Dennis Prager Show - A Deterioration of American Values Aired: 2025-11-12 Duration: 07:18 === Hard Corps Battalion (02:21) === [00:00:00] It's not often I have a brigadier general on my show, to be honest. [00:00:04] But Major General James Mukayama is my guest. [00:00:09] He has written Faith, Family, and Flag. [00:00:13] He was the first Asian American to, again, fill in the rest of the sentence. [00:00:19] Command an Army Division. [00:00:21] Command an Army Division. [00:00:23] The subtitle is Memoirs of an Unlikely American Samurai Crusader. [00:00:28] So the picture of you on the cover is of you in Vietnam. [00:00:33] And what is the, what does it say on your helmet there? [00:00:38] It says Hard Corps. [00:00:41] Meaning, that was the nickname for the battalion that I served in in Vietnam in 1969. [00:00:48] It was the 4th Battalion, 39th Infantry, commanded by the legendary Colonel David H. Hackworth. [00:00:57] And I had the honor of, I knew Colonel Hackworth at Fort Lewis, Washington before Vietnam. [00:01:06] I'm back at Fort Lewis. [00:01:07] He writes me a letter. [00:01:08] He called me MOOC because he couldn't pronounce Mukoyama. [00:01:12] And I used to call him Sir. [00:01:15] So basically, he writes me a letter and he said, hey, Mook, we got a war going on. [00:01:21] If you want a company, it's yours. [00:01:23] And it's like, I hit the lotto because to serve as an infantry company commander in combat under David Hackworth, it doesn't get any better than that. [00:01:34] So I immediately volunteered again for Vietnam. [00:01:38] First time they sent me to Korea, but this time they took me up on my offer and I went to Vietnam. [00:01:45] So I'm going to ask again, so 1969, Japanese American in the Army in Vietnam. [00:01:53] Did you experience racism then? [00:01:55] No, no. [00:01:57] I was a captain, and that's all that counted, other than the fact that I was infantry, which I'm very proud of. [00:02:04] But no, we did not look at each other in terms of race. === Every Sunday Best (02:25) === [00:02:11] This is 1969, ladies and gentlemen. [00:02:15] The great grand left-wing lie about racist America. [00:02:19] It's truly destructive. [00:02:22] All lies are destructive, but that one in particular. [00:02:25] Well, in fact, the Army was one of the first institutions in our society that integrated. [00:02:32] 1948, President Truman. [00:02:34] Prior to that, we had segregated units. [00:02:38] We had black units. [00:02:39] We had Japanese American units, of which, by the way, I'm proud to say, I had uncles in it. [00:02:46] I had relatives who served in Europe and in the Pacific fighting the Japanese. [00:02:53] Were you raised to love America? [00:02:56] Absolutely. [00:02:58] First of all, I'm a very strong man of faith, and the church was the center of our family life. [00:03:10] You know, Chicago is a city of neighborhoods. [00:03:13] It's really cool, especially in those days. [00:03:16] Every neighborhood had a tavern, had a barbershop, had a local grocery store, and had a house of worship. [00:03:25] And our church was three blocks away. [00:03:28] Every Sunday, we would put on our Sunday best clothes as a family and walk to church together. [00:03:36] I literally was a choir boy in the church, and I was in Cub Scouts. [00:03:43] I was in Boy Scouts. [00:03:45] All of that was centered around the church community. [00:03:49] And I'm sure you know that the motto of Boy Scouts is for God and country in that order. [00:03:58] That's important that you add it in that order. [00:04:01] That's right. [00:04:04] You describe an America that is disappearing. [00:04:07] Yes. [00:04:08] Do you agree with me? [00:04:09] Absolutely. [00:04:11] And in fact, I did write just recently, earlier this year, I was so disgusted and disappointed with the polling that showed a significant decrease in the American public about faith and patriotism. === Every Day Is Great (02:45) === [00:04:32] And so I wrote something called the Mukiyama Life Manifesto, which basically talked about what I saw as the deterioration of the American values that have made this the most exceptional, least racist, large, multicultural nation in the world. [00:04:58] That's exactly right. [00:05:01] I wish you could speak in every high school in the country. [00:05:04] I've gone back, and as a matter of fact, towards the end of my book, I talk about I spoke at a high school. [00:05:13] I have a standard daily mantra, which is every day is a great day. [00:05:18] I have my faith, my family, and live in the finest country in the world. [00:05:23] And so I gave this speech at a high school, and one of the students who heard me wrote me a letter, and actually a thank you letter for speaking. [00:05:35] And that young man said that I've adopted your mantra. [00:05:43] And I said, this guy gets it. [00:05:46] That's right. [00:05:47] It's funny because I pull up near my house. [00:05:52] There's a Starbucks, and I got a coffee most days. [00:05:57] So the young guy goes, so how's your day? [00:06:01] I go, wonderful. [00:06:04] All my days are wonderful. [00:06:06] And whoever it is, sometimes a young woman, doesn't matter, obviously, whoever it is, they really like the answer. [00:06:15] It's funny, they say, that's great. [00:06:18] It's so good to hear. [00:06:20] So I have a question I like to ask exceptional people like you. [00:06:25] So has this always been your nature? [00:06:29] You're obviously grateful, upbeat. [00:06:32] Is that the nature God or nature gave you? [00:06:36] Yes. [00:06:39] Only because I've witnessed the my father came to the United States at the age of 18, and he came here because of the opportunity and freedoms that were a Japanese man. [00:06:56] Yeah, in fact. [00:06:57] Why don't people understand that? [00:06:58] Yeah, in fact, in 19 when he was born in 1900, okay. [00:07:03] And during grammar school, Japan, in one generation, went from a third world country to a world power that defeated not only China, but defeated Russia. [00:07:16] All right, continue with the story in a moment.