Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Stories of veteran service and sacrifice straight from the people driving today’s most important veterans causes and veterans organizations around the world. The show shines a spotlight on their inspiring projects making a real difference for veterans and their families, and along the way we'll hear the stories that drive them to do their best every day as they work to support veterans and their memory.
00:00:06:01 - 00:00:30:11
Speaker 1
Hey, it's Matthew Cudmore and welcome to Story Behind the Stone. Today we're joined by Mike Caldwell and Kevin Basik of the National Medal of Honor Museum. We dive into the museum's stunning architecture, the Griffin Institute's leadership programs, and the stories of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in moments of courage. If you've ever wondered how honor becomes a habit and how it could shape your life, this episode is for you.
00:00:30:13 - 00:00:37:20
Speaker 1
Mike and Kevin, thank you for your insights and for the work that you're doing to preserve legacy and inspire action. And to our listeners, thanks for tuning in.
00:00:43:21 - 00:01:00:17
Speaker 1
welcome to Story Behind the Stone, a show where we talk service, sacrifice and story, connecting with the people, leading the organizations, changing the way the world remembers. I'm joined today by Mike Caldwell and by Kevin Basik with the Medal of Honor Museum Foundation. Mike, I'll throw to you for quick introduction. It's wonderful to have you on the show.
00:01:00:22 - 00:01:29:00
Speaker 2
Thanks, Matt. It's great to be with you. Also, and I'm Mike Caldwell. I, am a retired Air Force colonel. 24 years in the United States Air Force as a public affairs officer and fortunate enough to have lived or deployed on five different continents around the world. And, very blessed to be part of this great effort called the National Medal of Honor Museum here in Arlington, Texas.
00:01:29:00 - 00:01:31:12
Speaker 1
Kevin would love to hear a little bit more about you, what you're working on.
00:01:31:12 - 00:01:55:15
Speaker 3
Sure thing. Hi, Matt. So my name is Kevin Basik. I will match Mike. Yeah. 24 years in the Air Force. So retired, air force officer. My background was largely leadership development. So for my whole career, I was. What's, human factors engineer, but focused on leadership development at all levels, from a session all the way up to the Pentagon, and focused largely on character based leadership.
00:01:55:17 - 00:02:17:16
Speaker 3
So that's what brought me into the fold of the National Medal of Honor Museum. And where Mike and I are working is the National Medal of Honor. Griffin Institute. So there's three pieces to the puzzle that we'll talk about. One is the monument in DC, one is the museum in Arlington, Texas. And within that museum is the Griffin Institute.
00:02:17:18 - 00:02:30:12
Speaker 3
And, so to give us actually some background, Mike, you want to go big to small, we'll talk a little bit about the Medal of Honor and then what the heck the museum is and is not, and why it's in Texas and all that. And then we'll dive in.
00:02:30:12 - 00:02:51:23
Speaker 2
Absolutely happy to do that. So little a little history on the Medal of Honor itself. First of all, it's our nation's highest award for valor in combat that can be bestowed upon, a member of our military usually comes with the criteria of what you did was above and beyond the call of duty and at great risk to your own life.
00:02:52:01 - 00:03:19:22
Speaker 2
So it was signed into law by President Lincoln in 1861. Since then, more than 40 million people have served in the United States military, but only 3528 have received the Medal of Honor. What's interesting about that, and I know, Matt, you have an international audience with your podcast. There have been 757 foreign born recipients of the Medal of Honor.
00:03:19:23 - 00:03:51:02
Speaker 2
And I know you're broadcasting from Canada. There have been 61 Canadian born recipients of the Medal of Honor. We have 61 living recipients today. One of those was born in Canada. And maybe we can get to his story a little bit later. It's pretty fascinating. So it's a pretty incredible to kill your medal and the real reason we built the National Medal of Honor Museum.
00:03:51:02 - 00:04:14:13
Speaker 2
And think about the fact that this medal has been around since 1861. And we only opened a national museum for them five months ago, in March. March 25th, 2025, which is National Medal of Honor Day. There are really three reasons to perpetuate the legacy the Medal of Honor itself and the values that are embodied in that medal. Courage and sacrifice.
00:04:14:15 - 00:04:42:06
Speaker 2
Commitment. Integrity, citizenship and patriotism, while also preserve the legacies of the stories of these Medal of Honor recipients. And we do that because of the third reason we're a biography museum. So we tell their life stories where they were born, how they grew out, the challenges they face. Why did they join the military in the first place? Then, of course, we go into their action in which they earn the Medal of Honor.
00:04:42:07 - 00:05:11:04
Speaker 2
But when you visit our museum and you learn about their stories, our whole purpose is you learn that they're just like us and their ordinary people who in a moment of time on the battlefield courage, met circumstance and they did something extraordinary. So when you learn about their stories, we want you to see yourselves and some story we're telling and be inspired to do more extraordinary things in your life, too.
00:05:11:06 - 00:05:14:22
Speaker 2
That's why we built the National Medal of Honor in the first place.
00:05:14:23 - 00:05:18:11
Speaker 1
I imagine you were there for when it opened. What were you feeling on that day?
00:05:18:12 - 00:05:39:11
Speaker 2
On my notes, on my phone, I have the top five things I've done in my professional career. I had to change it on March 26th. And it went to the very top. I'd been working around the Medal of Honor recipients for about ten years now, and almost six years in this job, three and a half in a previous job.
00:05:39:11 - 00:06:10:23
Speaker 2
And I've seen what's ACIp done and demanded of them. And to me it was something we could give to them. And while it's not necessarily the museum is not necessarily for them, it is about them and it is that home for their legacies. And we got to give that to them. So it was fulfillment of very, very hard work over a five and a half year period.
00:06:11:01 - 00:06:31:12
Speaker 2
And it just was extremely special, an extremely special feeling to finally complete something and get it off the ground. I refer to it as the end of the beginning and, you know, now it's open. What do you do now? And I know we want to talk a little bit about that, to go and forward here. So there's there's a whole new work stream that start.
00:06:31:12 - 00:06:58:05
Speaker 3
And Matt I'll piggyback on that. So the the grand opening family was there and people that you've been on the journey with, for me it's an architectural marvel. First of all, you go and it's all inspiring. There's nothing else like the museum. And then when you ascend the dramatic staircase, if you feel so challenged, there's elevators. But the staircase is sort of your invitation to get uncomfortable, you know, sacrifice something to get up to that, to the museum.
00:06:58:05 - 00:07:24:19
Speaker 3
I was just floored by the ability of the museum staff, the the amazing people that are curators at, to find the artifacts and then tell the story. How do you make a lot of static, your elements come alive, interactively or storytelling. So it makes point that this is a biography museum. It was just so powerful to me to see that pulled off so masterfully.
00:07:24:21 - 00:07:45:02
Speaker 3
So when you and your listeners go to the museum in Arlington, Texas, it's something it is something that grabs you right off the bat and pulls you into the stories. And the way we say it is, it is the vault. It is the sacred vault for collecting, holding, honoring, lifting up the stories of the metal that deserve it.
00:07:45:04 - 00:08:11:08
Speaker 3
And then there's another piece located down below, but it broadcasts. Out to the nation is the National Medal of Honor Institute. So there's the museum and then there's the institute. So as the museum is the vault, the institute is the vehicle to then bring the challenge into your life to say, hey, there's clues left by those amazing, ordinary individuals who did the extraordinary when the moment came.
00:08:11:10 - 00:08:45:23
Speaker 3
There's clues. There's insights that we can take from them in our battles, in work and life and faith. And what can we do? Because we all have to demonstrate courage just in different ways. Commitment, sacrifice. What does patriotism look like these days in your little piece of the world? So the values translate. But our our goal in the Institute is to transmit, you know, transmit this out and say the the fight is on and, these stories can inform our stories.
00:08:46:01 - 00:09:14:15
Speaker 3
And one interesting thing that, there's a room in the Pentagon. It's a national. It's a medal of honor room, and it's for for ceremonies. If you so lucky, you can have a retirement ceremony or something, but you're surrounded by 3528 names. But 19 of the names have an asterisk. Next to what is the asterisk? Those are people who earned the Medal of Honor two times.
00:09:14:17 - 00:09:38:14
Speaker 3
What to for different situations and different actions. It may have been in the same campaign or saint battle, same war, but they were distinct and separate. And when you start hearing some of the stories of recipients, you will find that these ordinary people sort of proved to the rest of us that it is possible to build habits of honor.
00:09:38:16 - 00:09:55:07
Speaker 3
You know that, that it is not a one off. And I just love the challenge that comes with that, that new moments show up in our lives all the time to demonstrate these values. So how the museum came to be Mike's. Mike's deep in that journey as well, and why it's in the symbology and why it's in Arlington, Texas.
00:09:55:07 - 00:10:00:05
Speaker 1
When visitors are leaving, what are they taking away from their experience? What are you.
00:10:00:05 - 00:10:28:05
Speaker 2
Hearing? I talked to a lot of them who come in and ask them what they thought. And currently a lot of our patrons have been veterans of the military, and it's fun to stand out in our Lincoln lobby and a lot of glass there. And you can see them walking in, and most of them will have on a unit hat or some type of shirt that represents their service and that type of thing.
00:10:28:07 - 00:11:02:23
Speaker 2
And they themselves are walking pretty proudly as they come in. And then they go up to the exhibition deck and they certainly see themselves in the artifacts, the objects, the digital displays that we have and understand the challenge that that Medal of Honor recipient had because they were right there with them. And I think they they really say they they come back with a sense of what I did was worth.
00:11:02:23 - 00:11:34:11
Speaker 2
And that's such an important part of even this symbology. The National Medal of Honor museum itself. Our exhibition deck is 200ft by 200ft. That's 40,000ft² of exhibition space in a large steel box that is, suspended 50ft in the air. The the vision for the box itself is. And it's all steel. Structural steel on the inside, steel cladding on the outside.
00:11:34:13 - 00:11:59:21
Speaker 2
And and the vision was steel is forged in fire. A medal of honor recipient is forged by the fire of combat. And steel is heavy, which represents the burden that the Medal of Honor recipient, was going through in their military action, of which they earned the Medal of Honor. Now, how is it suspended up there? Well, it's about 50ft on these five concrete mega columns.
00:11:59:23 - 00:12:29:16
Speaker 2
These five mega columns represent the five military services that have awarded a medal of honor. And all of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, the one Coast Guardsmen are represented in those, mega columns as being the ones that supported and held up the Medal of Honor recipients so they can even be a part of those actions, to earn the medal.
00:12:29:18 - 00:12:37:21
Speaker 2
So they see themselves in it and understand that their service, their commitment, their sacrifice was worth it for the nation.
00:12:38:00 - 00:12:43:15
Speaker 1
Kevin, did you want to share a little bit about the different, programs that are going on at the Griffin Institute as well?
00:12:43:16 - 00:13:10:18
Speaker 3
The museum showcases the stories, but if we leave people at inspire, you know, the the mission of the Museum Foundation is to inspire America. Well, then the question is to do what? Right. So there's you've got to take these values. And Mike mentioned its integrity and courage. Sacrifice, commitment, citizenship, patriotism, good service beyond something bigger than yourself. We've got to take those and offer those out.
00:13:10:20 - 00:13:39:23
Speaker 3
So before the museum was constructed, the the idea of the National Medal of Honor Institute was formed and our heart was to inspire, equip and connect now inspire. We leveraged the stories of the Medal of Honor recipient so we don't have to do a whole lot of work to inspire people. But it calls us you. When you hear that, it calls us to our better angels, to to the potential within all of us to be extraordinary.
00:13:40:01 - 00:14:04:16
Speaker 3
But to leave people, it just inspired. Yeah, it could possibly be hero worship. And, you know, these folks deserve to be celebrated. But we're all on a journey to practice these values. So we also want to equip people. And then there's power in connecting folks to not battle alone. There's a community of honor. So at the Griffin Institute, that's that's where our heart set.
00:14:04:21 - 00:14:34:08
Speaker 3
So we established there's sort of three buckets, three centers to execute that one is the center for Character Excellence, which says the youth these days can benefit from us meeting them where they're at and helping them understand what these values look like in their life. And how can they build muscle memory? How can they act courageous in however those moments show up in their lives and hey, listen and learn about these Medal of Honor recipient because you may you may see something of yourself in them.
00:14:34:08 - 00:14:55:11
Speaker 3
And they can you can you know, what would what would Kyle Carpenter do? What would General Pat Brady do? What would Roy Benavidez do? Just that awareness can help maybe arm some of these. So we've got a center focus on K-Through-12. We've got a center that's saying if the adults in the room don't have their head screwed on straight, the kids don't have a chance.
00:14:55:11 - 00:15:16:14
Speaker 3
So what are we doing to help the adults? So the center for Leadership and Action meets the adult leader, and that's formal and informal leader. If you if you are just trying to influence yourself or others, you're in the leadership game and the world doesn't need leaders. It needs
00:15:16:14 - 00:15:20:11
Speaker 3
leaders of character. And those are people who live honorably.
00:15:20:11 - 00:15:54:19
Speaker 3
There's certain values that they just consistently try to practice every day. So they live honorably. But in leadership, you've got to also lift others to their best possible selves. And a leader of character also needs to advance the mission. There's something to be accomplished beyond just yourself. So those things together, we we invite leaders at all levels, including corporate teams and, open enrollment for executives and rising leaders in nonprofits, in the military and corporations.
00:15:54:23 - 00:16:22:04
Speaker 3
So we've got the youth focus, we've got the adult focused. And then the third center, Mike wears this hat is the center for the elevation of honor in that the thought there was, we want to be the catalyst, the place to bring together everybody who's just hungry for this, who just is either a passionate about or in the battle to or around things related to the Medal of Honor values.
00:16:22:10 - 00:16:51:02
Speaker 3
So it could be duty, concept, work ethic, grit, resilience, but it can also be what are the levers for courage and who's on the forefront of thought leadership in that arena? Let's bring those folks together and facilitate dialog and research and conversation around that. So the center for the Elevation of Honor think thought leadership meets discussion meets exploration.
00:16:51:02 - 00:17:25:01
Speaker 3
And if you are hungry for that, we got a place for you. And, we've got programs. So in my my focus is the adults and we've got, half day, full day, three day programs where you can come to the museum and just get immersed in this with other leaders and really sharpen yourselves, or we've got programs where we can go on the road to your organization and introduce you to this and explore this with you, and help you build your creed and help you focus on what is sacrifice a commitment look like in our trenches.
00:17:25:04 - 00:17:35:14
Speaker 3
And then Mike is ramping up, a leader. Our speaker series in the center for the Elevation of Honor, which we're really excited about. So, Mike, you want to just highlight that for a second?
00:17:35:16 - 00:18:00:00
Speaker 2
Sure. We're we're getting this going as we speak. And we do have General Stanley McChrystal confirmed to speak on October 3rd as he's, rolling out his new book on character. So we're we're very excited about having him as our first ever speaker for our speaker series coming in. We're working on it. We're actively working on a couple of others for early 2026.
00:18:00:00 - 00:18:33:14
Speaker 2
I don't want to go into who they are yet because they're not confirmed, but we are talking with them and, hope to have them confirmed any day now. So it's it's a great opportunity in a nonpartisan, bipartisan place to really communicate the values that are embedded in the Medal of Honor that cut across all of our society and how you can use these values to better live and lead as a person, has been with this project from the beginning.
00:18:33:14 - 00:19:01:17
Speaker 2
I think the early success story for our museum is this Griffin Institute, because we studied up about two and a half, three years before we even had a building. And we realized early on we can formulate and execute these programs without a building, because you can do it really from anywhere. We love people coming to the museum and giving them a three day course, but we can take it on the road as well.
00:19:01:19 - 00:19:29:04
Speaker 2
And that's what we have been doing, or we've done it other places other than our museum here in the city of Arlington, because there's some cool things we could show them, like the locker room of the Dallas Cowboys and have a former Dallas Cowboy come in and talk to. And that's some of the exciting things Kevin designed. And he worked so hard on the development of this curriculum, with his tremendous expertise and the help of some others.
00:19:29:06 - 00:19:58:04
Speaker 2
It's it's really inspiring. And it gets you at your heart and it makes you look at yourself and then it inspires you to be a better leader at home, at work, in the community, in the nation. And what's even better about it is you're now connected to our entire group of leaders that have gone through this program, and we keep up with them, you know, we bring them back in virtually, routinely and say, what's going on?
00:19:58:04 - 00:20:20:15
Speaker 2
What are the issues? How can we help? What did you help us with? You know, and that type of thing. And then our center for character Excellence, our education programs, our vice president education, Ellen Metcalf, and the team that she had has put together a tremendous curriculum that is being introduced in the Arlington, Texas, Independent School District this year.
00:20:20:15 - 00:20:47:20
Speaker 2
Already. There's they're teaching it now, and we're planning to ramp that up to the rest of North Texas and then the entire state of Texas within the next couple of years. Crawl, walk, run. Concept. But these are all based on real issues, real values and real people who use these values in combat to overcome. And it just resonates.
00:20:47:20 - 00:21:15:18
Speaker 2
It resonates with the younger kids, and it resonates with the older kids. Without a building. We're a brochure museum. At this point, the NFL come in with their character playbook and say, we want Medal of Honor stories in our character playbook. Please help us. And so we've been reaching hundreds of thousands of eighth graders nationwide with the stories and the values of the Medal of Honor, such a success story for the museum.
00:21:15:20 - 00:21:25:01
Speaker 2
And it's all because of what Kevin and Ellen and some others have done, in the Griffin Institute long before we opened this building on March 27th.
00:21:25:02 - 00:21:54:12
Speaker 3
Well, it's nice of you, Mike. I will I'll tell you this in all the in all the programs, the invitation is for, you know, the hero honestly, is the student is the participant, right? That's where we're focused on helping them. Because the question we ask is, know what are the battles you're facing in your life right now? Hey, I got aging parents that, I'm struggling to keep my patience and I'm struggling to honor them where they're at in this, in this challenging season.
00:21:54:14 - 00:22:12:10
Speaker 3
Or I'm building a new team and I'm scared to death. And I feel like I got no courage. Imposter syndrome. It may be your family. It might be in your faith. But what we say, what are your battles? The thing that's that they're hungry for are the same things that are just woven in the stories of the Medal of Honor.
00:22:12:10 - 00:22:38:15
Speaker 3
Think about where we're at as a nation, just as as people. And this is not political, but just in the, you know, in the military, we call it a Vuca environment, right? Volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous. That's just the world we're in right now. And it can be exhausting. It can be frustrating, confusing. It can be there can be anxiety and people can feel disconnected, disengaged, what we're going through.
00:22:38:15 - 00:23:06:08
Speaker 3
And then if you have to try and lead other people through that, what have I got to work with? So at the institute, we're trying to meet people where they're at and say, you're the hero of this story, but there is a path. We have learned that there are certain catalysts to courage. For example, that Medal of Honor recipients, when you sit down and talk to a medal of honor recipients or anyone who's demonstrated courage and valor, certain things keep popping up.
00:23:06:10 - 00:23:24:02
Speaker 3
I'll give you a couple examples. One is they will oftentimes with such humility. That is one of the common threads when you talk to Medal of Honor recipients, just the the relentless humility. But they will go, when people ask them the number one question which people ask me on recipients, which is how did you do that thing?
00:23:24:04 - 00:23:47:06
Speaker 3
I don't know if I would have done that. You did that in spite of the exhaustion, the fatigue, the fear, the uncertainty. You did it anyway. How did you do that? One thing they will say is, I was just doing what I was trained to do. Okay. So I think maybe there's something to that. Is that that competence, I can I can focus on how can I do something?
00:23:47:06 - 00:24:13:04
Speaker 3
So let's talk. You know, whoever you are, child, adult, corporate, nonprofit, let's talk about what we can do to to strengthen competence. Medal of honor recipients will also say I believed I could pull it off. You know, there's something to be said for confidence. I knew I wasn't alone. That gave me confidence. Other people, when they saw the actions of a medal of honor recipient and inspired them.
00:24:13:06 - 00:24:36:16
Speaker 3
Because it is possible. I've seen that we're not out. We're not down for the count. We've still got fight in us, and I will follow that lead. So confidence is something I think we can all tap into in our moments when we're struggling with courage. And then one of the big things that comes out with Medal of Honor recipients is, in the spirit of commitment.
00:24:36:18 - 00:25:01:02
Speaker 3
That's just who we are. We don't leave anybody behind. That's my that's my brother out there. That's my sister out there. That's that's my identity is to keep fighting, to go back, to prove them wrong, test to battle. You know, Battle of honor is largely a story of love oftentimes. So maybe we in our battles just need to reconnect with our why and our purpose.
00:25:01:02 - 00:25:23:07
Speaker 3
And, you know, the commitment that can fuel us even if we're not very competent, even if we're not sure in confidence, we that commitment is something that sure as heck has helped people overcome odds that I'm not facing. So these are the kind of things that in the Institute, we want to just invite people to this again, to the participant, the student is the hero.
00:25:23:07 - 00:25:47:21
Speaker 3
But the guide in this journey is the Medal of Honor recipients and their stories and their examples. And we as facilitators are just walking along with you. We're on the same mountain you're on. So let's let's strengthen ourselves. So I get so excited about bringing to the nation the human side of of these stories and then saying, so what are you going to do?
00:25:47:23 - 00:26:10:04
Speaker 3
Where do you need to battle? Where can where do we have untapped potential in ourselves or the people we are trying to influence? And I think this is why the mission matters so much and why people, when they get it, they're like, I want, I want more of that. That's different. This is refreshing. This gives me hope that it is possible.
00:26:10:04 - 00:26:17:11
Speaker 1
Heaven is there someone that's come through your doors that has inspired you, that their challenge resonated with you? How they rose to the occasion.
00:26:17:11 - 00:26:39:15
Speaker 3
We have the chance to meet Medal of Honor recipients, and one of the most powerful things is, you know, you you want to put them on the pedestal, but then when you get to know them, they're like, that was that was a day. Oftentimes it was the worst day of their life. You know, people were lost and, the the day was saved when all was but lost, but that these same people are just working on themselves.
00:26:39:15 - 00:26:59:04
Speaker 3
Still, they don't have to cornered the market on courage or, you know, commitment. And they're just trying to they're on the mountain right along everybody else. So for me, it's powerful when you're sitting next to a medal of honor recipient that is sharing with you. Yeah, I doggone, I need to do a better job at this. I'm like, oh, okay.
00:26:59:06 - 00:27:24:05
Speaker 3
Yeah, that's we're in this together. But the people coming through our course, gosh, there's so many stories. Sometimes it's stories of former military folks who just are wrestling with their identity. Meaning, you know, I'm not. We're in the the uniform anymore. I'm missing something. And we take some time in our courses to say, let's get clear on who you're trying to be.
00:27:24:05 - 00:27:45:16
Speaker 3
What what do you stand for? What do you stand from? What don't you want to tolerate in yourself anymore? Or on your team or in your company? For them to unpack that in a safe space with some other folks who are working on themselves? There have been a lot of tears. In some cases, there's been a lot of just recalibration.
00:27:45:18 - 00:28:23:07
Speaker 3
And some people, you know, powerfully say, last night, thanks to what we explored yesterday, I finally had the conversation that I've been avoiding for years, and it's a new day. It is a new day. And what was it? That's it was courage. It took courage to finally confront the narrative. The voices, whatever that was that they've been. They've been in that battle for years and for them to just say it yesterday, thanks to what we explore, I got clear on who I'm trying to be in this relationship.
00:28:23:09 - 00:28:44:03
Speaker 3
And I broke through the narrative and I planted the flag and I said, I'm taking a stand for this and no more that. So for me, a lot of times the powerful ones are relationships. Some people get clarity about, hey, I'm, I'm going to change my job. Life's too short. And I'm, I'm committed to living a life of purpose.
00:28:44:03 - 00:29:10:07
Speaker 3
And I'm not feeling that right now. And thanks for reminding me of that. So we don't want these to be informational programs. We want them to be transformational programs. And that sounds, you know, very cliche, but but this is who you are while you're doing what you do. And the battles are coming. So in personal life and family conversations and big life decisions in faith, people say, I had to reconnect with that.
00:29:10:07 - 00:29:35:20
Speaker 3
And we've had some really powerful ones at the organizational level, sometimes we work with companies like senior leadership teams and we take them through crystallizing. What is your creed? There's power in a creed, you know, because our definition of honor is living a shared moral and ethical code of excellence. There's a code of excellence, but it's one we share.
00:29:35:21 - 00:29:49:14
Speaker 3
So, man, if you want to be a part of what we got going on, if you want to be a part of this tribe, we better be clear about what are our rules of engagement, what are our non-negotiables? How will we talk to each other? How we treat each other? What's our mindset? What's our work ethic look like?
00:29:49:14 - 00:30:14:11
Speaker 3
What we always do, what we never do. So when we do the Creed workshop with we companies, they walk out of there going, this document is now the thing that helps us hold ourselves and each other accountable. This document is the thing we slide across the table before you sign on your contract to join us because we're saying, hey, if you want to take one of these sacred seats, you better not screw up the magic we got.
00:30:14:11 - 00:30:34:07
Speaker 3
And here's the deal. Here's the price of admission, and we will unapologetically hold you accountable if you dishonor this code of excellence that we share here. So one of the things that's been powerful for me is watching organizations just replant that flag and get strong about that and take a step forward together.
00:30:34:07 - 00:30:59:04
Speaker 2
It's just gratifying to see the light come on and the programs that we have that Kevin leads and we have some great facilitators. The light comes on because you might walk in there thinking you're a leader of programs and initiatives and projects. You come out realizing you lead people, and that's a gift. It's a science and it's an art.
00:30:59:06 - 00:31:15:11
Speaker 2
And I truly believe we give you the tools to do that and the way you should think about doing that. And it's great to see their light come on. When Kevin puts them through the paces of this course, because you got to look at yourself, become the leader that you need and want to be.
00:31:15:11 - 00:31:40:20
Speaker 3
And I will say, we've got, you know, Tony, Tony, Brock and Christian Uchimura and Dave Keller and Rick Rochelle. We got some just world class facilitators who take people through this. It is such a neat experience for the cohort to come together as well around this. And the word burden was mentioned a little bit earlier about the, you know, the the burden, the weight of the music, you know, symbolically represented.
00:31:40:22 - 00:32:03:21
Speaker 3
And the youngest Medal of Honor recipient alive is, marine named Kyle Carpenter, just one of the great humans walking the Earth just as a, as a person, as a young dad, just as a here a personal hero of mine. And I'm sure it's been used by other Medal of Honor recipients, but he's the one who shared with me the phrase the Medal of Honor is the beautiful bird.
00:32:03:23 - 00:32:29:17
Speaker 3
You know, a lot of times when people are nominated for it, it's not a it's not a recognition. They want because the like, how dare you single me out. You know, other people, I will. I was just doing what we all do. There's, you know, some resistance to being separated from the the crew. Oftentimes the older recipients will come alongside the new nominee to say this.
00:32:29:19 - 00:33:00:21
Speaker 3
This is a beautiful bird that you can share. You have a platform to make an impact and to tell the stories of the others who can no longer tell the stories. So you've got that opportunity. And I think leadership is also it's a blessing and a burden is you have the opportunity to lead people, but you better feel the weight of that because, you know, as Mike said, you're not leading projects, you're leading people to accomplish things that might take the form of projects.
00:33:00:23 - 00:33:06:15
Speaker 3
And that, too, is a beautiful burden. And again, we can borrow from one to inform the other.
00:33:06:15 - 00:33:17:15
Speaker 1
You talked about Creed earlier, Mike, if I could ask about, the creed of the museum, what it is, what it's not, and also get into a little bit about why it's in Arlington, Texas.
00:33:17:15 - 00:34:10:14
Speaker 2
I did say early on that we're a biography museum, so why are we a biography museum? We went around the block on what we we're going to be, what's we figured out why we need a museum. We then had to determine what we are, and we quickly realized that just being a museum, based on what service you were in or what war you were in, or what type of military action that you had to earn, the Medal of Honor just wasn't enough, that there were a lot of things that went into a person becoming a medal of honor recipient, and it starts with how they grew up and dealt with the things that they
00:34:10:14 - 00:34:37:00
Speaker 2
had to overcome in their life before they ever got on a battlefield, and we've all had to do that. And so we decided to become a biography museum, which enables us in our exhibition deck to tell great stories and group Medal of Honor recipients together that you would never think of grouping together. But it's based on these values that are inherent in the in the metal.
00:34:37:01 - 00:35:08:09
Speaker 2
Because those values are eternal. It doesn't matter if it's civil war or war on terror, or the Korean War or the Boxer Rebellion. Those values are eternal. And these stories are so complementary, different, but complementary that you can tell that story that way. So when you go into a museum and you come to an exhibit island, you're going to see somebody from the war on terror and on the same island.
00:35:08:11 - 00:35:31:11
Speaker 2
We'll talk about somebody who was on the USS Arizona and why those two were complementary. It just became a very dynamic way to tell the story, the Medal of Honor and to inspire people to do extraordinary things in their life, too. I'd been all over this great country, and it is a great country. And all the big cities.
00:35:31:17 - 00:35:59:08
Speaker 2
There's no better place to build this museum than Arlington, Texas. Sure, there's a lot going on here. The Cowboys play here, the Texas Rangers play here. We have major concerts and and I think 15 million people a year visit this area. All that's great. It's between two different airports. What's really great about it is the overwhelming sense of patriotism that the people in North Texas have.
00:35:59:10 - 00:36:26:01
Speaker 2
There are a lot of veterans that locate here, but even the people who didn't serve in the military, I just love the fact that they've adopted the whole veteran, population into their community. And there's just this overwhelming sense of patriotism that says America needs to hear about these values. And we want them to come here to do it.
00:36:26:01 - 00:36:56:03
Speaker 2
And they open their arms, their pocketbooks, their land. For us to be able to build this museum here. And and that's why it ended up here. We could have built it in a lot of different places. And there were a lot of different cities who were vying to get it. But that overwhelming sense of patriotism, the committee who had to decide to locate it here, which included a lot of Medal of Honor recipients, the recipients said it needs to come here.
00:36:56:05 - 00:37:16:10
Speaker 2
And and, you know, you may have a vote, but when a recipient says it needs to come here or five of them do, just go along. And they were right. So that's why it's here. And, you know, my challenge to everyone who's listening to this, there are a lot of places you can go in the world. If you want to go somewhere to be inspired.
00:37:16:12 - 00:37:36:10
Speaker 2
I challenge you within the next year to make a trip to Arlington, Texas. There's a lot to do here, but come to this museum and spend a couple of hours in our exhibition deck and you will feel much better about yourself for coming and be inspired to do extraordinary things in your life. That's my challenge.
00:37:36:12 - 00:37:46:17
Speaker 1
Kevin. I want to turn the lens not away from Arlington, but towards your recent experience. I understand that you had the chance to visit the museum and brought along some of your family. Tell me about what that experience was like.
00:37:46:18 - 00:38:06:18
Speaker 3
I've been involved with with the project and standing up the institute for about three years now. So obviously well before the museum existed. So my family's been on the journey and I'm the youngest of six kids. So one girl, five boys. I'm the baby. And this happened to be this August, last week was my mom's 88th birthday and, well, hey, want to do something for mom?
00:38:06:18 - 00:38:36:02
Speaker 3
And part of my stand? My commitment is in our relationship is to take her on an adventure. We asked my dad a couple of years ago, and she put on a masterclass of devotion and loyalty and love over 65 years of marriage. And now, in this new chapter, she deserves adventure. So as one opportunity I said, hey, how about you come up the museums open, we'll go to a Dallas Cowboys football game and, let's see if any other family is available.
00:38:36:02 - 00:39:02:21
Speaker 3
So a few of my brothers, their spouses, one of my nephews all came and we we walked into the museum and again, they've heard of it and they've seen videos and seen pictures. But when you walk down that ramp and see just sort of the majesty that is just the architectural marvel and see the spiral staircases going up, it was neat to watch them because they were like, I didn't realize.
00:39:02:23 - 00:39:31:01
Speaker 3
I thought I knew it wasn't even close. You know, it's like, Mark Twain's the comment about the right word. It's like the difference between a lightning bug and lightning, he said, I thought, I thought I knew, and then I showed up and I saw the lightning. So we wandered around the bottom, of the where the institute is or where the gift shop is and what's called the Ring of Valor, which is the the names all of the names illuminated, above in very dramatic fashion.
00:39:31:01 - 00:39:55:03
Speaker 3
This is before you even go up to the museum. And again, it was wave after wave of. I didn't realize each each name. When you see the names written out, I. Here's what my mom you know, I could see it in her eyes. Each name is a family. A family that that helps create this person and how they approach challenges.
00:39:55:08 - 00:40:33:23
Speaker 3
But a family that was impacted if this was, if they sacrificed it all, I mean, it just it's a sea of names, like if you've seen the Vietnam Memorial and DC, that black wall is just so many. And it's not just a name, it's more than that. So to watch my family just appreciate that and then say it deserves a place like this, you know that many names of people who did something that deserved a place of this magnitude, and then they went upstairs and as you ascend, you walk in and there's a I don't want to I don't want to tip our hand too much because I want people to come and see it
00:40:33:23 - 00:40:54:14
Speaker 3
for themselves. But there you are, welcomed by a video. And again, in my mind when I was hearing them describe, oh, there's going to be a video that's sort of gives you the context of the medal and sort of introduces some stories. I thought I knew in my mind what that would be. And then the museum artists did their magic, and I've seen the video many times.
00:40:54:14 - 00:41:21:15
Speaker 3
It hits me a different way every time. But to watch it through the eyes of my family, through the tears in the eyes of my family, some of whom have served, all my brothers were, were military. But our whole thing here, the whole family serves right. But for them to just be brought to tears of, there was a little bit of heartbreak because you knew some people laid it all down in these stories.
00:41:21:21 - 00:41:52:01
Speaker 3
But most of the tears were pride of, yeah, you darn right. This, this nation, these values are worth fighting for and to be reminded of the places people have gone and what they've done in demonstration of that. And then you exit the movie, and then you walk out into the exhibit hall, and it's just, there's so much but you're just immediately immersed in stories, interactive stories and things that bring it to life in handwritten letters by recipients to their spouses.
00:41:52:03 - 00:42:19:22
Speaker 3
It's just so personal. And, one of the comments I heard from several of my family members was, I got to come back. I, I couldn't see it all, and I got to come back. So pride for me, watching the pride just naturally elicited in my family as they were going on. Not for, hey, their kid brother was associated with something like this, but this is part of who we are.
00:42:20:00 - 00:42:51:02
Speaker 3
And like I said, the institute exists to inspire, equip and connect and I think we can connect the cohorts of people going through it. But these stories connect us as humans, and we can see ourselves in the story, but we can also relate to the struggles in the battle. So, it was powerful to watch to see the museum through the eyes of people I love, who I know love the nation, and love the idea of these values.
00:42:51:02 - 00:42:53:11
Speaker 3
And it just, it kind of all came together.
00:42:53:11 - 00:43:03:08
Speaker 1
How are people going to get engaged with the speaking series? Is it going to be on site at Arlington? Is it virtual? What are the offerings kind of shaping up to look like?
00:43:03:08 - 00:43:24:14
Speaker 2
We want it to be, but so we we do want to physically bring speakers to be on stage in our Kirby theater. Neal Kirby was a medal of honor recipient from the City of Arlington, and the city of Arlington asked us to name the theater after him. And since they donated the land and a few million dollars, we said, okay, sure.
00:43:24:16 - 00:43:49:17
Speaker 2
So we do want them here, and we want to be able to live stream, while they're doing it. And then and, and then use portions of what they, they do with us to show in the theater. So people, when they're coming in and waiting to go up to the exhibition deck, can go into the theater and watch, certain interviews or, or snippets of interviews from different people that we've talked with.
00:43:49:20 - 00:44:35:18
Speaker 2
We're certainly capable of doing all of that virtually as well. I'm looking forward to the time when we can have these great panel discussions on the issues of the day, and that's what we'll work towards, in 2026 and beyond, because quite frankly, there's a lot of turmoil and there's a lot of division going on, and we need to be a beacon that addresses that and a place where people can come in regardless of politics or socio economic standing or anything like that, and come in and just have a conversation and let's see if we can find some solutions based on those values of the Medal of Honor and what that Medal of Honor stands
00:44:35:18 - 00:44:52:01
Speaker 2
for. And and that's really going to be the payoff for this museum, along with the things that Kevin does in his center and what we're doing in the center for character. Excellent. That's where the payoff for this museum is going to be.
00:44:52:01 - 00:45:17:08
Speaker 3
So the speaker series is one thread in the center for the Elevation of Honor, that think tank, other venues for exploring and bringing those ideas and those people together could be summits and workshops, could be research. It could be, hey, let's throw a topic on the table. And everybody resilience. There are a lot of people who are getting after that in the military and, you know, the medical community and all that.
00:45:17:08 - 00:45:26:03
Speaker 3
We could be the place to bring them together and say, we're going to host this and this is going to be the venue. So that invitation will go out as well.
00:45:26:03 - 00:45:59:00
Speaker 2
The other thing that I'm really excited about and we just started kind of walking down this path and, and that's really a patriotism survey that we will plan, right, deploy and then release the report on in the future. It's not are you patriotic or not? It's what kind of patriot are you and what does that mean? And how do we bring these different types of patriotism together in order to build a better country and a more unified country?
00:45:59:02 - 00:46:04:07
Speaker 2
I'm really looking forward to that. That's that's one thing that we have planned for the horizon.
00:46:04:07 - 00:46:16:06
Speaker 1
It's powerful stuff. You both are changemakers, leaders, huge ripple impacts across your community, across those families. How can people follow and support your mission? The museum, the foundation.
00:46:16:08 - 00:46:38:16
Speaker 3
You know, you come visit, look around the institute, in the museum. It's all in one website, to just learn what we're doing, be aware of this. And of course, on the museum page, you can even dig down and learn more about the individual recipients. But as you sort of scale back out, you'll see the mission that we're on and we're up to see you can become a member of the museum again.
00:46:38:17 - 00:47:06:23
Speaker 3
The the first action step, the first call to actions come to Arlington. You think you've got a picture in your head of what it's like? It's different and it's powerful. So come and see it for yourself. See the lightning, right. But as you explore the Institute website, you will see some, some things. We dropped in there, a couple of white papers that say, here's how we approach things like the Courage Catalyst, dig deep with us, learn along with, of.
00:47:06:23 - 00:47:26:08
Speaker 3
So you'll see a product there. You'll see another, document. And we can also drop this in the notes called The Case for honor. And this is an article that just got published in the Journal for Character and Leadership Development. And again, it gives you the spirit of how we are approaching this thing as an invitation in your life.
00:47:26:08 - 00:47:30:12
Speaker 3
What are the battles in your life and how might this lens be helpful to you?
00:47:30:12 - 00:47:53:19
Speaker 2
I like what you said about just come here and we want you to be part of our team and part of our family. And Kevin mentioned joining as a member. And you may live in Canada, you may live in Ireland, you may live in Maine or California and may not be able to get here very often. But joining our team will keep you informed about what's going on.
00:47:53:19 - 00:48:20:04
Speaker 2
We'll invite you to things and great newsletter about. You'll learn more about the Medal of Honor and Medal of Honor recipients that way. But you're part of this effort that really, truly is designed to inspire America and make us all better. And we just ask that you join our team. I'll make one other pledge for anybody who's listening or watching this podcast, and because of this podcast, makes a decision to come here.
00:48:20:06 - 00:48:37:22
Speaker 2
It felt contact me over the over the website. I'll personally walk them through the exhibit deck myself. That's how important this is to me and to Kevin and to all of us who have been blessed to find ourselves here doing this. I make that pledge one of.
00:48:37:22 - 00:48:47:07
Speaker 1
The thing that's been kind of going on, in the background here, you've been working hard to get some legislation passed to make something very important happen in the nation's.
00:48:47:07 - 00:49:10:05
Speaker 2
Capital. One of the other pillars of the project that we call it is the National Medal of Honor monument that will build in Washington, D.C. one of the initial thoughts was, well, why don't we build the National Medal of Honor and Museum in Washington, D.C., and take about 30 years to get that done? Literally it would. And we only have 61 living recipients.
00:49:10:05 - 00:49:31:02
Speaker 2
The average age is about 80 years old. We only had Vietnam and War on Terror recipients left. We needed to get this done so they could see this. That's why we were able to get this done in a five year period, from the time we located it in Arlington to March 25th, 2025. So we decided to actually build the monument in Washington, D.C..
00:49:31:02 - 00:49:51:16
Speaker 2
National Medal of Honor. Mind you, of course you want to do that on the National Mall, where the Lincoln Memorial is, the Washington Monument Capitol building, and all the Vietnam War Memorial, three War memorial, all that World War Two. Well, it takes an act of Congress to do that. And in 2021, the House and Senate both voted unanimously.
00:49:51:16 - 00:50:10:21
Speaker 2
Think about what was going on in 2021. They both voted unanimously for us to be able to build the monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. President Biden signed it into law. That's great. Now, where on the National Mall you got to build it. We, of course, want to build it next to the Lincoln Memorial, and there's space there to do that.
00:50:10:22 - 00:50:36:13
Speaker 2
There's actually space at the base of the steps, the Lincoln Memorial to do it. Well, that's in the reserve. They called that the reserve part of the mall. And the reserve is outlined specifically. Well, guess what it takes to build a monument within the reserve. Another act of Congress. So the House voted earlier in the year unanimously for us to be able to build the monument within 1000ft of the Lincoln Memorial.
00:50:36:18 - 00:50:58:14
Speaker 2
And the Senate still hasn't acted on it. We hope that they will do that before the end of the year. And we feel certain that the president will sign it into law. But we want to build this monument really, as that commemoration of the metal, what it stands for, what it stands for, for America and those values.
00:50:58:16 - 00:51:23:03
Speaker 2
So all those millions and millions of people who come to Washington, D.C. every year, not only from our own country, but from around the world, can see what our nation is all about as far as how we recognize our heroes and what a real hero really means, especially in defense of your country, but really in the defense of your ideals as a country.
00:51:23:03 - 00:51:34:08
Speaker 2
We fight. And Kevin and I both joined the Air Force, not because we hated what was in front of us, but because we love what was behind us. And that's what this monument will represent.
00:51:34:08 - 00:51:52:17
Speaker 3
I believe the there will be once it's approved. The process will include a design competition. So people say, well, what will it look like? We that we don't know yet. So it will probably be. Well, it will definitely be inspirational, but it will be, dramatic in a way we probably haven't seen yet that design competition.
00:51:52:17 - 00:52:08:19
Speaker 2
We want to open up to anyone. We want somebody to send us, send designs. Now, we don't know the space yet, so that will dictate size and what you can do. But we want to open that up to the nation and see what they come up. And I'm sure we'll include elements of that. And whoever wins that competition.
00:52:08:21 - 00:52:28:18
Speaker 1
It's going to be incredible. And with the team behind it, you know, we're we're cheering you on. I want to thank you both so much for coming on the show today. It was an absolute pleasure to learn more about the museum, the foundation, the money spent, the institute, all of the programs going on. But mostly I think the impact that you're having, I think the ripple effect is real.
00:52:28:19 - 00:52:48:15
Speaker 1
I was really touched, Kevin, when you know, you talked about the behind every one of those names as a family. I think that's so true. Just an incredible chance to chat with you all. And I am roped in. I'm booking my my tickets down to, to Texas any day now. Perfect. And and and Mike I'm going to I'm going to make you, give me give me a give me the thought.
00:52:48:15 - 00:52:49:23
Speaker 2
Okay.
00:52:50:01 - 00:52:58:02
Speaker 3
Well, bring your microphone. Because I love my idea of having you broadcast this from the the museum or the institute, though. Absolutely.
00:52:58:04 - 00:53:00:20
Speaker 1
That would be incredible. Gentlemen, thanks again for coming on the show.
00:53:00:20 - 00:53:02:11
Speaker 3
Thanks for what you're doing, Matt.
00:53:02:13 - 00:53:06:22
Speaker 2
Really? Yeah. Thanks for having us. And thank you for the message that you deliver as well.
00:53:12:16 - 00:53:32:02
Speaker 1
Thanks so much for tuning in. Story. Behind the Stone is available on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, and on the Rise Across America Radio Network on iHeartRadio. Audacity and tune in to search for wreath. We air every Thursday at 10 a.m. eastern on the Red Cross Radio Network. Thank you for tuning in.