea around that people who serve in the military are somehow all militaristic um that is in my experience the absolute farthest from the truth it's much harder to be militaristic when you and your colleagues may be the ones called upon to be to go into combat to be wounded or
3:41 killed in in the line of duty and and so most people certainly the vast majority of people in the military their reason for being in the military is to provide a strong deterrence to to war and military action on the part of America's geopolitical competitors um but most of us um have no desire to to go to war um you know we would we would much rather stay in
4:16 Garrison and train or I I know when I was on um when I was on deployment um I I we had a very difficult deployment um but talking to some of my colleagues who'd been on deployments before they remembered fondly the days when a US ship would would do what was called a a westpack a Western Pacific deployment and every few days they would pull into a new port and and visit uh you know what the the sites there several in Japan and Hong Kong fukat um I think
4:54 they even called in Kolkata places in Australia and it was like in some ways going on a you know a cruise a real a real Cruise as opposed to a military Cruise um they much preferred that to the kind of deployment we were on where we were running uh flight operations almost continuously and dealing with either humanitarian assistance we were the first ship on the scene after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in in 2011 or um uh actual military operations
5:29 training or or even worse we um we conducted operations to look for a sailor who had fallen overboard off of another ship um and uh one of one of the saddest duties we had to do so um I would say that the typical person in the military is is is much more desirous of Peace um than they are of of War but they understand that uh as was the slogan of our ship the USS Ronald Reagan peace comes through strength not through weakness so in
6:04 1954 after World War II and the Korean War um the the the holiday was expanded to honor all veterans of all wars not just um World War I and in doing so um at the time um uh Dwight Eisenhower was President the name of the holiday was officially changed to Veterans Day and and so um beginning on um November 11th um of of
6:40 1954 the practice of honoring Veterans of All American war all wars in which America has been a participant uh started and and so that has been the case now this is the uh 70th Veterans Day even though the holiday dates back over a hundred years so um between 1968 and 1975 the uniform holiday bill was passed and and and well that that law was passed in in
7:15 1968 and the idea was to create more three-day weekends for federal employees now with all due respect to federal employees um and I remember when this law changed I was eight years old at the time and and they created something called President's Day instead of uh Washington and Lincoln's birthday and I I really thought that that was not the right thing to do um Washington and Lincoln are the two greatest presidents of the United States ever and I and I felt that their birthdays we should have continued to honor their birthdays and
7:52 the idea of honoring presidents or sort of the office of president that doesn't sound like something America should do frankly um and and in fact not all presidents were were necessarily good and certainly not all presidents um you know achieve the kind of things that Washington and Lincoln did and so um on um in 1974 uh Veterans Day was moved to the first or sorry the fourth Monday in uh
8:28 November however um that proved very unpopular with the American people and so um it was inh 1975 under President Gerald Ford that the original date of November 11th was restored beginning in 1978 and to to to restore the tradition to honor the tradition and again to to to tie Veterans Day to its his historic uh um pre proceder proceder I guess yeah
9:04 um Armistice Day um and so uh since 1978 um Veterans Day has been celebrated on November 11th and and the um it is a Federal holiday interestingly enough um The Wall Street Journal was uh delivered today which must mean that the stock market was open today which um I'm surprised because I believe it is a bank holiday as as well um but um but but in any event um I know I've been receiving
9:41 messages I received a message from um one of my colleagues Renee Lawson um with whom I served at uh um um this the Seal team um you know congratulations brother on on you know Veterans Day and and um i' um a very good friend of mine um Bill gross called me yesterday um in case we weren't able to connect today to um thank me for my service that was very nice of Bill to do that I I know he appreciates it um he he
10:16 he he says so often um and um you know from my perspective aside from the parades and and and such that often happen on Veterans Day it's the the person Al expressions from my um my military colleagues and from my fellow citizens I know that make um that mean the most to me um while I often tell PE while when I talk about my military service I tell people I did it because I feel it's it I was obligated to do so um
10:52 after what happened on September 11th um the way I I I rather uh um pointedly describe it is at the time I was living in Beverly Hills a very comfortable life and the thought of young people getting their backsides shot off so that I could maintain uh you know my my Liberty just didn't sit well with me and so so that's why I um eventually joined the the not eventually and in 2006 um uh joined uh
11:27 joined the Navy um but but again I I I think these these Personal Expressions I I suspect mean the most to Veterans so if you know a veteran reach out to him or her and just you know wish them a a meaningful Veterans Day and and I'm sure they will very greatly appreciate your your doing that um and it's it's fine to post things on social media I saw uh what was it uh I don't know on on Instagram this morning I I saw um you
12:03 know a number of postings happy Veterans Day a couple were from businesses a couple were from friends of mine those are those are very nice to do too um but I I know for myself I I like a rather you know rather understated um recognition of those things so um in in in honor of Veterans Day as I mentioned at the beginning uh I'm going to read um Ronald Reagan's remarks at the ceremony commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Normandy invasion otherwise known as D-Day at
12:40 pant du Hulk in in France um D-Day was of course on the 6th of June 1944 and um he was at um uh P the hook um in 1984 on June 6th and and um President Reagan's purpose was to uh was to explain the significance of of the battle um to put it in its uh historical context um and there were many veterans on hand um when he gave
13:18 the speech and although the speech uh is a tribute to those both who survived the battle and and those who fell and so you could say it might be more appropriate for Memorial Day I think it's while Ronald while President Reagan certainly wanted to honor the dead I think he had a bigger message and that was as he rebuilt his policy of peace through strength to uh bring back um a respect for the military um because of the Vietnam War uh the military had
13:55 fallen in the eyes of many Americans and President Reagan was instrumental in recrating how people in this country looked at the military I I've told many many especially young service members how fortunate we are who served during a time when the vast major majority the overwhelming majority of our fellow citizens have a very uh high level of respect uh for the military because I remember as a child that was not that was not not the case again as a result
14:31 of of of the Vietnam War and so um among the um the themes that President Reagan developed were were heroism and sacrifice which were both um demonstrated in in a to a huge degree um during dday in a particular by the Rangers who whose assignment it was to scale The Cliffs at Quanto book um and take out the guns that were up there um but his he had other themes unity and Liberty were his themes
15:08 Unity among the Allied Forces um who who landed on D-Day which included not only the United States Canada and Great Britain but there were French polish um soldiers and um and from many many Allied Nations I I I believe there was a a toal of 40 in all I could be wrong on that number um but this of course 1984 the Cold War was still going on although it would end about five years later um but but um President Reagan also wanted
15:45 to rally um our allies to continue the Cold War fight um to defend Freedom um and and and and to you know keep pressing um to keep pressure I should say on the Soviet Union and finally um the other theme of his speech was uh the Legacy and responsibility that each generation of Americans has to Future Generations we we do not live and and
16:20 and in in a vacuum um it is it is not the case that we can be selfish um and and only care about what happens in our country now um and and typically that was not the case for Americans typically Americans were always looking to how do we make our country better for the next generation and and and that was another very powerful theme of of um President Reagan's PTO hook speech and so um I'm gonna read the speech now um I'm and um
16:55 I invite you if you have a cup of coffee to just sit back and and and listen and and think about um what uh you know what President Reagan was was trying to you know convey um to our our fellow our fellow Americans and our allies and even our enemies uh throughout the world we're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to
17:31 Liberty for four long years much of Europe had been under a terrible Shadow free Nations had fallen Jews cried out in the camps Millions cried out for Liberation Europe was enslaved and the world prayed for its rescue here in Normandy the rescue began here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history we stand on a lonely Windswept point on the Northern shore of France the air is soft but 40 years ago at this moment the
18:08 air was dense with smoke and the cries of men and the air filled with the crack of rifle fire and the Roar of cannon at dawn on the morning of the 6th of June 1944 225 Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these Cliffs their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion to climb these sheer and desolate Cliffs and take out the enemy guns the Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here and they would be trained on the beaches
18:44 to stop the Allied Advance the Rangers looked up and saw the enemy Soldiers the edge of the Cliffs Shooting down at them saw the enemy shoulders the edge of the cliff shooting down at them with machine guns and throwing grenades and the American Rangers began to climb they shot rope ladders over the face of these Cliffs and began to pull themselves up when one Ranger fell another would take his place when one rope was cut Ranger a ranger would grab another and begin his climb again they climbed shot back and held their footing soon one by
19:21 one the Rangers pulled themselves over the top and in seizing the firm land at the top of these Cliffs they began to seize back the continent of Europe 225 came here after two days of fighting only 90 could still bear arms behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these Cliffs and before me are the men who put them there these are the boys of pant hook these are the men who took the cliffs These Are the Champions who
19:56 helped free a continent the these are the heroes who helped end a war gentlemen I look at you and I think of the words of Step spender poem you are man you are man who in your lives fought for life the then left the Vivid air signed with your honor I think I know what you may be thinking right now thinking we were just part of a bigger effort everyone was Brave that day well everyone was was do you know the story of Bill Millan of the
20:32 51st Highlanders 40 years ago today British troops were pinned down near a bridge waiting desperately for help suddenly they heard the sound of bag pipes and some thought they were dreaming well they weren't they looked up and saw Bill Millan with his bag pipes leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of the bullets into the ground around him Lord love it was with him Lord Lov it of Scotland who calmly announced when he got to the bridge sorry I'm a few minutes late as
21:07 if he'd been delayed by a traffic jam when in truth he'd just come from the bloody fighting on sword Beach which he and his men had just taken there were the impossible Valor of the poles who threw themselves between the enemy and the rest of Europe as The Invasion took hold and un and the unsurpassed curse of the Canadians who had already seen the horrors of War on this Coast they knew what awaited them there but they would not be detoured and once they hit Juno Beach they never looked back all of these men were part of a
21:43 roll call of Honor with names that spoke of a pride as bright as the colors they bore the Royal Winnipeg rifle rifles Poland's 24th Lancers the Royal Scott fusers the Screaming Eagles the men of England's armored divisions the force of free French the Coast Guard's Matchbox box Fleet and you the American Rangers 40 Summers have passed since the battle that you fought here you were young the day you took these Cliffs some of you were hardly more than boys with
22:19 the deepest deepest joys of life before you yet you risked everything here why why did you do it what impelled you to put aside the Instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these Cliffs what inspired all the men of the armies that met here we look at you and somehow we know the answer it was faith and belief it was loyalty and love the men of Normandy had faith that
22:56 what they were doing was right faith that they fought for all Humanity faith that a just God would grant them Mercy on this beach head or the next it was the Deep knowledge and pray God we have not lost it that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for Liberation and the use of force for Conquest you were here to liberate not to conquer and so you and those others did not doubt your cause and you were right not to
23:32 doubt you all knew that some things are worth dying for one's country is worth dying for and democracy is worth dying for because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man all of you loved Liberty all of you were willing to fight tyranny and you knew the people of your countries were behind you theic Americans who fought here that morning knew word of the invasion was spreading through the darkness back home they fought or they fell felt in their hearts
24:09 though they couldn't know in fact that in Georgia they were filling the churches at 400 a.m. in Kansas they were kneeling on their porches and praying and in Philadelphia they were ringing the Liberty Bell something else helped the men of D-Day their rockard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here that God was an ally in this great cause and so the night before The Invasion when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer he
24:45 told them do not bow your heads but look up so you can see God and ask his Blessing in what we're about to do also that night General Matthew Ridgeway on his cot listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua I will not fail thee nor forsake thee these are the things that that impelled them these are the things that shaped the unity of the allies when the war was over there were
25:20 lives to be rebuilt and governments to be returned to the people there were Nations to be reborn above all there was a new peace to be assured these were huge and daunting tasks but the Allies summoned this summon strength strength from the faith belief loyalty and love of those who fell here they rebuilt a new Europe together there was first a great re reconciliation among those who had been enemies all of whom had suffered so
25:57 greatly the United States did its part creating the Marshall Plan to help rebuild our allies and our former enemies the Marshall Plan led to the Atlantic Alliance a great Alliance that serves to this day as our Shield of freedom for prosperity and for peace in spite of our great efforts and successes not all that followed the end of the war was happy or planned some liberated countries were lost the great sadness of this loss Echoes down to our
26:33 own time in the streets of Warsaw Prague and East Berlin Soviet troops that came to the center of this continent did not leave when peace came they're still there Uninvited unwanted unyielding almost 40 years after the war because of this Allied Forces still stand on this continent today as 40 years ago our armies are here for only one purpose to
27:09 protect and defend democracy the only territories we hold are memorials like this one and graveyards where our heroes rest we in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars it is better to be here ready to protect the peace than to take blind shelter across the sea rushing to respond only after freedom is lost we've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an
27:44 acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent but we try always to be prepared for peace prepared to deter aggression prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms and yes prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation in truth there is no reconciliation we would welcome more than a reconciliation with the Soviet Union so that together we can lessen the risks of War now and
28:23 forever it's fitting to remember here the great losses also suffered by the Russian people during World War II 20 million perished a terrible price that testifies to all the world the necessity of ending War I tell you from my heart that we in the United States do not want war we want to wipe from the face of the Earth the terrible weapons that man now has in his hands and I tell you we are ready to seize that beach head we look for some
29:00 sign from the Soviet Union that they are willing to move forward that they share our desire and love for peace and that they will give up the ways of Conquest there must be a changing there that will allow us to turn our hope into action we are bound to we will pray forever that someday that changing will come but for now particularly today it is good and fitting to renew our commitment
29:36 to each other to our freedom and to the alliance that protects it we are bound today by what bound us 40 years ago the same loyalties traditions and beliefs we're Bound by reality the strength of America's allies is vital to to the United States and the American Security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe's democracies we were with you then we are with you now your hopes are our hopes
30:15 and your destiny is our destiny here in this place where the West held together let us make a vow to our dead let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgeway listened I will not fail thee nor forsake thee strengthened by their Courage heartened by their Val value and Valor
30:50 and born by their memory let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died thank you very much and God bless you all anyone who's ever heard Ronald Reagan speak knows that he's much more compelling than I am uh but I think that like I do on these special editions U to hear words not to tell us
31:27 but to remind us about the most important things in life something that we need to do to renew ourselves and and to make these holidays commemorative days meaningful so I I thank you so much for joining me today November 11th 20124 to all of my military colleagues are out there Shipmates all I I wish you the most happy and meaningful Veterans
32:04 Day I thank you very deeply for being my colleague in arms my colleagues in arms and I wish you use the Hebrew word Shalom which is typically translated as peace but what it really means is wholeness those of us who served especially who were deployed spent time away from our families time away from our loved ones and in some ways had our
32:40 lives wrenched apart many of us struggle to put our lives back together and so it is in the hope that you have gained Shalom gained Ed wholeness that I wish this for you and for those of you still engaged in that struggle my prayer is that soon very soon you will gain Shalom you will gain the peace that comes through wholeness
33:16 once again so I wish you a wonderful rest of the day and look forward to seeing you at the other shows later this week signing off to my my dear Marie who was always so proud of my military service you are my bell darling courage at all times my