| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
| I was going to ask you to start off. | ||
| How does this Veterans Day, if there are any differences this Veterans Day that you've seen than the past? | ||
| I think every Veterans Day is different, so I'm glad you asked that. | ||
| I mean, first of all, I just want to start by saying it's a celebratory day. | ||
| It's a day where we can all come together as Americans and recognize all the great men and women who stepped up for every generation. | ||
| It's a little cold here in New York. | ||
| I'm in a remote TV truck, but I know it's a lot easier than being in a cold Humvee overseas or being in the hot desert like so many of our men and women have been doing for decades and generations. | ||
| And I think, you know, this year especially, that celebratory feeling, I always describe it, Pedro, kind of as a combination between homecoming, July 4th, and a birthday party, but it's really about community and connection. | ||
| It's about bringing together all our veterans and their families and the people who care about them really as one country. | ||
| And I think that's especially important now because in my life at least, I've never seen our country more divided. | ||
| There aren't too many commonplaces and common ways we all come together as Americans. | ||
| And Veterans Day should be a day where that is really prioritized, where it's sacred, where maybe we can put the political guns aside, our political differences to the wayside, and we could come together and honor these men and women and honor each other and the spirit of America and the values that those veterans all represent. | ||
| And especially right now, I think, you know, so many folks are divided between Republicans and Democrats. | ||
| And the truth is, most veterans are independent and somewhere in the middle. | ||
| And maybe we can be a connective tissue or at least a pause on this one day to bring this great country together, no matter what your political background or who you voted for. | ||
| And does that even take place as things that we've been talking about, the shutdown, particularly as it does impact veterans and other related issues? | ||
| Can veterans, do you think, still rise above that, or at least those you represent? | ||
| They can. | ||
| They're going to do it in Veterans Day parades and at elementary schools and at breakfast all around the country today. | ||
| I think you're going to see them as an example. | ||
| And that's really what I'd encourage folks to think about, especially if you are a veteran. | ||
| Today's a day to kind of wear your veteran status with pride and also to be a teacher, to explain to people what it's like to put your country over your party, to put your own personal well-being to the side in support of a mission. | ||
| And when you see those veterans walking around or you see them on television or you see them online, I think they can be a true North, an inspiration, and a powerful reminder that veterans are really not just at the tip of the spear in our wars, but also in our policy and in our politics. | ||
| When the shutdown happened, as it continues, roughly 40-45% of federal workers are veterans. | ||
| So that includes all the civilian workers at the Pentagon who are standing guard for our national security, who served in uniform and wanted to continue to serve. | ||
| Those folks have been really hard hit. | ||
| Air traffic controllers, they're folks that often learn those skills in the military. | ||
| So many folks all across our federal government and through its programs have been dramatically impacted, but veterans are especially hard hit. | ||
| And I think that should be kind of a mirror into our society. | ||
| When you think about what the Republicans or the Democrats are saying, I think what you should be listening to, maybe most of all, is what are the veterans saying? | ||
| Because they're more than a canary in the coal mine. | ||
| They're kind of the soul of our country and they represent our values. | ||
| And if veterans are being left out hungry, if veterans are being cut from their jobs, if veterans don't have the benefits they need, then I think that should be a wake-up call for all Americans about how our priorities might be out of whack. | ||
| Mr. Rykoff, one of the things we saw emerge from the Senate yesterday was this appropriations bill that specifically dealt with military issues, $153 billion plus for discretionary funding for the VA, defense programs, $263 billion for veterans' benefits. | ||
| When you see figures like that, put that in perspective to those that you represent. | ||
| How does that type of money help those you represent? | ||
| Well, for some of them, it's life and death. | ||
| You know, that can be disability benefits. | ||
| It can be a housing allowance if you're in the military. | ||
| I think it's important to take a step back and understand dining facilities on military basis have been closed during the shutdown. | ||
| They were not able to feed our troops in the same way we normally did. | ||
| So that should be kind of a clarifying moment for folks. | ||
| If there's a trickle-down effect across the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, especially, and those are kind of the two prongs that impact veterans most directly. | ||
| But I think if you think about it, we have veterans who are on food stamps, who are dependent on food stamps, they've been adversely affected. | ||
| You had veterans who were standing guard at the Pentagon who haven't gotten paid for a month, and their active duty military compatriots right next to them have been getting paid. | ||
| So I think that that's a good thing to prioritize. | ||
| But I also think this shutdown was different because there wasn't an exception created for military folks. | ||
| Usually the parties come together and say, you know what, we're going to continue this shutdown. | ||
| We may disagree, but let's make sure our troops get paid. | ||
| That didn't happen this time. | ||
| And I think that's a real insight into how our politics have gotten even more toxic, even more damaging, and most directly, take a big step back. | ||
| It impacts our national security. | ||
| When our troops don't know if they're getting paid, if our military families don't have stability, that weakens morale and that has our enemies celebrating. | ||
| So I think we've gotten caught in a lot of infighting over the last couple weeks around the shutdown, and we forget to step back and think, how would Vladimir Putin look at this? | ||
| And I think Vladimir Putin and our enemies around the globe would be happy to see our military and our veterans community, especially hard hit, weakened, and the morale damage. | ||
| They're going to step up. | ||
| They always do. | ||
| And maybe that's another example for this country, especially on today. | ||
| But they shouldn't have to, especially in times like this when we really need unity, we really need to find ways to come together and move forward. | ||
| I think veterans can be kind of a North Star for our country. | ||
| They always are, but especially on a day like today, a week after an election, and as we're coming out of this, hopefully out of the shutdown. | ||
| Paul Rykoff joining us. | ||
| And if you want to ask him questions to Democrats, 202-748-8000. | ||
| Republicans 202-748-8001. | ||
| Independents 202-748-8002. | ||
| And if you are active or former military and you want to hear from Paul Rykoff, call that line 202-748-8003. | ||
| And you can also use that same line to, if you want to text us your thoughts this morning. | ||
| Again, another shot of the World War II Memorial there in Washington, D.C. Mr. Rykoff, about your organization. | ||
|
unidentified
|
What's the central goal? | |
| To try to provide leadership for America that everybody's looking for. | ||
| You know, most of America is politically homeless. | ||
| Almost 50% of Americans now are unaffiliated or politically independent. | ||
| That's how it started. | ||
| George Washington was our last independent president, and he warned us against the dangers of the party. | ||
| And if there's ever been a time that's a more glaring example of how damaging the parties can be, it's the last couple of weeks. | ||
| And we've found that a lot of veterans want to serve. | ||
| They want to run for office. | ||
| They want to give back to their community, but they don't want to take a partisan path. | ||
| And the truth is, the Republican Party has gone very far to the right. | ||
| The Democratic Party has gone very far to the left. | ||
| And most veterans, especially, are caught in the middle. | ||
| So we created Independent Veterans of America with a great group of advisors, former military, independent folks, who want to create the infrastructure, the support to recruit, support, and elect veterans for public office, from U.S. Senate all the way down to school board. | ||
| We had two guys elected last week in Connecticut as an example. | ||
| Granby, Connecticut, a young man who stepped up to serve his community on the school board. | ||
| He's a veteran. | ||
| He'd never been in politics before. | ||
| He had a very partisan school board, but he wanted to step forward and provide his leadership. | ||
| He didn't want to get into politics, but he felt like this moment required it. | ||
| And we're seeing thousands of veterans like that all across the country who want to run for office but don't want to pick a partisan side. | ||
| They want to put country first. | ||
| But the truth is it's hard to run as an independent. | ||
| So we want to give them the ammunition, the backup, the training, the support from all Americans to get in there and try to fix things, move things forward, take a practical approach, a more moderate approach, and put country first rather than a political party. | ||
| How does your organization field candidates? | ||
| We got a website with an open call. | ||
| We say, look, if you want to serve your country and continue to serve, we want you. | ||
| You can go to independentveteransofamerica.org. | ||
| You can fill out the intake form. | ||
| We'll verify your status. | ||
| If you don't know what you're eligible to run for, we can help you. | ||
| And it's really important to emphasize, Pedro, we're starting local. | ||
| We need people for county seats, for city seats, for school boards. | ||
| If you've never run before, your local school board might be the place to start. | ||
| But we're also supporting candidates all the way up to the Senate. | ||
| There are so far four independent veterans who declared that they're running for the U.S. Senate next year, led by Dan Osborne in Nebraska, Ty Pickens in Kentucky, Todd Achilles in Idaho, Brian Bangs in South Dakota. | ||
| This is just the start. | ||
| These are the four that have put their hands up for this coming year who want to be the first true independents elected to the Senate because we believe if you have especially an independent veteran in the Senate, it can be a fulcrum. | ||
| It can show that success is possible and they can be a true moderating force to hopefully be a bridge between Republicans and Democrats and hold them all accountable. | ||
| Veterans have been doing that for decades and generations. | ||
| You know, George Washington was the first politician who put down his uniform and continued to serve. | ||
| And that's really what it's all about. | ||
| We're looking for servant leaders who are willing to step up and answer this call, especially in this moment, who care about national security, who want to take care of our veterans, but most of all, can be role models and leaders with integrity and values. | ||
| That is what our country is looking for. | ||
| They're looking for leaders and they're looking for fighters. | ||
| And we're trying to recruit them and get them elected, Pedro. | ||
| Again, 202-748-8003. | ||
| If you are active or former military, retired military is Andrew Status. | ||
| He's in Virginia. | ||
| You're on with Paul Rykoff of Independent Veterans of America. | ||
| Andrew, go ahead. | ||
| Andrew, are you there? | ||
| Okay, Mr. Rykoff, I think we're having a bit of a connection problem with Andrew, so we're going to give him another chance. | ||
| If I'm in the Army. | ||
| It feels like being deployed in the Army when you get a signal like that coming in. | ||
| been there remind people of your what branch did you serve in how long and what did you do I was Army. | ||
| I started out and enlisted as a military police soldier. | ||
| Then went through officer candidate school, became an infantry officer, served overseas for a tour in Iraq and here stateside. | ||
| I'm actually coming to you today a couple of blocks from Ground Zero, where the 9-11 Memorial is. | ||
| I'll be there later today for some events. | ||
| And then we've got the biggest parade in America here in New York City. | ||
| But I also served at Ground Zero. | ||
| And I always use this opportunity to try to remind folks that we've got patriots who stepped up on that day too, who are still suffering from 9-11 related health issues, and they need to be remembered as well. | ||
| Many of them are also combat veterans, folks who answered the call on 9-11 and are still suffering with toxin exposure issues. | ||
| But I'm proud of my service, and it's something that has really guided me in everything ever since. | ||
| I just said goodbye to my two little boys who are six and ten, and I'm trying to do my best to teach them what Veterans Day is all about. | ||
| It's not just a day off of school. | ||
| It's a day to remember all those folks across our community who often, Pedro, I think it's important, don't really wear their veteran status on their sleeve. | ||
| Today is kind of a day where you might see that guy who works at your job or that bus driver or that person in your community. | ||
| You can recognize that today they're veterans and you might not have known it before, but they've been quietly serving. | ||
| And maybe that's what I learned most of all, is it's not about me. | ||
| It's about all of us collectively. | ||
| And today's a good day to recognize all of them. | ||
| And I suppose that some of the issues that you listed for people dealing with, they would go to Veterans Administration. | ||
| What do you think of its management under Doug Collins so far? | ||
| Well, it's been tumult, I think is true across the federal government. | ||
| I think that's undeniable. | ||
| You know, President Trump has come in with a very aggressive agenda, one that I think is out of the mainstream. | ||
| That's my personal opinion. | ||
| And Doug Collins, most of all, has been a really disruptive force. | ||
| Now, he says that's for the best in the end. | ||
| But the reality is that thousands of veterans have been laid off from the Department of Veterans Affairs. | ||
| Many of them across the federal government feel uncertain. | ||
| And I think that's maybe the overwhelming concern that I have about the state of affairs across the federal government. | ||
| The VA is full of great people. | ||
| There's generally high quality of care. | ||
| Access to care can be a problem. | ||
| But the folks who work at VA are heroes and they need to be treated as such, not demonized as lazy federal workers. | ||
| So many veterans want to continue to serve, and they do so at the Veterans Affairs Department. | ||
| I think it's really important that we hold them up, we protect them, and we understand that a lot of them have been waiting for a Doge guillotine to come by and fire them. | ||
| That's been a really uncertain environment for them for the last 10, 11 months. | ||
| I think that's really hurting retention. | ||
| We're losing good people, and it's definitely hurting recruiting. | ||
| That should be a concern for all Americans. | ||
| When folks are banging on the federal government, you've got to remember that includes the Department of Veterans Affairs. | ||
| We need good people to serve. | ||
| We need them to continue to serve in the Department of Veterans Affairs. | ||
| And right now, unfortunately, it's just too difficult for them to do it. | ||
| The Secretary contends that even if layoffs are happening and even disruptions over the shutdown, direct health care is not being affected to veterans. | ||
| Is that the case you're seeing? | ||
| We'll see. | ||
| I'm sure you'll hear from your callers if that's not the case. | ||
| I mean, it's easy to say that now, but as you know, covering these issues is usually a bit of a lag. | ||
| But veterans will speak up if that's the case. | ||
| I know there's definitely concern. | ||
| There have been disruptions. | ||
| You know, some of the tertiary benefits around the GI Bill are an example. | ||
| And folks don't have certainty. | ||
| And I think you can't underestimate how destabilizing that is for especially the veterans community. | ||
| I mean, you're coming out of a toxic election, you're coming out of COVID. | ||
| We're trying to deal with folks who are facing financial stress, family issues, and of course, mental health issues are always front and center. | ||
| So we're still battling the monster that is suicide that takes too many of our brothers and sisters every single day, more than we lose to combat right now. | ||
| And we need a unified, strong response that doesn't have disruption. | ||
| So I think the VA should be a place where politics is off limits. | ||
| I've come on this show for years and talked about the House Veterans Affairs Committee and the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. | ||
| They used to be oasises where the Republicans and Democrats got along. | ||
| Not anymore. | ||
| Now it's as partisan as anywhere else in Washington. | ||
| And that's really bad for veterans. | ||
| It's bad for our national security and it's bad for America. | ||
| Let's try Andrew again in Virginia. | ||
| Hello. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hello, can you hear me now? | |
| Yes, you're on. | ||
| Go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
I was saying, sorry about that before. | |
| First, say, Happy Veterans Day to all the veterans, Mr. Rykoff there. | ||
| Thank you for what you do. | ||
| Just real quick, so this flow on the radar a little bit. | ||
| I'm Higher Service Army and U.S. Public Health Service retired after 25 total years and literally missed a pension payment on the 1st because of the shutdown. | ||
| Now, we all know how sacred pensions are, right? | ||
| They're held up as really sort of bulletproof. | ||
| You'll never not miss a pension, right? | ||
| Well, turns out that the U.S. Public Health Service and NOAA received the pension through separate appropriations, not through the Military Retirement Fund, which is, you know, the MRF covers the armed forces. | ||
| And so they're never going to miss the payment, essentially. | ||
| Meanwhile, the U.S. Public Health Service and NOAA, even a guy like me that was Army, you know, prior to that, and many, there are many inter-service transfers from the Armed Forces to the U.S. Public Health Service. | ||
| Well, those folks missed a pension payment. | ||
| And never in my career have I ever heard of a pension payment being missed for anyone that's ever worn the uniform. | ||
| That's Andrew there, Mr. Ryder. | ||
| That's where the rubber meets the road. | ||
| Like, congratulations, America. | ||
| This is where we are, where folks are not getting their pension payments. | ||
| I talked to a number of folks who were in the reserve, the Army Reserve this weekend who had their trainings canceled. | ||
| I mean, the deep cuts that we're making into our national structure of security, but also into people. | ||
| These are real people's lives, and they are the collateral damage of this shutdown. | ||
| And I think, look, POCs on all houses here. | ||
| I mean, I think that the President and Congress and the Democrats should have come to an agreement. | ||
| But the truth is that the Democrats did hold out here, and I hoped that they would come to the table and find a way to move it forward, and they didn't. | ||
| And I think that there is a high political price to be paid, especially around our national security and our venue. | ||
| I have been a critic of any shutdown. | ||
| I was vocal when the Republicans shut down the government. | ||
| I stood outside the World War II Memorial with other veteran service groups, and I'm doing the same now when Democrats shut down the government. | ||
| Shutdowns hurt everyone. | ||
| And there are a lot of folks who want to shut down, but our pensioners don't want to shut down. | ||
| Our reservists don't want to shut down. | ||
| And our civilian veterans, especially, don't want to shut down. | ||
| It's just so stupid and unnecessary. | ||
| It's a self-inflicted gunshot wound on our democracy that we don't need, especially right now when our enemies are happy to see us tear each other apart. | ||
| Homer joins us from Louisiana, Vietnam veteran. | ||
| Hello. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes, I just want to express my opinion about, I think that we ought to go, well, I ain't somebody bringing back your draft or nothing like that, but discipline-wise, I think there'll be an average boy 13th grade. | |
| And because we don't have enough S3 Corps anymore. | ||
| And so, in fact, if let me express myself. | ||
| Okay, Homer in Louisiana. | ||
| Mr. Rykoff. | ||
| Yeah, thank you, Homer. | ||
| I think he's getting to a core point. | ||
| I mean, a lot of the connective tissue that has existed for generations across this country is gone. | ||
| More Americans feel isolated, feel lonely, feel disconnected. | ||
| Folks aren't, especially young men and young women, aren't going to religious services as much. | ||
| They're not playing sports as much. | ||
| They're not involved in clubs and groups. | ||
| And the military and military service was a connective tissue that forced everybody to figure out a way to work together. | ||
| I don't support a draft unless there's a war. | ||
| I think that's an important question to ask everyone who's banging on the drums right now, for example, for more war with Venezuela. | ||
| Are they willing to ask people to serve? | ||
| Or is it going to be the rise of a new generation of chicken hawks who are happy to send other people's kids to fight and die? | ||
| I think national service would be a good thing. | ||
| The all-volunteer military has been tremendous for our fighting force. | ||
| We have the greatest military the world has ever seen. | ||
| But it might not be the best thing for our democracy because you've got a small percentage of people, less than one-half of one percent, who continue to serve over and over again. | ||
| And the rest of the country largely lives life uninterrupted when it comes to public service. | ||
| So I'm all for efforts to create national public service. | ||
| It doesn't have to just be the military. | ||
| It can be City Corps, Peace Corps, Marine Corps. | ||
| It can be all of them together. | ||
| I think some brave politicians have started to float this issue, but I think we're ultimately going to need presidential leadership. | ||
| We're going to need Congress to take it on and recognize it's not just about creating soldiers and Marines and service members. | ||
| It's about creating a stronger America, a place where we all have shared values, we all have a common experience, and we have friendships. | ||
| Everybody who's watching today who's a veteran or knows a veteran knows that you come out of the military with friendships with people from all different backgrounds all across this great country. | ||
| I have friends in almost 50 states that I've met in the military. | ||
| And that's been missing, especially in this latest generation. | ||
| And I think we need brave politicians and more Americans to step forward and say they want something different. | ||
| Let's hear from Earl. | ||
| Earl in Georgia, a veteran. | ||
| Earl, good morning. | ||
| Happy Veterans Day. | ||
| You're on with our guests. | ||
| Go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good morning. | |
| How are you doing, my brother? | ||
| You know, I used to say something. | ||
| You know, it's one thing that I really, really, when I came back from older, I started radio. | ||
| You know, people looked at soldiers as, you know, like they was nothing. | ||
| You know, people don't realize that when you are a soldier, you out there on that front line, you back in rest then. | ||
| And I think that the soldiers should be better taken care of, you know, because we the one that's out there on that front line, allowing them to rest at night, to allow them to sleep at nighttime. | ||
| And there's so many calling in and talking about the military and all this right here. | ||
| Why don't they just see what you and I have seen? | ||
| And they will understand how we feel and what we feel. | ||
| Okay, Leslie, I want to say, as of that today, you know, I got to go to work on restaurant days. | ||
| I was about to talk to kids and to let them know, hey, I was glad to serve. | ||
| And I will serve again right now. | ||
| I'm 68 years old. | ||
| And if I get called to go, my rough sight, my pack is ready to go right now. | ||
| Thank you, my brother. | ||
| God bless you. | ||
| I love you. | ||
| And I feel your pain. | ||
| That is Earl in Georgia. | ||
| Thank you, Earl. | ||
| I think you're what it's all about. | ||
| You're the kind of leader that we need now more than ever. | ||
| And I think you touched on something that is really, really important. | ||
| I want to encourage veterans, especially who are watching to come on out today. | ||
| Come on out of your house or your job. | ||
| You might have to, you know, come out after a double shift. | ||
| But today is the day to remember you're not alone. | ||
| There is a community out there that understands you, that respects you, that loves you, and that needs you, especially to our older veterans that sometimes feel forgotten. | ||
| We need you to mentor and support the next generation, not just of veterans, but also young people. | ||
| They need your example. | ||
| And there's been a lot of reason to pull back from getting out in the streets or coming out in your community. | ||
| There's been so much politics everywhere, and people feel like they sometimes need to pull back and just watch another football game. | ||
| And I understand that. | ||
| I feel the same way oftentimes. | ||
| But Veterans Day is a day to come home to your community. | ||
| And if you can't do it in person in your town or in your city, you can do it online. | ||
| There's a lot of virtual town halls and virtual veterans meetings that are happening. | ||
| Or you can go to any one of the very high number of places that has free food today. | ||
| And you can go in and get a free meal and you'll run into other veterans. | ||
| But today especially, come on out. | ||
| It's not just about you. | ||
| It's about continuing to serve. | ||
| We need you now, especially in these divisive times in America where a lot of folks are frankly scared. | ||
| They're worried. | ||
| They don't know what's next. | ||
| They need your leadership. | ||
| They need your strength. | ||
| And maybe most of all, they need your example. | ||
| Mr. Rykoff, you are more than aware probably of that recent speech by the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseff, to generals, where he said that, talked about this issue of a quote, woke military, decried, quote, fat generals, according to this write-up from NPR, ordered women in the military to meet highest male standards, all under the umbrella of something called warrior ethos tasking. | ||
| I want to ask you about the message that he's sending, and did you think it was a wrong one? | ||
| Yes, I thought it was the wrong one because I think everything has gotten overtly political. | ||
| And this has been, in my view, the most overtly political and politically extreme Defense Secretary we've ever seen. | ||
| This is not a moderate guy cut from the mold of previous defense secretaries. | ||
| This is a hyper-political leader who is, in my view, kind of waged a culture war against the Pentagon. | ||
| Now, yes, we need high standards. | ||
| Yes, we want people to be fit. | ||
| But it's also about tone and respect. | ||
| And I think the way that he brought those generals in on short notice and gave them kind of his personal political TED Talk was not respectful, was not honorable, was not necessary. | ||
| And I think we really also need to understand that a high number of very senior people who are not partisan have been purged by this Secretary and this administration over the last couple of months. | ||
| That should not be a partisan issue. | ||
| It should be an alarm bell for everyone. | ||
| When you see the chairman of the Joint Chiefs and dozens of senior generals who are not partisan people who have left, and now more that are continuing to leave and be driven out, including the head of vital positions like Cyber Command, there's been a hollowing out, especially in the senior leadership of our military, and it's been with a political angle. | ||
| And I think that is bad. | ||
| I've never seen folks in the Pentagon and across the military more concerned about the politicization of what's happening around our military. | ||
| And look, some folks like it, right? | ||
| Some folks are all in on that. | ||
| I get it. | ||
| But I don't think that's the majority. | ||
| I think the majority generally view the Pentagon, especially as a place where politics is supposed to be off limits and it feels like there's politics every day. | ||
| And there's a lack of accountability. | ||
| I don't think we can have this conversation today without recognizing that there are more strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela almost on a daily basis. | ||
| There's talk of bombing Venezuela. | ||
| There's talks of troops on the ground. | ||
| The president has said he would be open to that. | ||
| And there's been no oversight or accountability from Congress. | ||
| Congress has a sacred obligation to declare war. | ||
| And I know we haven't done it since World War II, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't. | ||
| There should be consultation with Congress and both parties. | ||
| There should be, I think, approval from Congress and both parties. | ||
| And there should be a real conversation with the American people about why the president thinks this is necessary, what the cost could be, and embrace America. | ||
| Because it's real easy to start wars, and as our veterans especially know, it's really hard to end them. | ||
| And I think anytime we're having a discussion about killing bad guys, we also have to understand we're having a discussion about creating more veterans. | ||
| Because every time you launch a missile or you fire a strike, you're putting men and women in harm's way. | ||
| And we have to ask the president or anyone else who wants to do that, how many Americans are you willing to lose? | ||
| Are you willing to send your own kids? | ||
| That's a question I think we should be asking the president and anyone who wants to send young men and women to die. | ||
| Are you willing to send your own kids or grandkids for this cause? | ||
| And if not, why not? | ||
| That's a question I think we need to push in front of more of them, especially in the next couple of weeks. | ||
| One more call, and this will be from Clarence in Long Island, a Vietnam veteran. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Yes, good morning, Mr. Rykoff. | |
| Welcome home. | ||
| I'm with the Vietnam Veterans of America out there in Suffolk County, Long Island. | ||
| And I speak to a lot of incarcerated veterans, a lot of veterans in vets caught, and a lot of veterans on the street. | ||
| These young veterans need the independent veterans of America. | ||
| We need you to set tables up at the VA. | ||
| We need you to recruit these kids because we're aging out. | ||
| We're definitely aging out. | ||
| These young kids got to get into different VSOs. | ||
| They got to keep the VA open because once we age out with these community outreach centers, I'll tell you, once we age out, the VAs are going to shut down. | ||
| They'll probably privatize. | ||
| And these young kids are going to be out there without a paddle. | ||
| So what I suggest to you is, you know, if you can get these kids, get your membership. | ||
| You got to increase your membership, like the VFW, the American Legion, the AMVETS. | ||
| You got to get these kids out there so they can get the information and keep the VA. | ||
| We came home and we fought. | ||
| We had nothing. | ||
| You know the history of Vietnam veterans. | ||
| But these kids, I mean, the way that things are going nowadays, the way they're cutting back, the way the VA has dropped 30,000 and they're saying maybe 80,000, we got to do something about this. | ||
| We got to get these young kids into a VSO, into an organization. | ||
| Okay, Clarence, thank you. | ||
| Thank you very much. | ||
| We'll let our guests respond to that. | ||
| Clarence, thank you for your leadership. | ||
| My wife's from Long Island, so I know the good work you guys do out there. | ||
| I think it's important for folks to remember that, for example, the Veterans Day parade happening here in New York City started out as a March because Vietnam veterans were not welcomed in this city. | ||
| They had to come across the Brooklyn Bridge and they went past City Hall because they were not welcomed by the mayor and by the establishment. | ||
| And that was true in large parts of this country. | ||
| So there's a very important activist component to veterans all the way back to George Washington and the bonus march. | ||
| If you want to understand the activism and the history of almost every step toward justice in this country, veterans have been the backbone of that. | ||
| And what's happening now that I think the caller touches on, it's very important, is we're having a seismic demographic shift. | ||
| We've lost almost all the World War II veterans and the Korean War veterans are right behind them. | ||
| And the Vietnam veterans are in their 60s and 70s, and they're aging out and they're passing as well. | ||
| So we're going to go from roughly what is a high of about 19 million veterans in this country over the next decade or two down to about half of that. | ||
| So it's a tectonic shift in the demographic numbers, the sheer numbers of veterans in this country. | ||
| And that's going to impact our political power. | ||
| That's going to impact our popularity. | ||
| That's also going to impact our narrative, how people understand veterans and even how they understand history. | ||
| So I echo your call, sir, like young veterans especially. | ||
| We need you to get involved. | ||
| We need you to join any kind of veterans group. | ||
| And the older veterans, we need you to come back. | ||
| We know that oftentimes you weren't treated well, but we need you now to perform that connective tissue, that family, that extended family that we need. | ||
| That America also needs right now to be kind of a backbone about our values and what this country stands for right now, especially. | ||
| And it should be anticipated that cuts will come to veterans' benefits in the future because they will say there are less veterans. | ||
| So there's less need for support and services. | ||
| And that's not necessarily true, especially given the complexity of some of the modern injuries from the battlefield, like a traumatic brain injury, like severe amputations. | ||
| Veterans are surviving now when they would have died in past generations. | ||
| And that's more expensive. | ||
| But it should have no price ceiling when it comes to taking care of a man or woman who served for this country. | ||
| And that's an investment that this country had made and needs to continue to make for the rest of their life because we still need you. | ||
| That's what I'll say to all veterans, sir, is, you know, look, you served before. | ||
| We need you to serve again. | ||
| And your country needs you and wants you and loves you and does appreciate you. | ||
| Even if you didn't feel appreciated before, you haven't felt appreciated in the last couple months. | ||
| The veterans community especially needs you and we're recruiting. | ||
| Independent Veteransofamerica.org is the website if you want to check out our guest organization. | ||
| Paul Rykoff serves as the founder and CEO. | ||
| Happy Veterans Day to you, sir. | ||
| Thank you, Pedro. | ||
| Appreciate you all always having this space of respectful conversation to all the callers. | ||
| It's a public forum that this country needs. | ||
| And happy Veterans Day to everybody out there. | ||
| I hope I see you out there in real life or online. | ||
| I will continue. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Today, President Trump joins the 72nd annual National Veterans Day Observance, delivering remarks and laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. | |
| Watch live at 11 a.m. Eastern on C-SPAN. | ||
| C-SPAN now, our free mobile app, and online at c-span.org. | ||
| Our C-SPAN cameras out at the World War II Memorial. | ||
| Special events going on there later today, and you can see that on C-SPAN as we continue our discussion on veterans issues on this Veterans Day with John Vick. | ||
| He's with Concerned Veterans for America. | ||
| He serves as their executive director. | ||
| Welcome to the program. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thanks for having me. | |
| Appreciate it. | ||
| Before we talk about your organization specifically, outline your military career and how it informs what you do today. | ||
| Yeah, it's been a long and weird one. |