1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,640 All across America and around the world, this is Veterans Radio. 2 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:15,920 This is Veterans Radio. 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:17,840 Welcome to Veterans Radio. 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,560 I am Jim Fossone. 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:22,880 I'm the officer of the deck today. 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,760 We've got some great programs for you. 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,760 I think you'll find very interesting. 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:34,640 We always want to remind you you can find more about Veterans Radio at its Facebook site 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:36,680 or at the web. 10 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:43,120 VeteransRadio.org is our new URL, VeteransRadio.org. 11 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:48,520 Where we're on the web 24-7, you can find a lot of our podcasts there as well. 12 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:55,080 We post new ones every Tuesday, so you can get a new story, a new interview, 13 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:59,960 something you didn't know before by going to VeteransRadio.org. 14 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:04,240 And before we get started, we want to thank our sponsors. 15 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:13,680 First up, we want to thank National Veteran Business Development Council, NVBDC.org. 16 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:19,360 It was established to certify both service disabled and veteran-owned businesses. 17 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:25,920 You'll find out how they can help your business by going to NVBDC.org. 18 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,320 We want to thank Legal Help for Veterans. 19 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:35,000 Legal Help for Veterans fights for veterans disability rights all across the nation. 20 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:46,280 You can reach them at 800-693-4800 or on the web at LegalHelpForVeterans.com. 21 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:50,840 We want to welcome to VeteransRadio today, Carrie Philippetti. 22 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:56,600 She is the Executive Director of the Vandenberg Coalition, which we're going to talk about. 23 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:01,720 But she also was involved in writing an op-ed piece for the Washington Examiner, 24 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:06,960 which is where I saw it earlier, about how civics education maybe could help solve 25 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:08,840 the military recruitment crisis. 26 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,760 So you'll want to listen to her here. 27 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:14,600 Carrie, welcome to VeteransRadio. 28 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,160 Thank you so much for having me, Jim. I'm excited to be here. 29 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:22,040 Well, you have a very interesting career path out of the University of Virginia with your degree 30 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:28,600 and then on to work at the United Nations as a Senior Policy Advisor for the United States Mission. 31 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:34,840 You advised then Ambassador Nikki Haley on issues related to counterterrorism in the Middle East 32 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,800 and things in the Western Hemisphere. 33 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:44,120 You've done work for the State Department in a lot of things down south of Venezuela, 34 00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:49,720 for example, and now find yourself as the Executive Director of the Vandenberg Coalition. 35 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,560 Can you tell us a little bit about the Vandenberg Coalition? 36 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:59,080 Sure, I'd be happy to. And I've been very fortunate to have great mentors like Ambassador Haley 37 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:04,520 and others in the last administration that helped establish my career path. 38 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,440 So the Vandenberg Coalition, we started it in 2021. 39 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:13,240 I was just leading the Trump administration and was concerned by what I was seeing 40 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:17,400 as this rise in a sentiment of American retreat, 41 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,400 the sense that it's a longer, powerful nation and should not 42 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,800 seek to promote its interests and its values around the world. 43 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:30,840 And as someone who grew up on the outskirts of New York City on 9-11, 44 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:35,080 I'm very much aware that no matter how much we want to retreat from the world, 45 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:39,800 our enemies are going to try to attack us and it's going to cost far more American lives. 46 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:45,320 If we wait for that, then if we address the threat in smaller ways before they get to our borders. 47 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:47,800 So that was generally the emphasis for the coalition. 48 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:51,800 We wanted to create a network of conservative thought leaders, 49 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,120 people who had served in governments before, 50 00:03:54,120 --> 00:04:00,120 who could really create a new foreign policy for 2023 and going forward. 51 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,680 Not looking back at what previous presidents did, 52 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:07,400 not saying everything that Reagan did was right or Bush did was right or Trump did was right, 53 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:11,080 but really recognizing that we're in a completely different threat environment 54 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:12,920 than we've ever faced before. 55 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:18,280 And how do we appropriately confront that threat environment using both the new opportunities 56 00:04:18,280 --> 00:04:23,000 that technology provides us, as well as the new challenges and obstacles that we have 57 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,040 with things like the rise of communist China. 58 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,440 So the coalition exists to push for that kind of an agenda, 59 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:34,040 to push for an American people first foreign policy 60 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:39,000 that better serves American interests and promotes American prosperity, 61 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,200 American freedom, and American strength. 62 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:47,880 Well, I have to admit that I didn't know who Senator Vandenberg was 63 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:54,840 when I started researching, hey, how do I talk to the author of this interesting idea? 64 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,800 Only to learn that Arthur Vandenberg, who died in 1951, 65 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:05,480 was a senator from my home state here in Michigan and that he studied law at the University of Michigan, 66 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:10,280 but made his mark in journalism before going on to the United States Senate. 67 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:17,480 Tell us a little bit about Arthur Vandenberg and why that became the name of the coalition. 68 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:19,880 Absolutely, and it's not unusual. 69 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:25,480 I mean, I'll be honest with you, when we started this group and we're trying to come up with the best name for it, 70 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:28,440 I also was not familiar with Arthur Vandenberg. 71 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:32,680 Up until meeting with some folks and then demanding him to me. 72 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:40,360 As you mentioned, Arthur Vandenberg was a senator from Michigan who served from 1928 until 1951, 73 00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:44,280 which is of course a very pivotal moment for American foreign policy. 74 00:05:44,280 --> 00:05:52,680 He was a true conservative, a true Republican, and for much of his life as a political leader, 75 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:59,480 he was an isolationist and then Pearl Harbor happened and he had what is known as this sort of 76 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:05,320 massive public conversion, the quote, speech heard around the world, where he subsequently said that 77 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:10,680 our oceans have seats to be mowed, which automatically protects our ramparts. 78 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:17,240 Essentially acknowledging that no matter what we want here, no matter how much we want to avoid war, 79 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:22,920 we have enemies and they are going to try to attack us unless we put up stronger defenses. 80 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:28,920 And he ultimately became the chief architect for some of the most sort of modern forms of 81 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:30,360 conservative foreign policy. 82 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:36,760 So he was the chief legislative architect of the Marshall Plan, of NATO, of the UN, 83 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:37,960 and the Truman Doctrine. 84 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:45,160 And he really established what it means to be a Republican leading in foreign policy 85 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:52,360 in that post-world era and really set the stage for uniting conservatives around a strong foreign 86 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:52,840 policy. 87 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:58,520 So what we appreciated about him and why we chose his name is because he understood what it was 88 00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:00,280 like to be an isolationist. 89 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:05,320 He understood why he needed to shift from that man and the kinds of threats that were in front of 90 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:05,880 him. 91 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:10,120 He remained true to his conservative roots, but at the same time was willing to work across the aisle 92 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:12,840 to do what was best for the United States. 93 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:16,920 And those are things that we all try to bring into the Vandenberg Coalition. 94 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:21,880 So I'm hoping that part of what we do can help spread the word about this fantastic 95 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:26,680 Michigan senator who really had an outside influence on conservative foreign policy and 96 00:07:26,680 --> 00:07:28,200 American foreign policy. 97 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,600 And yet very few people are familiar with his story. 98 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:36,760 Well, and I would encourage anybody who is interested in that story or the history, if 99 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:40,280 you will, go to vandenbergcollection.org. 100 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,280 Go to the about us tab and check down to who is Arthur Vandenberg. 101 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:51,560 There's a nice explanation of all this, including the speech heard around the world after Pearl 102 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:57,640 Harbor and sort of how he converted from, hey, United States, be an isolationist. 103 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:03,480 Just worry about your own area to this recognition that, hey, we have internationalism here. 104 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:05,720 We have to deal with the whole world. 105 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:06,600 So very interesting. 106 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,000 And I'd encourage people to look at it, Carrie. 107 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:14,680 But before we lose too much more time, I want to come back to what caught my attention, 108 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:22,680 which was your piece in Restoring America about, quote, how civics education can help 109 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,480 solve the military recruitment crisis. 110 00:08:26,120 --> 00:08:27,480 Tell us a little bit about that. 111 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:28,920 Sure. 112 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:36,120 Well, as somebody who works in national security, obviously, you know, having a declining military 113 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:39,880 capacity is essential to many of my conversations. 114 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:45,800 And of course, many of your listeners will know that the United States is experiencing one of 115 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,040 the most significant recruitment crises. 116 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:52,840 And by the way, retention crisis that it has seen since the end of the draft. 117 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:55,480 So the question is, what's spurring that forward? 118 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:57,000 And there's a few different things. 119 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,240 One thing is just, you know, medical records are now online. 120 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:05,560 So while people in the past will be able to join the military and maybe they wouldn't 121 00:09:05,560 --> 00:09:10,120 have any dive holes that they had, you know, ADD or they broke some part of some bone at 122 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:10,760 some point. 123 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:11,800 Now it's all online. 124 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:13,560 And so the military has access to it. 125 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:15,400 So some of those things need to be updated. 126 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,800 Other things are just the physical fitness of our youth. 127 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:26,920 So the staff that we've seen from 2020 suggest that only about 23% of Americans between the 128 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:31,000 ages of 17 to 24 are even eligible for military service. 129 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,640 And when you think about that number, then the question is how many of those want to serve? 130 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:40,280 And that's where civic education really does play a significant role. 131 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:45,320 Because civic is all about teaching people about why our country was created, what we 132 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:50,520 stand for, what our principles are, and why it's so important to preserve those things 133 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:55,640 and fight for what it means to be an American and understand what it means to be an American. 134 00:09:55,640 --> 00:10:00,200 And to integrate into America if you are, you know, immigrating here from another 135 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:01,000 country. 136 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:05,800 And so I think it makes sense that we're seeing a decline in interest in the military. 137 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:12,680 You know, in the last year, in 2023, the only branches that met their recruitment targets 138 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:14,680 were the Marine Corps and the State Force. 139 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:22,680 And you had about a 41,000 person shortfall in the Army, Navy, and Air Force. 140 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:29,080 And so it's critically important that people understand why service matters so much. 141 00:10:29,080 --> 00:10:33,160 And I think that's where there's really been this gap. 142 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:39,640 Throughout the last few decades, we've seen declining civic education in universities, 143 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:42,120 declining civic education in K through 12. 144 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:47,240 Nobody is being taught why being an American matters and the good that it does for the world. 145 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:50,280 And then therefore, why would anybody want to serve? 146 00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:54,840 So I think making sure that people are educated in those things is critical to inspiring them 147 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:58,760 to want to serve their country, whether it's in the military or frankly, whether it's through a 148 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:03,480 corporation that can bring economic benefit back to the United States as well. 149 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:09,960 Yeah, I think it's an interesting thought here because this recruiting and retention problem 150 00:11:09,960 --> 00:11:14,040 is ultimately a national security problem. 151 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:18,040 We've been talking about it with a lot of different thought leaders and writers 152 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:22,360 and military men and women on Veterans Radio. 153 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:27,880 And we're talking to Kerry Philippetti, who's the executive director of the Vandenberg Coalition. 154 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:34,600 And I think some of this is related to, well, you know, that 1% of the population or less 155 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:41,400 takes care of us. I don't have to involve my family, whereas during World War II, 156 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,560 certainly it was every family during the Vietnam draft. 157 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:49,000 Because of the draft, it became almost every family. 158 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:55,240 So we've really gone generations now where we think, well, we don't think about it. 159 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:59,960 Somebody else takes care of it for us. And it really, people aren't taught. 160 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:04,360 And this is the, you know, I grabbed the yellow marker when I read this line that you guys wrote, 161 00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:08,440 which is, if people are not taught why their country is worth defending, 162 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:14,760 they are less inclined to serve in the military or contribute their skills to its success. 163 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:16,920 It's really that simple, isn't it? 164 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:22,760 I think it is. I mean, again, what people are being taught today in schools, 165 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:28,760 particularly universities, but even at the K through 12 level now, is that America is bad. 166 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:35,000 That America has a scary problematic history. And rather than reading America through the lens of 167 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:39,720 this, what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called the promissory note, right, this idea that we would 168 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,880 always seek to be a more perfect union. Instead of understanding that as the root of what it 169 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:48,600 means to be an American, people are trying to say that what it means to be an American are, 170 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:55,960 you know, accepting and being racist or being opposed to other cultures. And that's not at all 171 00:12:55,960 --> 00:13:00,760 what it is about. That's not what it has been about. And I think there's a way of teaching the 172 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:07,640 reality of, you know, American history with a very clear understanding of what a beautiful system the 173 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:13,080 United States has created and how different and unique it is among all of the nations in the world. 174 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:18,040 There used to be institutions that would do these, you know, I was a Girl Scout, I'm sure many of 175 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:24,200 your listeners were Boy Scouts. And by the way, the correlation between those who are Eagle Scouts 176 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,440 and those who serve in the military or the exceptional things is unbelievable. Absolutely. 177 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:34,840 Yep. So and we no longer have an emphasis on those sort of civics minded organizations. We don't 178 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:40,200 teach it in schools anymore. We don't teach the Pledge of Allegiance anymore. We don't teach the 179 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:46,280 founding documents anymore. And giving people the tools to understand how the United States has grown 180 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:51,720 and developed. If you really understand our history, you will be inspired to serve this country, 181 00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:56,600 whether it is through the military or some other capacity for whatever reason, you don't meet the 182 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:03,800 fitness requirements. But people today are just not excited to be American. People today don't 183 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:08,200 think that their children are going to have a better future than they will. So this is all part of 184 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:15,640 this broader cultural decline and cultural malaise where we just no longer have confidence in the 185 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:21,000 United States anymore. So why would somebody young decide to put their life on the line for the 186 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,920 country? And that's where civics education, I think, can make a significant difference. 187 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:31,880 Yeah, we don't teach history at all. And a little bit we do teach is often slanted against this idea 188 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:39,480 of why your country is worth defending. You had a co-author on the article Hans Zegger, I believe, 189 00:14:40,040 --> 00:14:44,200 from the Jack Miller Center. Can you tell us a little bit about that relationship? 190 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:51,880 Sure. So Hans is the leader of the Jack Miller Center, which is a fantastic organization that 191 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:58,040 builds and sustains a higher education community that's focused on the teaching of civic education. 192 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:04,600 So they create resources and teacher education for those individuals who will be teaching others 193 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:09,560 about what it means to be an American. So they're very much involved in this, what they call the 194 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:15,400 the the civics knowledge crisis. They focus on teaching about the American political tradition. 195 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:20,200 They host a summit on civics education and have something called the Constitution Day Initiative, 196 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:25,800 which I think would be fantastic for. I'm trying to get more people to celebrate Constitution Day, 197 00:15:25,800 --> 00:15:33,560 which is September 17th, which marks the signing of the U.S. Constitution. They work very, very 198 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:38,040 hard on trying to promote civics education and have been involved in this space for many, 199 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:45,000 many years, a lot longer than I have. So Hans is a brilliant leader of this organization and also 200 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:52,280 the co-author of this op-ed. So here becomes the important question. Okay, guys like me read this 201 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:58,920 and said, hmm, that's a really good idea. How has it been received by the educational world though? 202 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:04,600 You're saying, hey, we have to teach this down in the lower grades. Any feedback from the 203 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:11,160 educational world yet? You know, I think there is this recognition and it's growing as we start to 204 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:19,000 see how some of these initiatives that were intended to sort of recognize issues within the 205 00:16:19,000 --> 00:16:23,720 United States, things like that, you know, DEI initiatives and so on. Lately, there's been a 206 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:29,160 lot of pushback against those things as we're seeing it play out, you know, with respect to 207 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:35,720 the crisis in the Middle East and how it seems people are unable to kind of differentiate good 208 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:41,480 versus evil at this stage. And so the education space, I think, is ripe for change and now is 209 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:46,760 the moment for us to focus on this aspect. Regardless of your beliefs on, you know, 210 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:53,880 DEI or other things, I think civics education is an essential pillar of making good citizens, 211 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:59,480 citizens that want to contribute. So far, we've started to get a little bit more interest as 212 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:03,880 that community, the educational community is opening itself up to recognizing, you know, 213 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:08,600 maybe we've made some mistakes and seeing how different leaders of universities are being 214 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:12,520 forced out because of those mistakes. So I'm hoping that now is really the moment, 215 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:17,240 but it does require people like you, people like your viewers, people like me, as we, you know, 216 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:22,040 if we have children to push for civics education there to try to get our children enrolled in 217 00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:28,360 things like, you know, the South Program to be involved as community leaders, because those are 218 00:17:28,360 --> 00:17:32,760 the types of people that will be inspired to want to serve the country as well. So there's a lot 219 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:37,480 that we can be doing at the local level. And, you know, as a conservative, I always believe that it 220 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:43,080 starts local. So that would be my advice is to work as hard as you can with your own children 221 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:48,680 within your own school district, pushing for small things that can get people acquainted with the 222 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:54,680 founding documents acquainted with, you know, the federalist papers and the Constitution and 223 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:59,080 things like that and celebrating Constitution Day and making it a fun event that people are 224 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:03,000 excited to participate in when they're younger. And then they'll ask the question of, well, 225 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,600 what does this really mean as they start to get older? And that's a great teaching moment. 226 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:13,320 Yeah, it really is a grassroots kind of thing to get civics reinstalled the right way back into the 227 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:18,120 school system and the educational system. And if you can't get it in your school system, 228 00:18:18,120 --> 00:18:23,960 if you're a parent or a grandparent, are there resources out there that should be being used 229 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:32,440 with the children in their homes? Yeah, well, I first of all, yes, I think there's always 230 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:39,480 ways that you can do this just in your own home. If you have access to a Constitution, if you have 231 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:44,120 access to any of the founding documents, which by the way, you can find for free online as well, 232 00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:50,040 reading through those with your children and just asking questions, you know, why was it done this 233 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:55,000 way? What were the other ways that this could have been done? What is this? How can you sort of 234 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:00,520 reflect the same principle in your own life? I think the most the best we can do is get back to 235 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:05,480 those basics, get back to, you know, those founding documents are the absolute best resource that we 236 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:11,240 have. You don't have to be a law school, you know, student or a law professor. I think just 237 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:17,560 understanding where we come from and engaging in your community are the two best ways that you can 238 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:23,800 do that. Yeah, I think there's a lot of ways and it does start at that very ground level, 239 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:28,280 whether you can move it into the school systems or make sure you're at least doing it at home, 240 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:34,040 because people really do need to understand why their country is worth defending. That's the long 241 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:41,560 term solution to the recruiting and retention issue. And we're talking to Kerry Philip Petty, 242 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:48,360 who is the executive director of the Vandenberg Coalition. You have an interesting area in which 243 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:54,840 you volunteer that I want to bring up. So you are an EMT with your local fire department. 244 00:19:55,880 --> 00:20:02,040 Well, again, let's go back to the idea of service. I will actually say part of that came from, 245 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:09,720 I tried to join the Marine Corps and unfortunately are among those Americans who are unqualified for, 246 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:17,800 in my case, a medical reason. And so I tried to join in 2016 and was with politely told, you know, 247 00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:23,640 they'd love to have me, but thanks, but no, thanks. And so I wanted to find another way to serve my 248 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:29,880 country and serving as an EMT I served throughout the entirety of the pandemic with a great way for 249 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:36,600 me to focus on, again, bettering my community, being a service to those around me. So I really 250 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:42,760 enjoyed it. And it also has a little bit of that, you know, military hierarchy to it, which I think 251 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:47,320 I was looking for as well. Well, importantly, I think our veteran radio listeners like to know 252 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:53,000 that the people that they're talking or hearing about here on Veterans Radio either have served 253 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:58,840 or understand the value of service or are displaying that sort of, hey, I'm going to serve my community. 254 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:04,760 And that's great. Congratulations on the EMT work. If people want to know more about 255 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:12,520 the Vandenberg Coalition, how do they find that out? Yeah, well, you, you were great in giving 256 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:18,680 us the giving your listeners the website address. So it's vandenbergcoalition.org. And you can find 257 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:23,480 out more about what we do and subscribe to our weekly newsletter, which is called Beyond the 258 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:30,920 Water's Edge. I also recommend a fantastic book if you want to learn more about the senator himself. 259 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:37,000 It's called Arthur Vandenberg, The Man in the Middle of the American Century, and it's by someone 260 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:43,800 named Hank Meyer and E.I.J.E.R., which is a fantastic resource into understanding how American foreign 261 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:50,120 policy was shaped. And there's a there's a big piece of civics education as to why Vandenberg 262 00:21:50,120 --> 00:21:55,400 himself was inspired to serve. And then lastly, I would just also encourage your listeners to 263 00:21:55,400 --> 00:22:00,760 check out the Jack Miller Center, which is jackmillerscenter.org, where you can read more about 264 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:07,720 Hans and his organization, which focuses every day on trying to create a strong America based on, 265 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:13,320 you know, teaching about our founding principles. Well, thanks for doing the Jack Miller Center. 266 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:17,560 I was going to give that website as well, jackmillerscenter.org. And the Hans is, 267 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:25,320 I think he's a member of the head here, International Guard. So again, somebody who is 268 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:31,160 walking the talk and that's something our veteran radio listeners really, really appreciate. 269 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:37,400 Carrie, we appreciate the time that you've given to veterans radio today and keep 270 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,560 pressing these good ideas and we'll keep promoting them for you. 271 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:46,840 Well, thanks so much. And many thanks to you and all your listeners for everything that you do 272 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:51,960 every day to promote a strong America. It's what our success is based on. So thank you very much. 273 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:59,160 Thank you. And I want to thank everybody for listening to Veterans Radio today. I am Jim Fawson. 274 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:04,440 It's been a pleasure to be your host. I'm a Veterans Disability Lawyer at Legal Help for 275 00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:13,080 Veterans and you can reach us at 800-6934800 or legalhelpforveterans.com on the web. 276 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:19,320 You can follow Veterans Radio on Facebook and listen to its podcasts and internet radio shows 277 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:25,160 by visiting us at veteransradio.org. That's veteransradio.org. 278 00:23:25,160 --> 00:23:49,000 And until next time, you are dismissed. We again want to thank our national sponsors, 279 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:57,240 the National Veterans Business Development Council, NVBDC.org, VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, 280 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,760 the Vietnam Veterans of America, Charles S. Kettles Chapter, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 281 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:14,200 VFW Graf O'Hara Post 423 in Ann Arbor, and the American Legion Press Corn Post 46 also in Ann Arbor. 282 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:22,360 We appreciate all your support. You can go to veteransradio.net, click on the sponsor level, 283 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:48,360 and continue to support keeping Veterans Radio on the air. And until next time, you are dismissed. 284 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:57,480 Anywhere, playing at LuckyLandSlots.com. Play for free right now. Are you feeling lucky? 285 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:06,120 What's the first thing you do if you'd had more time in the day? Take a nap, read a book, 286 00:25:06,120 --> 00:25:10,840 talk with a friend. When you know what's important to you, it's easier to fit it into your schedule. 287 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:15,800 Therapy can help you figure that out. BetterHelp offers affordable online therapy that comes to 288 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:20,600 you. Start the process in minutes and switch therapists anytime. Learn to make time for what 289 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:27,240 makes you happy with BetterHelp. 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