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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 - 00:00:20:15
Speaker 1
Hey, it's Matthew Cudmore, and welcome to a special Memorial Day edition of Story Behind the Stone, recorded live from the Military Women's Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Today we're facing a tough question. What if the biggest threat to veterans heritage isn't time, but silence?
00:00:20:17 - 00:00:35:22
Speaker 1
We are honored to bring you our final speaker, the president and CEO of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation, Michael Rod Rodriguez. Rod's entire life is defined by multigenerational service. He is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces Green Beret with ten deployments.
00:00:36:00 - 00:01:00:21
Speaker 1
The grandson of World War Two veterans, the son of a Vietnam veteran and the father of a soldier with four deployments of his own. Today, rod leads the historic, congressionally designated mission to build a national Global War on Terrorism memorial right on the National Mall and next door to the Vietnam Wall and the Lincoln Memorial, representing 3.7 million post 911 veterans and honoring over 7000 fallen service members.
00:01:00:23 - 00:01:31:12
Speaker 1
This landmark breaks history as the first National War memorial planned during an ongoing conflict. It is designed to be the most inclusive tribute ever built, honoring both uniformed and non uniformed personnel who stepped up to serve. Stay tuned for this inspiring and forward looking address anchored entirely in the Foundation's core pillars of honor. Heal, empower and unite.
00:01:31:14 - 00:01:52:16
Speaker 1
I am truly honored to invite and introduce our next guest, Michael Rudd Rodriguez, to close us out here today. I was talking to Rudd earlier on, how should I introduce you? And he just said, tell him anything. Tell him I'm a soldier. For some context, he is a soldier, but much more than that. He is just a driven man with purpose.
00:01:52:17 - 00:02:20:03
Speaker 1
He's the CEO of the Global War on Terror Memorial, and what he's doing is building this memorial, and it is going to have such a prominent space right next to the Vietnam Memorial. And Rod's going to tell you more about this. It is truly an honor for him to come and close out and bring his perspective. He has served with the Special Forces, the Green Berets, ten deployments, and the inspiration and the story and the presence that he brings is beyond words.
00:02:20:04 - 00:02:28:20
Speaker 1
I can't really do a just introduction. You're going to have to get to know the man himself. So I'm going to call him up here and you'll get a sense of what I'm talking about.
00:02:28:22 - 00:02:47:13
Speaker 2
Thanks, man. Well, I would like to kick things off and wish hero of ours, brother mine, who I never met, Anthony Shine, who's buried in section 60 not far from here. Actually. Colleen's father. A very happy birthday today. As you said, I just go by rod. You know, when the military where we were last name taped. Right. So, Rory is kind of hard to say sometimes.
00:02:47:13 - 00:03:04:21
Speaker 2
I think rod is a lot quicker than I was. Rod. My father served in Vietnam as rod, my grandfathers and all my great uncle go to rod. My son is a much taller, stronger, better looking version. Media called Little Rod drives him nuts. He's in the army. And of course, you know, the mother of our three monsters is, Mama Rod.
00:03:04:22 - 00:03:22:10
Speaker 2
She served for 21 years and deployed six times as well. So that's just rod, right? And a little bit about my family history as, my homeboy from north of the border up there. Was telling you on the president's CEO, did you want Memorial Foundation or the congressionally designated nonprofit tasked with building a national global War on terrorism memorial here in Washington, D.C.?
00:03:22:12 - 00:03:51:22
Speaker 2
Now, if we had about eight hours, I could give you a piece of the 24 step process to build a National Memorial Museum, here in Washington, D.C., and I would definitely invite, one of my colleagues, Mary Kay, to come up here and help me. So, but I won't go into that, you know, as a soldier doing what I did for a number of years, I consider it an absolute blessing to serve my nation and humanity, in the capacity that I did, inspired me to serve was, as I mentioned, my father served and and, you know, apple trees make apples, right?
00:03:52:01 - 00:04:09:19
Speaker 2
You know, they never really talked about their service, right? They never really did. I saw the pictures of them in there from way back in the day. The young man and and my Willie took my grandmother's house and they would they never really talked about it much, but when they did, they never talked about war. And those of us that have stepped in that arena and stepped out, I mean, I'm not glamorizing it.
00:04:09:21 - 00:04:23:03
Speaker 2
I was a sniper. I'm not going to tell you sniper stories. I'm not just not not who I am. That's not how I was raised. But what they did do was they spoke about the men they served with and those that never came home. And they spoke about them. The reverence and love. And these are incredibly stoic men.
00:04:23:05 - 00:04:38:21
Speaker 2
I grew up in southern New Mexico on the border. My family's from the United States. When it wasn't the United States, the border crossed us, right. Which is which was a blessing for us. So very stoic man. But they would speak, like I said, speak about them love. And it impact me as a young child. So I was like, well, I want to pursue that.
00:04:38:21 - 00:04:53:00
Speaker 2
I want to, I want to see what's there. I want to grow my familia. Right? I want to grow my family. So I did serve and I was blessed to serve in the capacity that I did. I think I fought my way through my career and meeting some incredible people. My first with my joining the Army, and I was in the Army, I think seven months.
00:04:53:00 - 00:05:14:01
Speaker 2
I joined in 1992, and then in the 93, I was about 7 or 8 months in and like, our unit got activated and they're like, hey, you guys deployed to Somalia? I'm like, yeah, I finally get to deploy. And I'm like, where? Somalia? Like, where is that? I didn't know. And for those of you remember, I think everyone's here long enough in the tooth to remember that what was going on at that point, it was call operation just for Hope.
00:05:14:03 - 00:05:34:15
Speaker 2
And we were there initially set to, ensure the warlords stopped stealing the rice from Mogadishu and Kismayu and ensure it got inland where the famine existed. So we did. And that was my job that, you know, I was with we escorted the food to those that needed it. And I tell you this because as young, I think the dumbest private the Army ever had, we would go and I'll never forget the first time we delivered rice to one of these camps.
00:05:34:15 - 00:05:52:19
Speaker 2
It was about in Baidoa, which is about about a 7 hour or 8 hour drive. We pick up the rice, you know, fight our way through Mogadishu kind of and then take it out in. And I remember the first time I pulled up, I looked across and you see all these little huts and these makeshift canvas tents, and it was, I think, care and concern the two NGOs who were there at that point.
00:05:52:20 - 00:06:13:23
Speaker 2
The ICRC was there, too. They were making sure to feed these children. And then I saw like it was hundreds of these, the huts there probably like over 1000 maybe more people. And I saw them. And then as they see these trucks pulling up with the rice, being courted by the United States military, I see all these figures get up and start walking towards where they're going, and they get there.
00:06:13:23 - 00:06:30:21
Speaker 2
As we got closer, I realized they were all children, every single one of them. And, you know, typical everyone, as I say, famine, you know, people distended bellies, lost teeth, no hair, extreme malnutrition, you know, so the body does. But I will say this, you know, those are some of the most, beautiful smiles ever seen in my life.
00:06:30:23 - 00:06:48:14
Speaker 2
But that's that's what I see, and I still see. So it was in that moment, like I said, the dumbest private army ever had. I was like, I realized that moment, the United States military and those who served doing a number of capacities no one ever really talks about, no one ever feels the need to share because it's just what you do right now.
00:06:48:14 - 00:07:05:11
Speaker 2
We run down bad guys and do what we gotta do. We're really good at it. No one's ever been as good as us. No, they're going to be. I'm going to keep getting better. But we also provide hope, safety, security, freedom, those that. It was true oppression. I witnessed true oppression now. So I'm gonna do as long as they let me do it right, until they kick me out or or I got blown up one too many times and they kicked me out.
00:07:05:11 - 00:07:27:20
Speaker 2
And so I say it back on for how my military career started. Really, what drove me again? Blessed to serve in the capacities I did progressed once and and all the other cool guy stuff that people see on TV and things. But that doesn't make me special. It doesn't make me different than anyone else here. Right? And I think a lot of veterans these same way, we make different career choices, we do different things.
00:07:27:20 - 00:07:43:21
Speaker 2
But no one in the military, particularly for those that have seen combat, like I want to go to combat, like send me to combat now. And that's not a choice. You choose a path and you just deploy. Some don't. It's just you do what you do, but you do it out of love of country, love your family, love self.
00:07:43:21 - 00:08:01:17
Speaker 2
And every time I've been deployed forward, I've, I've seen that. And I think that it's common every single time I deployed or even back stateside doing training and being away from home, I assume more birthdays and holidays than I care to mention. Or I can remember. Every one of us is committed to the mission. I know forward.
00:08:01:17 - 00:08:18:21
Speaker 2
For those of us that have worn the cloth of our nation. For if I'm standing next to someone, I can tell they're still the same words I did, and I can count on them. And I take a bullet for any one of them. And I love every one of them. Which is why I was really happy to to wish your father happy birthday today, even if I haven't met them.
00:08:18:23 - 00:08:36:14
Speaker 2
Right. That's a that's a family. So that's where I came from. Now, fast forward to what I do today. I never, as a young kid thought I'd be building a national war memorial. All right. How did I get here? I don't know, I just just ended up so happy. You know, I was presented with the opportunity to do this, you know, join the team.
00:08:36:15 - 00:08:55:14
Speaker 2
The foundation came together in 2015. I'll give a little history. And there were several veterans trying to do it kind of on their own, you know, building a national memorial and on sacred space. The nation's front line is probably more difficult things to do if you want to build something. And those that have been involved in that can say, I'm building something will exist as long as this nation.
00:08:55:16 - 00:09:10:15
Speaker 2
I never realized that till I was talking to the Secretary of Interior and I was giving a briefing and some stuff, and he stopped me. He goes, you realize what you're doing? I said, well, yeah, I'm trying to, but, you know, you're building something will exist as long as this nation exists. I then I'm looking for five centimeter targets in front of me, trying to get to the finish line.
00:09:10:16 - 00:09:29:12
Speaker 2
So they came together in 2015. I joined the team in 2016. And in 2017 we introduced a piece of legislation to seek exemption from the Commemorative Works Act of 1986. Now, the CWA of 86 was written and stated that a war has to be over a period of ten years before national one will work and built. I don't fault them for that.
00:09:29:14 - 00:09:49:08
Speaker 2
I don't want why some that stupid I'm know not really. It was 1986, you know I mean that's that was the fight wars are bookended. Wars happen for a period of time and they end. That was the perception or the belief, at that point. So we introduced a bill in 2015, swept through the House of Senate president, signed it in August of that year.
00:09:49:14 - 00:10:08:00
Speaker 2
Now all of a sudden, this good idea very became a reality, like, oh, crap, how do you do this? Right? How do you do this? The board turned to me like, hey, rod, can you support a leadership position? I'm like, I'll try. You know, at that point, my youngest son, my motivations to join, join this sacred mission was, my son was getting ready to enlist, mother of my children.
00:10:08:00 - 00:10:24:17
Speaker 2
She was still serving active duty at Bragg. And we're back. People. Airborne, all the way. Right. So that was my motivations. I was at home. I've been medically retired. You know, this small 501 C3 nonprofit because that's the vessel to build all the stuff here, which I think is great. You know, the process as I go through this, I hope I'm not throwing shade at the process.
00:10:24:17 - 00:10:45:08
Speaker 2
I'm glad. Is this challenging to do this? It's a sacred space, so I'll try so Sep new ship 2018. And here's a little more history. Some stuff that goes on right over there across the bridge. So in 2003, Congress deemed the reserve portion of the National Mall, which is what you would consider the National Mall closed. It deemed it a finished work of art.
00:10:45:09 - 00:11:03:11
Speaker 2
Nothing new has been approved since 2003. Had been the outside area. It's called area one. There's an area too, but we know when you go into that area one. So I'll mention some memorials, some prominent memorials that exist in area one right now World War one, Museum area one, the Eisenhower Museum, area one. Right. Those are two memorials that exist outside the reserve.
00:11:03:13 - 00:11:21:17
Speaker 2
Now, here's some background about the National Mall, the most visited site I think everyone compiled. Yes, in all of Washington, DC is the Lincoln Next three or war memorials Vietnam, World War Two, Korea, and then MLK. So it's a sacred space. If there's a center of that for foot traffic and visitation, it's it's the Lincoln and then everything else out there.
00:11:21:20 - 00:11:34:20
Speaker 2
This is not my memorial. I have a lot of experience in this, but I'm an expert, not I'm an expert on my family service, but I'm not. So I sought out input from others like, hey, we're what do you guys think? You should go if you think it's okay to be in area one? Okay, fine, I'll build it.
00:11:34:20 - 00:11:50:03
Speaker 2
And everyone, if you want in the reserve home, I have to go back to Congress to pass a bill that no one has passed. But tell me. That's my job. That's my responsibility. Everybody, even the lawmakers and the veterans in Congress that helped us get the first bill passed. Like, what do you mean it's not going there? Well, heck yeah.
00:11:50:05 - 00:12:09:00
Speaker 2
Personally, Bill, I'm like, oh, it's that easy, right? Okay. So that's what I did. Started the process, met with the various, agencies that exist to govern this the space, which is another complexity. Told them on this one. We want to build it around. You can't like a wall. I'm aware of of the 2003 closure, but I know if I go to Congress and ask for this and, you know, they're like, run!
00:12:09:00 - 00:12:22:20
Speaker 2
It's a 2008. And they were honest. I love everyone that works in this space because they're they're diligent. I know where they're coming from. They don't sugarcoat anything. I get beat up all the time. They're like, right, look, we're going to be honest. Like, everyone has tried. Everybody's failed people with a lot more influence, a lot more money.
00:12:22:21 - 00:12:40:11
Speaker 2
And having money have failed because ten, 15 years tends to mean it's not going to happen. I said, well, I'm just they I'm very openly transparent. I don't sneak around. I don't do no, no. Like, okay, go ahead. So I tried and so I effectively went back to work passing what is being called in closed doors. The impossible bill is never going to happen.
00:12:40:11 - 00:12:59:20
Speaker 2
But Bill supporters ain't going to happen. It took two sessions of Congress, but then President Biden signed my bill into law, and then in 2022, effectively return the applecart in the space, said a lot of people. But I'm here to to succeed in this mission. So during that process, those years, me doing that, I understood in in the 24 step process, we get to the design piece.
00:12:59:20 - 00:13:17:15
Speaker 2
My job to understand my operational environment was soft trust that I was using the military push operation force. True, the sort of things from one of those understanding operational alignment. So I took a deep dive. I'm I'm standing on the shoulders of giants. All those that have built everything here in this beautiful city prior to me. It's all a matter of public record.
00:13:17:15 - 00:13:35:04
Speaker 2
If you guys want to spend some time going, dive into that. So I read that and to understand my operational moment and I knew that we get to design, but I always wondered how many Vietnam veterans, you know, the very first National War Memorial built in our city was 1982, with the Vietnam War. As an artist, I got into art when I was in the Walter Reed just north of here.
00:13:35:08 - 00:13:50:00
Speaker 2
I got into his art. I found out that it's the purest form of communication. It can be a case of thought, feeling an emotion. It tells a story. And it's subjective. We can all look at a painting, and I'm like, man, that's beautiful. And y'all can be like, man, that's crap. And we're all right. That's all civic art.
00:13:50:02 - 00:14:16:16
Speaker 2
So I wondered, even as a veteran, it would be impossible for me from an objective standpoint as a veteran or finding another veteran designer to design it. How can you do that as vessel the voice and I don't know how many Vietnam veterans, myelin talked to have a cousin on that wall. So I wanted to be sure the voices were so I took a very deep social, psychological and anthropological view on what memorialization mean to humans.
00:14:16:16 - 00:14:35:03
Speaker 2
What do we mean? What does it mean to us at our core? I don't know if anybody knows this, but the very first structure after we built the fire pit, we're living in caves. The very first structure mankind built were burial mounds. SA cave system in South Africa has caves, Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. They found remains of them.
00:14:35:03 - 00:14:49:12
Speaker 2
But in one of the caves, if you follow it, there's one of the caves that you go up in there and there's a chamber that's their cemetery, the burial mounds. So it's the core of who we are. And if you think about it, just take a step back. That's the, I would think, one of the definitions of humanity.
00:14:49:12 - 00:15:08:11
Speaker 2
We're the only species on this planet that do that. So memorialization is at the core of who we are. So knowing all this, I decided to take a very different approach and, look for world class designer. Like I step into the Shark tank with me and design something with the ability, credibility and humility, with humility being the center pillar.
00:15:08:13 - 00:15:25:18
Speaker 2
Right? Nothing against artists, but I want to be sure an artist that would be involved and understand that had nothing to do with them, because it's got nothing to do with me. Found one. Or concurrent with this, I, created a design advisory council, of our stakeholders, because I wanted to tell the whole story of this incredibly complex and difficult to define war that people will dispute.
00:15:25:18 - 00:15:43:05
Speaker 2
We've lost two veterans. They're here. What's the war on terrorism? What's a good one? You're going to get two definitions, but let's just bring everybody back to the reality. So the global War on Terrorism service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal have been awarded in the Caribbean and South America, in the Pacific and Africa and the theaters.
00:15:43:05 - 00:16:03:09
Speaker 2
You guys are probably thinking this is a global war and no point in time does anybody consider a named operation its own separate war. They call them wars, but they're named operation. Does anybody in here consider Operation Overlord, the D-Day invasion operation is own war. No part of World War Two, right? So I say that again, because what we've been working on incredibly complex.
00:16:03:09 - 00:16:25:15
Speaker 2
It's a complex war. How do I define this given the small percentage that have been fighting it? But I wanted to tell the whole story. For those of you that don't know, the very first, combat casualty wasn't even in the Army or Marines or Navy. Air Force or it he was named gentleman named Johnny Michael Spann, who was killed November 25th, 2001 of the CIA Special Activities Division.
00:16:25:17 - 00:16:41:23
Speaker 2
I was fortunate in my career place with some breach of charge compound and goes off. We run in and what we do, people running in after me, just like me, looking like me, kind of same stuff, you know? Why don't we were talking about that? And it was until 2019, the Department of Labor tried to put out a report to find out how many have we lost.
00:16:42:01 - 00:17:03:14
Speaker 2
Right. Because that's tracked by deal. Well, not DoD, American citizen. United States working for an American company for the American interest. They track that national responsibility 2019 early through the South and they published report. And I was dumbfounded by this number. So we're over 7000 uniform. There's over 3400 and none. Think about those families that no one talks about.
00:17:03:14 - 00:17:20:05
Speaker 2
If they weren't a veteran, they're not buried over here in section 61. The majority are. We don't even talk about that. Now. Let's talk about those are serving in the community. I heard you guys talking about this earlier when I came in. They don't feel the right to they don't feel like I need to tell my story. I don't I don't want to tell the story.
00:17:20:05 - 00:17:34:08
Speaker 2
You know, I agree. We need to engage them prior to their separation. So they tell their stories. Nobody's better diminishment of service and sacrifice than the veterans of their families is hit me square in the face in 2016 when I started working on this. And these are friends of mine, right? I bled and cried with these guys. Right.
00:17:34:08 - 00:17:54:08
Speaker 2
And, And so how are you doing that? We don't need that. Why why why why why. And then I was I was like, I was like, what do you mean? I know why I'm doing it. I'm doing it for my 56 friends aren't here anymore. I'm doing it for their families. I'm doing it for the families that have yet to to to give to this nation because the war of terrorism still going on.
00:17:54:10 - 00:18:10:20
Speaker 2
Right. A little more kinetic now it's going to even flow. But it's still going on whether people like it or not. I don't engage in policy or politics. I didn't write the policy. They sent me to war. The when my children war, my son, the war. I talk about people in patriotism, my for peace. Right. So I want to tell the whole story.
00:18:10:22 - 00:18:26:06
Speaker 2
But in addition to that, I want to tell the story about the families, because more difficult deployment for me was when I'm standing at Green Ramp at Fort Bragg, where everyone deploys, is the chute shed. It's all ceremonial. They have the plane sitting right there and we're, you know, and you give them that hug of hope, hoping it's not the last hug.
00:18:26:08 - 00:18:43:01
Speaker 2
And then you watch your loved one going into the bird. So I'm sitting on a green ramp. I'd been medically retired, and they were Kelly, you know the monsters. Mom. Mama. Rod. Right. And she's still active duty. And we're watching our young 18 year old 82nd airborne enrichments son deployed in the Helmand province of Afghanistan, one of the most inhospitable places on this planet.
00:18:43:01 - 00:19:02:03
Speaker 2
I'm in a lot of places. And Helmand is. And he was going there to do the quick Reaction Force mission. He's going to fight. I know that that's what he's going to do. There's always fighting. They throw you guys at it and hope for the best. So as I give him that hug hole as the patriarch of our family, I'm trying to present that strength and I'm like, oh man, I'm like falling apart inside.
00:19:02:05 - 00:19:22:14
Speaker 2
And I'm thinking, I wish my dad felt like when I deployed to Somalia, maybe nice for you and in my subsequent deployments of my career. And then I started thinking more. I'm like, there's no way my dad would do that was like, I see watch me graduate airborne school and go fight the Vietcong or my grandfather's watch. My father complete his artillery training for Oklahoma and go fight Nazis from the Pacific.
00:19:22:16 - 00:19:39:09
Speaker 2
So I see that and so much striking when that tells you the length of this war, the complexities. But I also want to recognize the families right before tenants that I wrote in 2018, when I step in leadership position to keep me on, as with my North Star, first one being honor. So that white star you see right there is where this memorial will be built.
00:19:39:09 - 00:20:02:03
Speaker 2
When we passed the impossible Bill, now, the second tenant I'm going to touch on, he'll he'll this objective term, it could mean personally. Look, I mean emotionally physically it could mean relationship wise. It could mean as a community could mean as a nation. He'll remember I said, this is art. It's open to interpretation. Q we got to focus on that.
00:20:02:05 - 00:20:24:05
Speaker 2
The third thing I touched on briefly in power, great word, but I want to those that have given so much to feel valued, to make them feel like their story matter. Because again, the people that are pushing back the most were those I was trying to honor. So I started asking the question and they say, no. I said, all right, do you know someone that didn't come home because their family deserve it?
00:20:24:07 - 00:20:42:09
Speaker 2
Or maybe you saw someone come home and lose the war at home to suicide? Like seven of my friends, or to some mysterious illness that they probably should not have gotten? Do they deserve it? And they be like, hell yeah. Heck yeah, they know it. Okay, good. Stop right there. You think about them because I'm thinking about you, and that reframes it.
00:20:42:09 - 00:21:09:17
Speaker 2
But really, that little thing I just explained to you guys there captures why people raise our hand, right hand and serve in uniform or out of uniform. And that way they're we shan't do it for money, not for self-aggrandizement. They don't know who we are. And that's majority don't even want to tell their stories. Because like my first appointment, when you go and you see that, you see certain things, I'm not worthy like I can, I tell that look at these people that are suffering.
00:21:09:21 - 00:21:29:15
Speaker 2
So most humble people you meet are those that have seen the chaos, those types of situations. So I wanted to empower them. I wanted to bring their voices. So we had a 23 member design advisory council. After we secured the artist to sit and listen as a vessel of the voice, I told them, I said, look, sit on your hands, put pencils away.
00:21:29:15 - 00:21:49:18
Speaker 2
I need you to understand our population. So for a period of about almost two years, they sat with these design advisory Council members. And the board members in that were veterans, combat veterans. And they listened because when inspired artists will create brilliance. So I sat and they listen and they listen. But in addition to that, I wanted to be sure I captured the voice of America.
00:21:49:18 - 00:22:04:03
Speaker 2
So I started getting data, qualitative, quantitative data that I would need to give to a designer in space. You want to flag, you want water, but also ask questions like what you want to feel, what do you want to learn? What do you want to take away? We had about 200. It was just me and a clipboard, right?
00:22:04:03 - 00:22:18:08
Speaker 2
And we went digital with it and it was a 5 to 7 miniature we blasted out called App Design History, and within a period about five months had the goal of capturing voices from all 50 states and all the services. That was all I had hoped for. And you have to put their name. We don't ask for names.
00:22:18:08 - 00:22:39:02
Speaker 2
I just wanted whatever demographic information they wanted to share to include the periods of service. 20,000 people fill out this 5 to 7 minute survey from all 50 states, every, service and every veteran generation from World War Two to today. And what's beautiful is, if you look at these things, there's it wasn't just checking the block. The there was some substance in there.
00:22:39:04 - 00:22:57:08
Speaker 2
They all sound the same. So that shows the love for those. So I wanted to bring that here. The voice. So those that do serve, those that have given so much and those that we've launched and their families will feel valued. I think the greatest asset we have as humans are those that are willing to step forward and serve in some capacity.
00:22:57:10 - 00:23:13:19
Speaker 2
And if we have those that are willing to put their lives on the line, I mean, we wouldn't be here. And that's what creates this bubble, allows us to have opportunities like this, but it bubbles fragile. We need to make sure we respect the bubble, honor it, but we have to understand how important that is, even though we can see through it.
00:23:13:21 - 00:23:30:23
Speaker 2
Right? So if someone is seen and heard, they're going to feel valued. If someone feels valued, I know what they probably won't do is take their lives and look to history. The shoulders I stand on to figure this plan out and what you guys are hearing. The I know is written on my whiteboard I wrote about eight years ago contingencies all over the place.
00:23:30:23 - 00:23:48:02
Speaker 2
Right. But if we think about the Vietnam Memorial, when it was built historically, the the three soldiers weren't part of the initial design. That was somewhat of an afterthought or in addition to. But it's three men nine years later. Okay. Let's recognize the women that served. It's just a very emotional. They're all emotional. There's something about that.
00:23:48:02 - 00:24:03:06
Speaker 2
One is as a medic as well. I just like, oh, man, squeezes my heart. What about those veterans that we are losing to the war at home? My father thankfully. So let us be fighting Agent Orange every day. Some of his friends aren't here anymore. And. And him and I share commonality. We have friends who have killed themselves.
00:24:03:08 - 00:24:21:00
Speaker 2
Okay, now let's put a plaque on the ground in the corner that no one even notices or sees for different efforts. I just wanted to all at once to recognize and honor everyone that has served, but to show the commonalities between us all. And I'm gonna share a design element with you guys, because I took a deep dive on this.
00:24:21:02 - 00:24:41:11
Speaker 2
So some of the earliest recorded evidence of man are footprints. There's some footprints in New Mexico, and they tell a story. So when you guys do visit this memorial, you'll be greeted by footprints. These footprints are going to tell a story. You're going to see footprints. You're going to see women's footprints. Now you can see boot prints, but there's going to be differentiation.
00:24:41:12 - 00:24:58:09
Speaker 2
There's going to be steel inside those footprints depicting the weight of war. And there's several sets of footprints that we're going to have. But then you're going to see if the footprints stop and they're steel. We lost them at more male and female. But you're also going to see families walking side by side. And then a Father's Day.
00:24:58:11 - 00:25:17:16
Speaker 2
The family keeps going. You also going to see those that are walking, recognizing the word home. Empty footprints, filled footprints, empty footprints next to footprints. Because that's the law that took them. So those are some of the design elements as you're going to see, that will be unveiling actually here pretty soon. That's, you know, part of part of the empowerment and telling them now unite with the fourth tenant.
00:25:17:16 - 00:25:42:21
Speaker 2
Now I'll close on this if you will say, diversity is our strength. I would strongly disagree. The most diverse organization you can find is is the military, without question. But what makes them strong? The unity. It's not a diversity. It's a factor. Of course, I'm not ignoring the. But what makes this nation strong is our unity. Everybody remember September 11th, we're coming on the 25th anniversary, but also everybody remember September 12th and how we felt as a nation.
00:25:42:21 - 00:25:59:22
Speaker 2
That's unity. That's our strength. It's not diversity. Yes. It's a factor in like diminishing that or saying it's not a thing, but our strength is in our unity. And that's the one of the things we hope to capture with this. So now that I told you that, we're going to be unveiling the design here, pretty soon, you'll have a chance to see it.
00:25:59:23 - 00:26:10:01
Speaker 2
And I'm going to make sure it's a, a YouTube live thing. Right, so everyone can see it. So that's all I got. And I've been talking way too long at this point. I think I went over time. So thank you guys very much.
00:26:10:02 - 00:26:32:11
Speaker 1
You can see why introducing him is so difficult. You just needed to hear him. I do a lot of leadership work, and one of the things I often say, it's not what you do, it's who you are, what you do it. That's important. And as I was sitting and listening to you, rod and I see the values come up, it really put this day together for me because as we see everybody sitting here, we're inspired by values.
00:26:32:13 - 00:27:05:10
Speaker 1
But the most important thing is integrity. And I think that's what it takes when we do commemoration is integrity, and integrity is acting for the sake of the action, not the outcome. We don't know where we're going, we don't know the future. But if we inform it by our values, that integrity we can't do wrong. I just encourage you to live those values, act in alignment with those values for the sake of the action and all those we remember and came before us.
00:27:05:12 - 00:27:18:08
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.
00:27:18:10 - 00:27:19:10
Speaker 1
Thank you for tuning in.