WEBVTT 00:00:04.809 --> 00:00:08.630 All across America and around the world, this 00:00:08.630 --> 00:00:15.009 is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. And 00:00:15.009 --> 00:00:19.030 now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry. 00:00:21.579 --> 00:00:24.280 And welcome to Veterans Radio. My name is Dale 00:00:24.280 --> 00:00:27.280 Throneberry. I was a CW -2 helicopter pilot in 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:31.800 Vietnam in 1969. And I'm still here. Yay. We've 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:33.820 got a really interesting program for you today. 00:00:34.039 --> 00:00:36.299 Our guest is going to be Dr. Rebecca Grant. Most 00:00:36.299 --> 00:00:38.659 of you are familiar. She's been on our program 00:00:38.659 --> 00:00:41.280 many, many times. And we're going to be talking 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.570 about what's going on in Iran. So stick around 00:00:44.570 --> 00:00:47.030 for that. And there's many other things that 00:00:47.030 --> 00:00:49.590 we're going to talk about. Not only what's going 00:00:49.590 --> 00:00:52.829 on in Iran, but also what's going on as a result 00:00:52.829 --> 00:00:57.049 of what happened in Iran. So as I said, make 00:00:57.049 --> 00:00:59.750 sure you stick around. You know all about Dr. 00:00:59.950 --> 00:01:02.469 Grant. But before we get into talking to her, 00:01:02.570 --> 00:01:04.689 we got to thank all of our sponsors and a couple 00:01:04.689 --> 00:01:08.060 of announcements real quickly. So as far as our 00:01:08.060 --> 00:01:11.019 sponsors are concerned, I want to make sure that 00:01:11.019 --> 00:01:13.780 we thank these major donors for their continuing 00:01:13.780 --> 00:01:16.719 support of Veterans Radio. We cannot keep this 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:20.620 program on the air without their help. And so 00:01:20.620 --> 00:01:22.659 I'm going to give them a little shout out here. 00:01:23.060 --> 00:01:25.319 Number one, illegal help for veterans, specializes 00:01:25.319 --> 00:01:28.599 in veterans disability claims. call Legal Help 00:01:28.599 --> 00:01:33.099 for Veterans at 800 -693 -4800 or go to their 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:36.659 website legalhelpforveterans .com. The National 00:01:36.659 --> 00:01:38.700 Veterans Business Development Council, better 00:01:38.700 --> 00:01:42.019 known as NVBDC, is the nation's leading third 00:01:42.019 --> 00:01:44.140 -party authority for certification of veteran 00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:46.579 -owned businesses. For more information, go to 00:01:46.579 --> 00:01:50.040 their website nvbdc .org or give them a call 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:56.840 at 888 -237 -8433. PuroClean is known as the 00:01:56.840 --> 00:01:59.599 paramedics of property damage. Each PuroClean 00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:02.359 office is independently owned and operated. In 00:02:02.359 --> 00:02:05.319 fact, PuroClean is one of the nation's leading 00:02:05.319 --> 00:02:07.900 restoration franchise networks and is made up 00:02:07.900 --> 00:02:10.879 of entrepreneurs just like you. And veterans 00:02:10.879 --> 00:02:14.719 get 25 % off the franchise fee. So for more information, 00:02:14.860 --> 00:02:18.250 go to PuroClean .com. The Charles S. Kettles 00:02:18.250 --> 00:02:21.150 VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. For 00:02:21.150 --> 00:02:24.330 more information on the VA Center here in Ann 00:02:24.330 --> 00:02:28.129 Arbor, go to va .gov slash Ann Arbor Health Care. 00:02:28.710 --> 00:02:31.590 And finally, we have the Erwin Prescor and American 00:02:31.590 --> 00:02:34.849 Legion Post 46 and the Charles S. Kettles Vietnam 00:02:34.849 --> 00:02:38.090 Veterans of America Chapter 310, both of Ann 00:02:38.090 --> 00:02:40.569 Arbor, Michigan. They have been supporting our 00:02:40.569 --> 00:02:44.009 program since we began in 2003. You can't do 00:02:44.009 --> 00:02:48.419 it without those guys. So if you would like to 00:02:48.419 --> 00:02:51.280 support veterans radio, please go to our website 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:54.639 veterans radio org and click on the donate button 00:02:54.639 --> 00:03:00.400 Speaking of donations. I Gotta save the date 00:03:00.699 --> 00:03:04.620 Here for you save the date for our veterans radials 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:07.460 annual fundraiser radio on the river It's coming 00:03:07.460 --> 00:03:12.400 up on Sunday September 28th 1 to 5 p .m Of course 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:14.879 this helps all those funds go to keep veterans 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:17.199 radio on the air. We've got a couple of things 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:21.500 going I'm gonna have some music Cool. We've got 00:03:21.500 --> 00:03:24.560 Lem Genovese, who is a veteran troubadour out 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:27.419 there from the Vietnam era, plays a 12 -string 00:03:27.419 --> 00:03:29.360 electric guitar. I don't know how you do that, 00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:32.180 but he's very, very talented. We've got another 00:03:32.180 --> 00:03:35.979 band coming. We're also going to be able to provide 00:03:35.979 --> 00:03:38.740 you with the opportunity to get a ride on a Huey 00:03:38.740 --> 00:03:43.460 helicopter. Yay! So the Michigan Flight Museum 00:03:43.460 --> 00:03:45.659 is going to be bringing out their Huey from the 00:03:45.659 --> 00:03:49.419 240th Assault Helicopter Company. In Vietnam, 00:03:49.419 --> 00:03:52.460 I'm very familiar with that organization. And 00:03:52.460 --> 00:03:54.659 you can purchase tickets to ride. And the cost, 00:03:54.780 --> 00:03:57.280 I believe, it has been in the past, is about 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:01.780 120 bucks per passenger. And you get a 15 -minute 00:04:01.780 --> 00:04:04.580 ride, and you never know. They might even let 00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:07.139 me fly in the front seat. That would be scary, 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:10.800 I realize, because it's only been, what, 50 -some 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:14.000 -odd years since I've flown a helicopter? I don't 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:15.439 think I'll ever forget. It's sort of like riding 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.779 a bicycle, right? Anyhow. For more information, 00:04:18.899 --> 00:04:21.420 you can go to our website, ThreatensRadio .org. 00:04:22.490 --> 00:04:25.129 And we've got a banner ad up there. You can click 00:04:25.129 --> 00:04:27.410 on that and find out more information. So again, 00:04:27.490 --> 00:04:30.529 remember that Sunday, September 28th from one 00:04:30.529 --> 00:04:34.189 to 5pm, we're actually going to be out at an 00:04:34.189 --> 00:04:36.370 organization called Freedom River this year. 00:04:36.930 --> 00:04:39.610 And Freedom River is located north of Ann Arbor. 00:04:39.910 --> 00:04:42.910 It's a great site. They just finished building 00:04:42.910 --> 00:04:45.810 it. It's going to have got all kinds of activities 00:04:45.810 --> 00:04:48.269 for veterans and their families. It's going to 00:04:48.269 --> 00:04:54.189 be having educational opportunities, people going 00:04:54.189 --> 00:04:55.709 to be out there, all kinds of things are going 00:04:55.709 --> 00:04:59.310 to be there for you on September 28th from 1 00:04:59.310 --> 00:05:02.389 to 5 p .m. So check it out. Thanks for listening. 00:05:02.810 --> 00:05:05.430 I also want to make sure that you are, we just 00:05:05.430 --> 00:05:08.810 got a message from Wreaths Across America that 00:05:08.810 --> 00:05:15.029 Veterans Radio is now being carried on WRGY in 00:05:15.029 --> 00:05:18.199 Rangeley, Maine. Pretty cool, huh? So we're in 00:05:18.199 --> 00:05:20.259 Rangeley, Maine now. We're also obviously we're 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:23.399 in Ann Arbor. We're on WTTK, the answer in Detroit, 00:05:23.399 --> 00:05:27.740 Michigan, and KMET in Banning, California, with 00:05:27.740 --> 00:05:30.300 services at Riverside and San Bernardino. So 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:33.259 we're spreading and because of people like you, 00:05:33.899 --> 00:05:36.779 we're able to do that. So I want to remind you 00:05:36.779 --> 00:05:39.480 that... During today's program, if you'd like 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:42.259 to ask a question, please give us a call here 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:48.259 at 734 -822 -1600. 734 -822 -1600. If you don't 00:05:48.259 --> 00:05:51.019 want to come on the radio, send me your question 00:05:51.019 --> 00:05:56.120 by email. It's Dale, D -A -L -E, at veteransradio 00:05:56.120 --> 00:06:00.420 .org. Got it? Dale at veteransradio .org. Okay, 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:03.240 I've got a little piece of music that I'm going 00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:07.199 to play here before we bring Dr. Grant on. So, 00:06:07.840 --> 00:06:21.620 Derek, whenever you're ready, go. All right. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:24.819 What is going on? So joining me on here right 00:06:24.819 --> 00:06:29.389 now is our favorite. expert on American foreign 00:06:29.389 --> 00:06:32.569 policy and all things military, Dr. Rebecca Grant. 00:06:32.730 --> 00:06:35.829 She is the vice president of the Lexington Institute 00:06:35.829 --> 00:06:38.389 and she has been a national security analyst 00:06:38.389 --> 00:06:40.850 based in Washington DC for many, many years. 00:06:41.509 --> 00:06:44.790 Dr. Grant, welcome back. I'm glad to be back. 00:06:45.250 --> 00:06:48.009 Now, who is that artist? It sounds like Marvin 00:06:48.009 --> 00:06:52.930 Gaye. Yes. Right, but It's so true. What is going 00:06:52.930 --> 00:06:55.810 on? Dale, you and I often talk a little bit in 00:06:55.810 --> 00:06:58.790 the week before the show about possible topics. 00:06:59.470 --> 00:07:02.350 And this week, we didn't even have a moment to 00:07:02.350 --> 00:07:05.850 catch our breath. But it's clear what we have 00:07:05.850 --> 00:07:10.389 going on today. And that is the analysis of the 00:07:10.389 --> 00:07:15.029 incredible strike by seven B -2 bombers and a 00:07:15.029 --> 00:07:19.800 total of 125 US aircraft participating. on targets 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:23.519 in Iran. You know, something that we've thought 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:25.959 about, heard contingency planning for for a long 00:07:25.959 --> 00:07:28.420 time, but maybe we never really thought it would 00:07:28.420 --> 00:07:32.199 come to pass. But it has. And the US has indeed 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:36.339 attacked an emergent nuclear weapons target site 00:07:36.339 --> 00:07:40.399 in Iran. Right. And I think that the whole thing 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:45.990 took many, many people by surprise. As you said 00:07:45.990 --> 00:07:49.110 this week, I'm sure it was a slam -packed for 00:07:49.110 --> 00:07:53.329 you throughout the entire time. But the president 00:07:53.329 --> 00:07:54.970 had said that he was going to think about it 00:07:54.970 --> 00:07:57.129 for two weeks, and then a couple of days later, 00:07:57.370 --> 00:08:01.670 wham -o. And the secretary of defense had an 00:08:01.670 --> 00:08:03.550 article I think I read this morning that talked 00:08:03.550 --> 00:08:06.269 about the discipline and planning for weeks and 00:08:06.269 --> 00:08:11.120 weeks and so forth. But I think that the actual 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:15.180 event took everybody by surprise. My concern 00:08:15.180 --> 00:08:17.939 about this whole thing is that some of the ramifications 00:08:17.939 --> 00:08:24.040 that could occur as a result of this. Yes, as 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:27.279 you say in the Army branches and sequels, let 00:08:27.279 --> 00:08:33.980 me just rewind for just one week because last 00:08:34.820 --> 00:08:39.179 Weekend was June 14th, the Army's 250th birthday, 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:42.120 which I know you covered. The parade in Washington, 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:43.840 D .C., where President Trump was there, and he 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:46.100 spoke just very briefly. And even then, there 00:08:46.100 --> 00:08:50.279 was speculation because the Israeli attacks on 00:08:50.279 --> 00:08:53.100 Iran had begun just a few days prior. But so 00:08:53.100 --> 00:08:55.840 that was on the Saturday. You know, on the Wednesday, 00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:00.600 we had President Trump in Canada for the G7 meeting, 00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:04.379 long scheduled meeting with A bunch of new leaders, 00:09:04.639 --> 00:09:07.340 Britain's Keir Starmer, Mark Carney in Canada, 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:09.840 who's new in the job, and then others that he 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:12.200 knows well, such as Francis Emmanuel Macron and 00:09:12.200 --> 00:09:14.539 Giorgio Maloney from Italy. A group, by the way, 00:09:14.659 --> 00:09:17.759 that's been very involved in diplomacy with Iran 00:09:17.759 --> 00:09:20.759 around the nuclear program for quite some time. 00:09:21.580 --> 00:09:22.919 Now, Trump is there and scheduled to be there, 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:25.340 and he leaves, he goes to a meeting, goes to 00:09:25.340 --> 00:09:28.509 the dinner, and he flies back. uh overnight right 00:09:28.509 --> 00:09:30.990 actually he landed really early at andrews air 00:09:30.990 --> 00:09:32.889 force base i was doing some live coverage and 00:09:32.889 --> 00:09:35.250 land about five a .m. all because there were 00:09:35.250 --> 00:09:38.149 big matters to consider so then for a few days 00:09:38.149 --> 00:09:40.289 we were poised thinking that something action 00:09:40.289 --> 00:09:42.830 might be imminent when president trump then said 00:09:42.830 --> 00:09:45.929 well i'm going to give iran two weeks i think 00:09:45.929 --> 00:09:48.750 everybody thought well okay it's going to be 00:09:48.750 --> 00:09:51.090 a little while and then of course you know looking 00:09:51.090 --> 00:09:53.429 back what we know is that in fact that decision 00:09:53.429 --> 00:09:56.639 had been pretty nearly locked and loaded. Big 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:01.120 clue was the deployment of somewhere between 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:04.879 25 and 30 aerial refueling tankers. Some of them 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:08.799 did drag some additional fighters over into Europe 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:11.259 and that region. Dragging is when the fighters 00:10:11.259 --> 00:10:14.500 fly alongside the tanker as they deploy forward. 00:10:16.100 --> 00:10:18.399 And that included some pretty top of the line 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:21.659 fighters like the F -22. But I'm told, you know, 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:23.639 I think we'll hear more about this. Probably 00:10:23.639 --> 00:10:26.120 President Trump is very talkative. We probably 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:28.700 have a little bit more to say about it, but we're 00:10:28.700 --> 00:10:31.379 told that a real decision point here came as 00:10:31.379 --> 00:10:35.759 Trump was again offering a sort of an in -person 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:37.740 meeting with the Iranians. You know, he originally 00:10:37.740 --> 00:10:40.700 had offered to send Vice President Vance and 00:10:40.700 --> 00:10:42.899 some others. It might have been Secretary Rubio, 00:10:42.899 --> 00:10:45.179 I believe, or someone. It was a really very high 00:10:45.179 --> 00:10:48.980 -level delegation in addition to the five or 00:10:48.980 --> 00:10:50.600 six rounds of nuclear talks that had already 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:53.840 been held. But apparently Trump had behind the 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:58.740 scenes offered to go himself, probably to Turkey, 00:10:59.620 --> 00:11:02.799 our NATO ally, to talk with Iranian representatives. 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:06.919 Seems like Iran's president, who's relatively 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:08.679 new in the job, he's been there about a year, 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:12.480 was okay with that. And I think the foreign minister 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:16.350 as well, but they literally couldn't get Ayatollah 00:11:16.350 --> 00:11:20.649 Khamenei to sign off even on the meeting. Who 00:11:20.649 --> 00:11:23.029 knows, right, how that all works? You know, the 00:11:23.029 --> 00:11:28.909 Ayatollah is 86 years old, et cetera. And that, 00:11:28.909 --> 00:11:31.029 I think, may have led to some of this decision 00:11:31.029 --> 00:11:33.789 point. The ramifications, you've just got to 00:11:33.789 --> 00:11:35.190 be thinking about it. You know, what is going 00:11:35.190 --> 00:11:39.750 to happen first, of course, protecting our U 00:11:39.750 --> 00:11:41.809 .S. forces in place in Central Command. And then 00:11:41.809 --> 00:11:43.470 I think kind of looking at what are the potential 00:11:43.470 --> 00:11:46.990 threats here. And then what are Iran's medium 00:11:46.990 --> 00:11:49.450 -term moves, such as potentially closing the 00:11:49.450 --> 00:11:52.470 Strait of Hormuz? Right. And it sounds like they're 00:11:52.470 --> 00:11:54.870 thinking about doing some of those things. My 00:11:54.870 --> 00:12:00.289 question to you, Dr. Grant, is that in reading 00:12:00.289 --> 00:12:03.269 all the news this morning, and as I mentioned 00:12:03.269 --> 00:12:06.009 before, I know you've probably been talking with 00:12:06.009 --> 00:12:10.590 people about this all day, but is that One of 00:12:10.590 --> 00:12:13.269 the stories was that somebody representing Russia 00:12:13.269 --> 00:12:16.129 had said, well, you know, we can certainly help 00:12:16.129 --> 00:12:21.169 Iran, you know, resupply their, not their weapons, 00:12:21.230 --> 00:12:22.870 because I don't know if they've developed one 00:12:22.870 --> 00:12:25.970 or not yet, but certainly part of their, you 00:12:25.970 --> 00:12:29.110 know, their infrastructure for building the bomb, 00:12:29.129 --> 00:12:32.330 I guess you could say. And also that China is 00:12:32.330 --> 00:12:35.730 kind of out there, you know, like they always 00:12:35.730 --> 00:12:39.940 are. Oh, Russia. Boy, they just don't miss any 00:12:39.940 --> 00:12:44.600 opportunity to make an unhelpful, almost darkly 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:48.600 humorous and horrible comment. Before this happened, 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:54.240 Russia was trying to put their ore in to potentially 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:58.500 negotiate and take away some of the highly enriched 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:01.879 uranium. The backstory here is that Iran actually 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:05.700 does have a civilian nuclear power plant, perfectly 00:13:05.700 --> 00:13:08.500 normal. And you actually buy fuel from that on 00:13:08.500 --> 00:13:10.740 a global market. A lot of it's supplied from 00:13:10.740 --> 00:13:14.039 Russia. You don't make it yourself. So the Russians 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:15.980 had built this plant for them. And I think they're 00:13:15.980 --> 00:13:17.720 planning some upgrades. So there's a pretty long 00:13:17.720 --> 00:13:21.139 standing relationship there. And Russia is, in 00:13:21.139 --> 00:13:23.679 fact, a partner in that 2015 nuclear deal, which 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:27.700 the US exited. But so unhelpful. I mean, I've 00:13:27.700 --> 00:13:31.019 seen statements with Russia saying, well, we'll 00:13:31.019 --> 00:13:33.019 just give them some nuclear warheads. I mean, 00:13:33.059 --> 00:13:35.450 they're not going to do that. That is the type 00:13:35.450 --> 00:13:38.889 of unhelpful thing. Don't forget the Russians 00:13:38.889 --> 00:13:43.009 purchase Iran's Shahid drones, which they use 00:13:43.009 --> 00:13:46.509 on Ukraine. And they actually like these Shahid 00:13:46.509 --> 00:13:51.450 drones from Iran so much that they set up a dedicated 00:13:51.450 --> 00:13:55.049 production line in Russia to make the Iranian 00:13:55.049 --> 00:13:57.309 drones. So, you know, these countries are pretty 00:13:57.309 --> 00:14:01.950 close. And Russia has been no help at all in 00:14:01.950 --> 00:14:04.659 this situation. No, because they've got their 00:14:04.659 --> 00:14:07.580 own deal going on with Ukraine, which has kind 00:14:07.580 --> 00:14:13.639 of been pushed way back on the news cycle as 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:17.340 far as what's going on there. In some article 00:14:17.340 --> 00:14:18.960 I read this morning, he said that, you know, 00:14:19.019 --> 00:14:22.659 well, we control all of Ukraine now, and we know 00:14:22.659 --> 00:14:27.629 that's not true, but he could say it. It's so 00:14:27.629 --> 00:14:32.090 true. When Israel's strikes on Iran started on 00:14:32.090 --> 00:14:35.289 June 13th, a few days later there was another 00:14:35.289 --> 00:14:38.529 big Russian missile attack on Ukraine. There 00:14:38.529 --> 00:14:41.470 had been, in early June, which now seems like 00:14:41.470 --> 00:14:45.009 a long time ago, the record -setting levels of, 00:14:45.009 --> 00:14:49.149 I think the top was 499 drones with some missiles 00:14:49.149 --> 00:14:53.539 mixed in, shot from Russia. Against basically 00:14:53.539 --> 00:14:56.679 Ukraine city. There's really no aiming at military 00:14:56.679 --> 00:14:59.200 targets going on here and there were another 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.799 couple big attacks during the timeframe of Israel 00:15:02.799 --> 00:15:05.879 strikes on Iran and before the US strike and 00:15:05.879 --> 00:15:09.659 they hardly They hardly made even the sort of 00:15:09.659 --> 00:15:13.360 the defense trade press And you know, you got 00:15:13.360 --> 00:15:14.679 to feel a little bit for the Ukrainian people 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:16.440 who are still putting up with this and nothing 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:19.759 is resolved You know in that situation. I think 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:22.289 what happened here though was that You know, 00:15:22.309 --> 00:15:25.169 President Trump had been very, very clear in 00:15:25.169 --> 00:15:28.389 his policy that, you know, Iran could not have 00:15:28.389 --> 00:15:31.309 a nuclear weapon. He says he'd give them a 60 00:15:31.309 --> 00:15:33.289 -day ultimatum. I think that's true. Again, something 00:15:33.289 --> 00:15:35.710 that the news, so much other news of the day 00:15:35.710 --> 00:15:37.350 that we've kind of gotten away from that a little 00:15:37.350 --> 00:15:42.210 bit. But clearly, I think from a military tactical 00:15:42.210 --> 00:15:45.250 perspective, if you will, this was the moment 00:15:45.250 --> 00:15:50.169 when previous Israeli strikes had weakened really 00:15:50.169 --> 00:15:53.980 decimated Iran's air defenses. You talk about 00:15:53.980 --> 00:15:58.340 one of the key sites here is Fordow, the fuel 00:15:58.340 --> 00:16:00.440 enrichment plan. That was the big target, the 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:02.720 big underground target. And it's been defended 00:16:02.720 --> 00:16:05.220 with Russian air defense systems since 2016. 00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:07.279 You know, interesting that the nuclear deal changed 00:16:07.279 --> 00:16:09.740 from 2015 and they put the air defenses up there 00:16:09.740 --> 00:16:13.559 in 2016. I tell you, it makes you wonder. Obviously, 00:16:13.620 --> 00:16:17.259 they were up to no good in there. And so, you 00:16:17.259 --> 00:16:20.620 know, this was a moment for them to attack. I 00:16:20.620 --> 00:16:25.590 think I was surprised by the scale of the B2 00:16:25.590 --> 00:16:28.090 attack. I don't know if you were, but I was really 00:16:28.090 --> 00:16:30.850 impressed. The use of seven, that's pretty significant. 00:16:31.850 --> 00:16:34.090 I mean, I always think I can't remember where 00:16:34.090 --> 00:16:36.529 I read it. We don't have that many B2 bombers. 00:16:37.970 --> 00:16:39.610 Seems like they sent, you know, half of them 00:16:39.610 --> 00:16:45.750 over there. That's exactly right. We have 19 00:16:45.750 --> 00:16:51.879 B2 bombers, originally. 21 were built. The 21st 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:54.419 actually, which is I think one of the ones that's 00:16:54.419 --> 00:16:57.799 still flying, was never meant to, it was a test 00:16:57.799 --> 00:16:59.639 article and it wasn't going to go to flyable 00:16:59.639 --> 00:17:02.200 status. You know, if you produce a military aircraft, 00:17:02.460 --> 00:17:05.460 usually the first several are for things like 00:17:05.460 --> 00:17:09.079 static fatigue testing, live fire testing, this 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:11.019 and that testing, and they just generally don't 00:17:11.019 --> 00:17:14.880 even plan to put the seat covers and the scented 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:17.440 strips and the rest of the avionics in there 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:20.549 sometimes. But the Clinton administration actually 00:17:20.549 --> 00:17:24.289 decided to take this B2, which was one of the, 00:17:24.430 --> 00:17:26.990 I feel like it might even have been Air Vehicle 00:17:26.990 --> 00:17:31.289 1 or 2, Incredibles that is, and turn it into 00:17:31.289 --> 00:17:36.089 the 21st B2 just as well. So we have 19 of these. 00:17:36.750 --> 00:17:40.529 And the other thing is this is a nuclear capable 00:17:40.529 --> 00:17:45.089 bomber. So while our forces aren't on the same 00:17:45.089 --> 00:17:47.890 nuke alert that they were in the Cold War, The 00:17:47.890 --> 00:17:52.990 B -2 wing, the 509th bomb wing, still has a nuclear 00:17:52.990 --> 00:17:56.069 mission. They have to be ready to provide aircraft 00:17:56.069 --> 00:17:59.750 into the triad if called upon to do so. In fact, 00:17:59.990 --> 00:18:06.069 their name, the 509th bomb wing, is the wing 00:18:06.069 --> 00:18:09.210 that dropped the atomic bomb. And the number 00:18:09.210 --> 00:18:13.470 509th was restored by the Air Force for the historical 00:18:13.470 --> 00:18:17.970 reasons and assigned to the B -2 wing. um, mark 00:18:17.970 --> 00:18:20.450 that heritage. So, you know, they've got to have 00:18:20.450 --> 00:18:22.049 ready for that. And of course, you know, it's 00:18:22.049 --> 00:18:25.529 a plane, right? So there's always a few of them 00:18:25.529 --> 00:18:29.549 that are out for intermediate level maintenance, 00:18:29.930 --> 00:18:33.329 um, modification of this and that, you know, 00:18:33.349 --> 00:18:36.609 the planes have, they're about 30 to 35 years 00:18:36.609 --> 00:18:40.069 old. I guess the newest were done in about 97. 00:18:40.450 --> 00:18:42.109 So they're always out getting modifications. 00:18:42.630 --> 00:18:46.000 So you take a, subtract a few from that. You 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.859 might have one that the new B -2 pilots are learning 00:18:48.859 --> 00:18:54.359 to fly on and then you need seven to go to a 00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:59.039 mission. It's incredible. Back during Operation 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:02.380 Iraqi Freedom, the B -2 was used and I think 00:19:02.380 --> 00:19:05.319 the maximum number ever used in one night was 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:11.289 three. So seven is remarkable. As I was mentioning 00:19:11.289 --> 00:19:13.769 when I was introducing you, Dr. Grant, is that 00:19:13.769 --> 00:19:18.150 you are, you know, you are heavily into all things 00:19:18.150 --> 00:19:23.130 military and I'm really grateful for you to talk 00:19:23.130 --> 00:19:25.710 about this B -2 bomber because I was saying B 00:19:25.710 --> 00:19:28.329 -2, you know, I remembered it, you know, in Iraq 00:19:28.329 --> 00:19:31.009 and Afghanistan, but I didn't realize how long 00:19:31.009 --> 00:19:34.549 ago it had been built, you know, initially, you 00:19:34.549 --> 00:19:37.549 know, went online. And then, you know, they bring 00:19:37.549 --> 00:19:41.099 out these bunker busters So maybe you could help 00:19:41.099 --> 00:19:43.140 us with our with our audience explaining what 00:19:43.140 --> 00:19:46.759 a bunker buster really is. Oh Yes, I'd be glad 00:19:46.759 --> 00:19:49.740 to and and you're right I do have followed the 00:19:49.740 --> 00:19:52.779 b2 for a long time and I've been in this field 00:19:52.779 --> 00:19:56.859 for a long time. So there we are the bunker busters 00:19:56.859 --> 00:20:00.099 are relatively new, you know, your listeners 00:20:00.099 --> 00:20:04.220 will know that the concept of heavy bunker buster 00:20:04.220 --> 00:20:07.109 ordinance of really I think they had some in 00:20:07.109 --> 00:20:09.049 World War I, but really dates from World War 00:20:09.049 --> 00:20:14.289 II. Strikes like the, actually some of the attacks 00:20:14.289 --> 00:20:18.349 on some potential heavy water facilities in Nazi 00:20:18.349 --> 00:20:21.450 -occupied Norway, things that really needed heavy, 00:20:21.490 --> 00:20:25.690 heavy, heavy bombs. And in those days, heavy 00:20:25.690 --> 00:20:30.430 was one to 2 ,000 pounds or maybe a little bit 00:20:30.430 --> 00:20:33.559 more. The difference, and then we saw in the 00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:38.500 Gulf War, there was a 28 ,000 pound bomb that 00:20:38.500 --> 00:20:43.119 was actually pushed out of the back of a C -130. 00:20:44.859 --> 00:20:47.480 It's amazing what our Air Force can do. You would 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:50.279 want to be holding on when you were pushing that 00:20:50.279 --> 00:20:53.940 thing out the back of the 130, used against American 00:20:53.940 --> 00:20:58.200 ingenuity, used against an Iraqi bunker in the 00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:00.970 time of Saddam Hussein. What's different with 00:21:00.970 --> 00:21:05.410 this new massive ordnance penetrator is really 00:21:05.410 --> 00:21:10.650 two things. One is the explosive material that's 00:21:10.650 --> 00:21:13.869 in the bomb itself. Let's go all the way to the 00:21:13.869 --> 00:21:16.230 other end of the spectrum. There's a bomb that's 00:21:16.230 --> 00:21:18.289 used quite a bit called the small diameter bomb, 00:21:18.309 --> 00:21:21.630 and it's a really small 250 pound bomb, but it's 00:21:21.630 --> 00:21:26.490 got the oomph of a much bigger bomb because it 00:21:26.490 --> 00:21:28.829 used to be the tritonol, but all that that's 00:21:28.829 --> 00:21:31.289 the explosive material is considerably upgraded 00:21:31.289 --> 00:21:34.529 so there's a lot more bang within a smaller footprint 00:21:34.529 --> 00:21:38.309 that's different with the mop but the really 00:21:38.309 --> 00:21:40.730 key thing with a massive ordinance penetrator 00:21:40.730 --> 00:21:46.210 is actually the fuse so they have it's the fuses 00:21:46.210 --> 00:21:50.210 are programmable and they're smart so it has 00:21:50.210 --> 00:21:55.529 to sense the penetration of the bomb body through 00:21:55.529 --> 00:21:59.470 layers of dirt and concrete, which obviously 00:21:59.470 --> 00:22:01.890 had dirt, concrete have different densities. 00:22:02.529 --> 00:22:05.950 And this fuse has to comprehend when it's entered 00:22:05.950 --> 00:22:08.670 an underground chamber where the underground 00:22:08.670 --> 00:22:12.289 machinery and factory complexes were at the Fordow 00:22:12.289 --> 00:22:16.569 fuel enrichment plant and then detonate. So that 00:22:16.569 --> 00:22:20.769 is sort of the advanced technology behind the 00:22:20.769 --> 00:22:24.119 mop. The B2 only, the B2 carries two, and you 00:22:24.119 --> 00:22:28.599 know, usually Dale with bomb loadouts, it's not 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:32.880 really the weight. I mean, the B2 takes on, I 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:36.460 believe, 100 ,000 pounds of fuel in an air refueling, 00:22:36.500 --> 00:22:39.000 if you could imagine. So it's not the weight, 00:22:39.140 --> 00:22:44.059 it's the configuration of the bomb's fins and 00:22:44.059 --> 00:22:46.140 how they go in the bomb bay and how they go on 00:22:46.140 --> 00:22:51.380 the rack. That means the B2 is the one aircraft 00:22:51.380 --> 00:22:55.539 that's certified to carry two massive ordnance 00:22:55.539 --> 00:22:57.140 penetrators and it's been tested. You've seen 00:22:57.140 --> 00:22:58.960 some little bit of reporting here, been there 00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:01.299 over the past couple of years, but really it's 00:23:01.299 --> 00:23:04.680 been developed, I'd say within, really operationalized 00:23:04.680 --> 00:23:07.079 within just sort of the last sort of five to 00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:10.759 seven years. And it's very much designed with 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:13.579 exactly this type of target set in mind, Iran 00:23:13.579 --> 00:23:16.519 or I think potentially North Korea as well, but 00:23:16.519 --> 00:23:19.609 I think specifically. to get to these underground 00:23:19.609 --> 00:23:23.509 facilities, which the Iranians built to try to 00:23:23.509 --> 00:23:28.309 be impervious to air attack. I wonder, have you 00:23:28.309 --> 00:23:30.369 heard anything about the effectiveness of these 00:23:30.369 --> 00:23:34.769 bombs going off over there? No, only what has 00:23:34.769 --> 00:23:37.269 been briefed first by President Trump on Saturday 00:23:37.269 --> 00:23:39.730 night, a very brief statement, and then by Secretary 00:23:39.730 --> 00:23:42.690 Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 00:23:42.690 --> 00:23:45.490 Dan Cain this morning that they are very happy 00:23:45.490 --> 00:23:48.869 with this. There is some satellite imagery out 00:23:48.869 --> 00:23:52.369 that shows six. I mean, they look kind of small 00:23:52.369 --> 00:23:56.250 because the area is so it's sort of desert semi 00:23:56.250 --> 00:23:58.950 arid area. So they say they're very happy with 00:23:58.950 --> 00:24:00.630 the destruction and they're obviously not going 00:24:00.630 --> 00:24:03.190 to tell us the details, which is too bad because 00:24:03.190 --> 00:24:05.690 we'd all really like to know. I think they'll 00:24:05.690 --> 00:24:09.190 be watching for a couple of things. One is is 00:24:09.190 --> 00:24:12.529 what what the crews and the you know, the gun 00:24:12.529 --> 00:24:16.829 camera footage basically showed. from the strikes. 00:24:17.349 --> 00:24:21.130 Then they do a lot of seismic sensing. There's 00:24:21.130 --> 00:24:24.309 a lot of nuclear related sensing. You know, the 00:24:24.309 --> 00:24:27.269 Air Force has a special plane that's configured 00:24:27.269 --> 00:24:29.809 to sniff out radiation in the atmosphere, all 00:24:29.809 --> 00:24:31.789 sorts of ways to check that. But I think most 00:24:31.789 --> 00:24:33.450 of all, they're gonna see what the Iraqis do. 00:24:33.569 --> 00:24:36.390 I'm sorry, the Iranians are doing up at that 00:24:36.390 --> 00:24:37.789 site. I mean, they did a whole bunch of trucks 00:24:37.789 --> 00:24:39.910 drive up and they started shoveling out the entrance. 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:45.000 or has nobody walked into that area at all, that's 00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:47.599 going to be another which they'll see from satellite 00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:51.119 monitoring. What is the Iranian posture around 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:54.720 those sites? Ultimately, and the UN has said 00:24:54.720 --> 00:24:58.480 this already, ultimately Rafael Grossi, who is 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:01.359 the man who heads the UN's International Atomic 00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:04.160 Energy Agency, he's a decent chap, he's been 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:06.779 in that job a long time, hardworking Brazilian, 00:25:06.819 --> 00:25:09.609 and they're ultimately going to have to go in 00:25:09.609 --> 00:25:12.849 there and take a look. But that won't be for 00:25:12.849 --> 00:25:14.930 a while. I think that was one of the questions 00:25:14.930 --> 00:25:17.470 was, you know, that as a result of this bombing, 00:25:17.650 --> 00:25:20.210 did they release any radiation into the, you 00:25:20.210 --> 00:25:23.049 know, into the atmosphere at all? And as you 00:25:23.049 --> 00:25:24.269 mentioned, they're not going to be able they're 00:25:24.269 --> 00:25:25.730 not really going to get going in there probably 00:25:25.730 --> 00:25:28.470 for a little while anyway. That's right. And 00:25:28.470 --> 00:25:31.349 it's it's that's the job of the IAEA. You know, 00:25:31.470 --> 00:25:35.420 Grossi himself has been to the Zaporizia power 00:25:35.420 --> 00:25:37.640 plant in Ukraine, which is like the biggest nuclear 00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:39.940 power plant in Europe. The Russians took it over, 00:25:39.940 --> 00:25:42.220 you know, three years ago now and have been running 00:25:42.220 --> 00:25:44.140 it. So he's been up there to look and make sure 00:25:44.140 --> 00:25:46.180 the Russians are running it correctly. Horrible. 00:25:46.279 --> 00:25:49.420 I mean, what a job to have to do. So and then, 00:25:49.420 --> 00:25:52.599 of course, the UN, you know, I'm a little jaded 00:25:52.599 --> 00:25:55.000 on. I feel the UN hasn't really covered itself 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:57.180 in glory in handling Ukraine and Iran and all 00:25:57.180 --> 00:26:00.279 this. But the IAEA does does their best. And 00:26:00.279 --> 00:26:04.990 they are the ones who two years ago found that 00:26:04.990 --> 00:26:07.250 the weapons -grade enrichment was indeed going 00:26:07.250 --> 00:26:12.230 on at Fort Al, enriching up to 83 % enriched 00:26:12.230 --> 00:26:15.529 uranium. And you know, you need just 90 % to 00:26:15.529 --> 00:26:18.650 make the bomb. So it was the certification by 00:26:18.650 --> 00:26:22.569 the UN, I think, that really has kind of begun 00:26:22.569 --> 00:26:24.930 this sequence. And they've also reported on other 00:26:24.930 --> 00:26:27.869 facilities. And it was, in fact, the UN's report 00:26:27.869 --> 00:26:30.849 from several days ago now saying that they felt 00:26:31.230 --> 00:26:34.869 Iran was not in compliance with, now wait for 00:26:34.869 --> 00:26:37.930 it, the nonproliferation treaty, which I think 00:26:37.930 --> 00:26:40.930 dates back to the 60s, which is when if you got 00:26:40.930 --> 00:26:42.670 a nuclear power plant built in your country, 00:26:42.710 --> 00:26:46.170 but you would sign the treaty pledging not to 00:26:46.170 --> 00:26:48.549 develop nuclear weapons. Most countries did that 00:26:48.549 --> 00:26:53.130 and benefited from having nuclear power and all 00:26:53.130 --> 00:26:56.349 that comes with that. So the UN has certified 00:26:56.349 --> 00:27:01.269 Iran out of compliance with the NPT. Obviously. 00:27:02.609 --> 00:27:07.849 I would guess. I would guess. I go back to this 00:27:07.849 --> 00:27:11.529 thing about what the potential is. Let's talk 00:27:11.529 --> 00:27:19.329 a little bit about Israel and Iran. And I'm having 00:27:19.329 --> 00:27:21.450 to think that they had to work in conjunction 00:27:21.450 --> 00:27:26.529 with the US when they started bombing Iran. And 00:27:26.529 --> 00:27:30.740 Iran started sending Raqqa back. everybody starts 00:27:30.740 --> 00:27:33.740 throwing bigger and bigger rocks until we drop 00:27:33.740 --> 00:27:38.000 a really big one on them. And one of the concerns 00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:41.900 was that Israel may be running out of their, 00:27:41.900 --> 00:27:45.500 you know, their iron shield materials that we 00:27:45.500 --> 00:27:47.559 provide for them. Is that something you've heard? 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:50.920 You know, people really are asking. They build 00:27:50.920 --> 00:27:55.819 some of the Iron Dome components on their own 00:27:55.819 --> 00:27:59.170 and we supply some and we've worked With them 00:27:59.170 --> 00:28:02.930 over the years on on Improving and upgrading 00:28:02.930 --> 00:28:07.049 that system Who knows how their strikes their 00:28:07.049 --> 00:28:09.930 stockpiles are rather? I'm sure they are getting 00:28:09.930 --> 00:28:13.829 a little bit low But one hopes that they've sort 00:28:13.829 --> 00:28:16.450 of made some provisions to do that, you know 00:28:16.450 --> 00:28:19.650 if this all really You know the relevant context 00:28:19.650 --> 00:28:21.890 here and again, it seems like it's been so long 00:28:21.890 --> 00:28:26.349 but is really dates back to April of 2024 this 00:28:26.349 --> 00:28:31.819 to me is when everything changed, okay? When 00:28:31.819 --> 00:28:36.240 Iran launched the 300 missiles and drones against 00:28:36.240 --> 00:28:39.359 Israel in April 13th, 2024, and they did it again 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:43.599 in October. And this was the unthinkable. Iran 00:28:43.599 --> 00:28:46.720 had finally attacked Israel, and Israel was able 00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:50.380 to shoot down, I think actually all of the drones 00:28:50.380 --> 00:28:54.140 and missiles at that point with help from our 00:28:54.140 --> 00:28:57.440 U .S. Navy who did Intercepts with destroyers 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:01.160 and our KB fighter pilots off the carrier and 00:29:01.160 --> 00:29:03.880 with help from the Jordanians because it goes 00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:06.440 across their airspace and they have a really 00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:08.319 good Air Force They don't like to be in the they 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:09.900 don't like to be in the press, but they're very 00:29:09.900 --> 00:29:12.279 good They shot down a bunch of stuff April 20 00:29:12.279 --> 00:29:17.079 24. So I think that attack by Iran on Israel 00:29:17.079 --> 00:29:20.059 That just changed that whole relationship and 00:29:20.059 --> 00:29:22.700 I think without One sometimes hears, oh, this 00:29:22.700 --> 00:29:25.839 is Israel's war with Iran. Well, you know, it 00:29:25.839 --> 00:29:29.859 was Iran that attacked Israel twice. Israel did 00:29:29.859 --> 00:29:33.619 a small attack in October of 2024, taking out 00:29:33.619 --> 00:29:36.299 some of the air defense systems around, in fact, 00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:40.359 some of the key nuclear sites and then the campaign 00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:46.240 that we see now. So the policy is clear. And 00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:49.059 in this case, Israel and the U .S. are not always 00:29:49.059 --> 00:29:51.299 in perfect agreement on every diplomatic item, 00:29:51.660 --> 00:29:55.680 but there was complete agreement that Iran cannot 00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:58.279 have a nuclear weapon. And Dale, I think the 00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:00.480 events of the last 10 days just prove that out 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.440 completely. They don't have an understanding 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:06.240 of the Ayatollah, does not have an understanding 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:09.220 of deterrence in the way that we think of it 00:30:09.220 --> 00:30:12.859 here in this country. And they've made clear 00:30:12.859 --> 00:30:15.740 they're willing to attack anything. Right and 00:30:15.740 --> 00:30:17.660 with and can you imagine, you know, we have we 00:30:17.660 --> 00:30:20.839 have now I think probably very close to 50 ,000 00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:24.500 US forces across the Middle East from Syria to 00:30:24.500 --> 00:30:27.119 the two carriers on the Red Sea and a lot of 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:30.220 bases in between Can you imagine they're there 00:30:30.220 --> 00:30:33.339 to contain Iran? Can you imagine trying to do 00:30:33.339 --> 00:30:36.759 force protection if there's nine to fifteen Iranian 00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:40.900 bombs in the mix? It's just it's unthinkable. 00:30:41.140 --> 00:30:43.539 And I think that I think the scenarios like that 00:30:43.539 --> 00:30:47.869 are what? led the president to choose to to carry 00:30:47.869 --> 00:30:49.970 out these strikes. It's very, very serious, very 00:30:49.970 --> 00:30:51.690 serious decision. I think it was a difficult 00:30:51.690 --> 00:30:55.150 decision for him, not one he wanted to have to 00:30:55.150 --> 00:31:01.130 do. But I certainly see the case for the military 00:31:01.130 --> 00:31:04.990 necessity. It's kind of unusual for us to be 00:31:04.990 --> 00:31:06.950 in the US, you know, to really take the initiative 00:31:06.950 --> 00:31:10.859 and I mean, I know that we, you know, the CIA 00:31:10.859 --> 00:31:13.259 and special forces and all those other things, 00:31:13.480 --> 00:31:16.359 they go and kind of find stuff out. And I'm sure 00:31:16.359 --> 00:31:19.420 that some of our troops were actually in, you 00:31:19.420 --> 00:31:23.200 know, in Iran, setting up their radars and directional 00:31:23.200 --> 00:31:25.579 things to help, you know, get the jets in there. 00:31:26.200 --> 00:31:29.720 But I, like you, I am concerned about those 50 00:31:29.720 --> 00:31:33.720 ,000 American service people over there. One 00:31:33.720 --> 00:31:35.660 of the things that I heard this morning, of course, 00:31:35.720 --> 00:31:38.400 is that one way they could retaliate is to close 00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:40.980 off that was at the Gulf of Hormuz. Yeah, the 00:31:40.980 --> 00:31:45.660 Strait of Hormuz, that little hook. Well, good 00:31:45.660 --> 00:31:53.640 luck. It's a very narrow point. And you know, 00:31:53.640 --> 00:31:56.319 it's funny whether their neighbor there in the 00:31:56.319 --> 00:31:58.920 waterway is the UAE, the United Arab Emirates, 00:31:58.940 --> 00:32:01.259 and they'll tell you they're only 32 kilometers 00:32:01.259 --> 00:32:04.819 away, the Iranians, you know, and it becomes 00:32:04.819 --> 00:32:08.660 so difficult. for the more moderate states in 00:32:08.660 --> 00:32:11.559 that region to know how to deal with Iran. They 00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:13.380 all have a lot of business relationships. The 00:32:13.380 --> 00:32:17.339 UAE and Iran, I think, share an undersea natural 00:32:17.339 --> 00:32:20.839 gas field. They have trade relationships, but 00:32:20.839 --> 00:32:22.539 you just don't know how to talk to these people. 00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:26.420 To me, this is the longer -term ramification. 00:32:27.500 --> 00:32:29.779 Clearly, some of the recent force deployments 00:32:29.779 --> 00:32:32.059 are there to enhance force protection. I think 00:32:32.059 --> 00:32:34.500 General Karela at Central Command is, you know, 00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:37.599 the force protection is extreme. They're watching 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:41.619 for Iranian missiles. Our Space Force sees every 00:32:41.619 --> 00:32:44.000 Iranian missile launch. They're watching for 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:46.359 drones. We have plenty of fighter jets there 00:32:46.359 --> 00:32:48.319 and other systems to take out drones. They're 00:32:48.319 --> 00:32:51.640 watching for just the RPG attacks that were from, 00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:55.210 you know, Iran back to militias in Iraq. That 00:32:55.210 --> 00:32:57.970 were that killed I believe 600 Americans during 00:32:57.970 --> 00:33:01.309 our time in Iraq. But the question here is like 00:33:01.309 --> 00:33:04.690 when? When do you get the Iranians to talk to 00:33:04.690 --> 00:33:08.890 you? I told is just in he is in his own world. 00:33:08.890 --> 00:33:11.630 It is just so impossible to know how to handle 00:33:11.630 --> 00:33:13.609 that Well, it seems like you know, I mean it's 00:33:13.609 --> 00:33:16.089 been infuriating, you know ever since we they 00:33:16.089 --> 00:33:20.730 overturned the Shah was that 79? Yes nobody's 00:33:20.730 --> 00:33:26.609 really been able to negotiate any sort of peaceful 00:33:26.609 --> 00:33:29.470 coexistence over there. I'm curious about the, 00:33:29.470 --> 00:33:31.690 you know, what the other countries, I mean, you 00:33:31.690 --> 00:33:34.029 mentioned the UAE, but you know, you got Saudi 00:33:34.029 --> 00:33:38.049 Arabia, you got Yemen, you got Iraq, again, you 00:33:38.049 --> 00:33:41.529 know, they're kind of, you know, in between Iran 00:33:41.529 --> 00:33:43.970 and Israel. So what's going to happen there? 00:33:44.049 --> 00:33:47.049 I mean, they had a bloody, bloody war, you know, 00:33:47.049 --> 00:33:52.329 what, 25 years ago or so. So, such a good point. 00:33:52.849 --> 00:33:57.789 The Iran -Iraq war of the 1980s, the war of the 00:33:57.789 --> 00:34:02.589 cities, the overspill of which led to the Kuwaiti 00:34:02.589 --> 00:34:06.569 tanker reflagging operation, President Reagan's 00:34:06.569 --> 00:34:10.210 attacks on some of the Iranian oil rigs out there 00:34:10.210 --> 00:34:14.929 in the water. That war was a horrible war involving 00:34:14.929 --> 00:34:19.769 chemical weapons, airstrikes. Death on a large 00:34:19.769 --> 00:34:23.469 scale, and that had come really on the heels 00:34:23.469 --> 00:34:28.289 of Iran's 1979 revolution as Iraq kind of tried 00:34:28.289 --> 00:34:31.570 to poke it at all this. And they settled in there, 00:34:31.590 --> 00:34:35.530 but it took, I believe, a full eight years to 00:34:35.530 --> 00:34:37.349 settle it. And so I think what we're looking 00:34:37.349 --> 00:34:42.269 at here in our situation today, the other states 00:34:42.269 --> 00:34:44.400 in that region, they do not... You know, Iraq, 00:34:44.519 --> 00:34:46.239 it's a little difficult because there's a lot 00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:48.579 of Iranian influence in Iraq and the politics 00:34:48.579 --> 00:34:51.420 and various things. And that's a result that 00:34:51.420 --> 00:34:55.320 has come about in the aftermath of our war in 00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:57.480 Iraq. But most of the states in that region, 00:34:57.500 --> 00:35:00.179 they do not want war. They want to get back to 00:35:00.179 --> 00:35:05.019 business. They're horrified at Iran's terror 00:35:05.019 --> 00:35:07.780 activities and all this. Now, if it's, oh, you 00:35:07.780 --> 00:35:10.360 know, the ideological message, whatever that's 00:35:10.360 --> 00:35:12.500 the Iranians, she is, they can live with it. 00:35:12.559 --> 00:35:15.679 But it's gotten to this point. So while they 00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:17.659 will not come out and say it publicly, I think 00:35:17.659 --> 00:35:20.980 there is strong, strong, strong regional support. 00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:23.719 They agree you cannot have a nuclear -armed Iran. 00:35:24.340 --> 00:35:26.840 And if you have Iran with a nuclear weapon, well, 00:35:26.940 --> 00:35:30.400 first of all, you have Israel really preparing 00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:32.980 its nuclear strike options. And you have Saudi 00:35:32.980 --> 00:35:36.489 Arabia potentially saying, well, We had better 00:35:36.489 --> 00:35:38.170 build a bomb as well. And it goes from there. 00:35:38.250 --> 00:35:40.309 So this is something that this strike, I believe, 00:35:40.369 --> 00:35:42.650 has avoided. So I do not know that we're going 00:35:42.650 --> 00:35:44.829 to get regime change. That is not an objective 00:35:44.829 --> 00:35:46.690 of these strikes. I don't know if Iran is going 00:35:46.690 --> 00:35:48.949 to become a better place. It's a big country, 00:35:49.070 --> 00:35:51.630 a lot of people, great history and culture, terrible 00:35:51.630 --> 00:35:54.730 economy, a lot of repression and unrest. But 00:35:54.730 --> 00:35:59.130 all that is always very unpredictable. What Operation 00:35:59.130 --> 00:36:02.650 Midnight Hammer has achieved is, for now, in 00:36:02.650 --> 00:36:04.809 Iran, without a nuclear weapon. And that was 00:36:04.809 --> 00:36:08.840 just the bare minimum, we need to get by not 00:36:08.840 --> 00:36:11.480 only in that region, but to continue to have 00:36:11.480 --> 00:36:14.039 any sort of world and global stability. And no 00:36:14.039 --> 00:36:16.780 thanks to China, who, as I've said so many times, 00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:21.280 buys 90 % of Iran's oil and has kept them in 00:36:21.280 --> 00:36:28.139 business. I was just going to mention them. I'm 00:36:28.139 --> 00:36:30.880 worried about the ramifications that our attention 00:36:31.260 --> 00:36:34.260 is so focused on the Middle East that some other 00:36:34.260 --> 00:36:38.400 things may be happening elsewhere, like the North 00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:41.820 Korea stuff. And the Chinese are building more 00:36:41.820 --> 00:36:43.760 and more ships and more and more airplanes and 00:36:43.760 --> 00:36:47.719 more and more and more of everything. And I'm 00:36:47.719 --> 00:36:53.719 not sure how we can handle that, I guess would 00:36:53.719 --> 00:36:57.380 be my concern there. And also, if the Iranians, 00:36:57.400 --> 00:37:01.269 as you mentioned before, I don't know how fanatical 00:37:01.269 --> 00:37:05.469 some of them are going to be. This is a conspiracy 00:37:05.469 --> 00:37:09.309 theory I'm making up as we go. But how many of 00:37:09.309 --> 00:37:11.769 the Iranians that are living in our country are 00:37:11.769 --> 00:37:14.389 like the sleeper people? And suddenly they're 00:37:14.389 --> 00:37:17.469 all going to rise up and do terrible things. 00:37:19.070 --> 00:37:22.050 So those are the things that I've been talking 00:37:22.050 --> 00:37:25.170 to friends and so forth that people are mostly 00:37:25.170 --> 00:37:27.809 concerned about is what is the retaliation, if 00:37:27.809 --> 00:37:31.690 any? They're going to be. Well, two excellent 00:37:31.690 --> 00:37:35.090 points. And if you and I are sitting as part 00:37:35.090 --> 00:37:38.369 of Xi Jinping's inner circle in Beijing, the 00:37:38.369 --> 00:37:41.610 Americans flailing around with having to strike 00:37:41.610 --> 00:37:45.090 Iran and deploy all those forces, since China's 00:37:45.090 --> 00:37:47.210 long -term plan is to take us down as a global 00:37:47.210 --> 00:37:51.289 power and stomp all over us, this works. So it's 00:37:51.289 --> 00:37:54.800 a terribly cynical view. It's really an issue. 00:37:54.920 --> 00:37:56.380 It's something that in that bigger perspective, 00:37:56.739 --> 00:37:59.400 we really have to, we really got to tamp this 00:37:59.400 --> 00:38:01.219 down in the Middle East and get out of there 00:38:01.219 --> 00:38:03.639 to a greater extent. Back to the issue about 00:38:03.639 --> 00:38:05.840 sleeper cells. So, you know, my view here is, 00:38:06.039 --> 00:38:08.219 first of all, I think Homeland Security, FBI, 00:38:08.659 --> 00:38:11.320 really all over this, but wow, some of the things 00:38:11.320 --> 00:38:16.059 Iranians have tried, I think a great most of. 00:38:16.190 --> 00:38:18.070 The Iranians that live here, you know, a lot 00:38:18.070 --> 00:38:22.469 came after the overthrow of the Shah. A lot of 00:38:22.469 --> 00:38:25.010 it's perfectly, you know, very civilized. Iran 00:38:25.010 --> 00:38:27.329 was a very civilized advanced culture before 00:38:27.329 --> 00:38:30.489 1979, right? It could be again. But some of the 00:38:30.489 --> 00:38:32.510 things they've done. An Iranian was indicted 00:38:32.510 --> 00:38:36.110 for plotting to assassinate Ambassador John Bolton, 00:38:36.230 --> 00:38:38.489 who had been in the Trump I administration and 00:38:38.489 --> 00:38:41.769 a former UN ambassador. This was in 2022. We 00:38:41.769 --> 00:38:45.230 know that Iran has been plotting to assassinate 00:38:45.230 --> 00:38:48.280 Donald Trump. and has threatened other leaders. 00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:54.179 Back in 2013, an Iranian cyberspace team hacked 00:38:54.179 --> 00:38:59.920 into a water dam in upstate New York called the 00:38:59.920 --> 00:39:05.719 Rye Bridge Dam and almost got into its systems, 00:39:05.719 --> 00:39:08.460 the SCADA controls, and almost managed to turn 00:39:08.460 --> 00:39:10.849 the thing on and off, but they got caught. Again, 00:39:11.130 --> 00:39:14.610 FBI indictments on this. So certainly Iran has 00:39:14.610 --> 00:39:18.409 some cyber capabilities. I think they would love 00:39:18.409 --> 00:39:21.809 to try some sleeper type activity. Their doctrine 00:39:21.809 --> 00:39:25.449 is, this comes from the revolution period, is 00:39:25.449 --> 00:39:28.969 to strike. And that's why they built up the Maas, 00:39:29.230 --> 00:39:33.070 Hezbollah, the hoodies. This is their whole game 00:39:33.070 --> 00:39:38.199 plan is to... attack and build up chaos, you 00:39:38.199 --> 00:39:39.699 know, and the Middle East will say, well, they're 00:39:39.699 --> 00:39:41.380 not going to do it themselves, but they're going 00:39:41.380 --> 00:39:43.780 to get all these other people to go and do this. 00:39:43.780 --> 00:39:45.760 But that's why they've built up this terror network. 00:39:45.800 --> 00:39:48.239 That's part of their national policy. It just, 00:39:48.400 --> 00:39:51.039 it's incomprehensible. So there certainly is 00:39:51.039 --> 00:39:53.139 a risk. And I think that all the whole, you know, 00:39:53.219 --> 00:39:55.960 see something, say something is very much applies. 00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:58.360 But I do believe also, this has been in the wind 00:39:58.360 --> 00:40:01.019 a long time and there's been a heightened security 00:40:01.019 --> 00:40:04.320 concern, frankly, since the October 7th, 2023. 00:40:05.699 --> 00:40:08.760 attack out of Gaza into Israel. And so I think 00:40:08.760 --> 00:40:10.900 the FBI and Homeland Security are all of this. 00:40:10.940 --> 00:40:13.179 No telling who came across the southern border. 00:40:14.300 --> 00:40:18.480 They're going to be working overtime. I mean, 00:40:18.639 --> 00:40:20.059 Hezbollah said that they didn't want anything 00:40:20.059 --> 00:40:24.579 to do with America, at least, you know, in the 00:40:24.579 --> 00:40:31.329 short term. So I'll be interested to see what 00:40:31.329 --> 00:40:35.369 goes on. Just an aside before I let you go here 00:40:35.369 --> 00:40:40.369 is, I'm a little bit concerned about the advisors 00:40:40.369 --> 00:40:43.630 that President Trump has, because I don't see 00:40:43.630 --> 00:40:46.050 a whole lot of experience there. And I was just 00:40:46.050 --> 00:40:48.550 wondering what your thoughts were on that. Oh, 00:40:48.570 --> 00:40:54.289 I hear you on that. And I will say, oh. One individual 00:40:54.289 --> 00:40:56.590 who I think really is the public is getting to 00:40:56.590 --> 00:40:58.469 know a little bit more now is our chairman of 00:40:58.469 --> 00:41:01.610 the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Cain. 00:41:01.690 --> 00:41:05.230 He had been an Air Force Three Star, a guardsman, 00:41:05.530 --> 00:41:08.690 I believe an F -16 pilot who flew combat in Iraq. 00:41:09.119 --> 00:41:12.219 And he had some time deployed there as a general 00:41:12.219 --> 00:41:14.519 in the Air Operations Center. And I think he'd 00:41:14.519 --> 00:41:17.719 met President Trump during the anti -ISIS campaign 00:41:17.719 --> 00:41:22.219 back in the 2017 -2018 timeframe. I've been very 00:41:22.219 --> 00:41:23.860 impressed with him. He actually did extremely 00:41:23.860 --> 00:41:26.079 well in his Senate confirmation hearing. He's 00:41:26.079 --> 00:41:29.690 very cool, man a few words. very level -headed, 00:41:30.469 --> 00:41:32.469 and in watching his Pentagon briefing this morning 00:41:32.469 --> 00:41:35.090 and just his general attitude, this is an airman 00:41:35.090 --> 00:41:38.150 who knows every bit. So when he says, this is 00:41:38.150 --> 00:41:40.170 a real complicated strike package that we flew, 00:41:40.369 --> 00:41:42.550 he's flown those strike packages. He's planned 00:41:42.550 --> 00:41:46.190 them. He's commanded them. His expertise is actually 00:41:46.190 --> 00:41:50.030 exactly what was needed for Operation Midnight 00:41:50.030 --> 00:41:53.570 Hammer, and he seems to be that calm and collected 00:41:53.570 --> 00:41:56.429 and experienced. He's in a very significant job 00:41:56.429 --> 00:42:00.840 as basically the top military advisor to President 00:42:00.840 --> 00:42:03.539 Donald Trump, but in this case, General Cain 00:42:03.539 --> 00:42:08.019 certainly has an ideal experience as an F -16 00:42:08.019 --> 00:42:10.619 combat pilot within. He just, he just knows all 00:42:10.619 --> 00:42:13.019 the intricacies. You talk about air refueling 00:42:13.019 --> 00:42:16.380 for a, you know, a 90 planes in a strike package. 00:42:16.500 --> 00:42:19.019 He knows that in his sleep. So I'm really glad 00:42:19.019 --> 00:42:21.119 that he, that we have that advice there. I also 00:42:21.119 --> 00:42:23.059 think Secretary of State Marco Rubio has done 00:42:23.059 --> 00:42:26.650 a fantastic job in his, now his two jobs. as 00:42:26.650 --> 00:42:28.750 Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. 00:42:30.670 --> 00:42:34.110 Okay. Well, that's what I wanted to hear. Because 00:42:34.110 --> 00:42:36.349 I want to make sure we can all sleep at night. 00:42:37.769 --> 00:42:41.469 That's right. And let's remember, too, Iran has 00:42:41.469 --> 00:42:44.289 been weakened. I think the end game is very difficult. 00:42:44.989 --> 00:42:48.849 But the work that was done by the B -2s against 00:42:48.849 --> 00:42:51.670 the Iranian target set, this was the right thing 00:42:51.670 --> 00:42:57.230 to do. This was truly a danger. a real danger, 00:42:57.889 --> 00:43:00.530 and the danger of doing nothing was much, much 00:43:00.530 --> 00:43:02.929 greater. We let this go on far too long. This 00:43:02.929 --> 00:43:08.190 was the moment. It was done in a very serious 00:43:08.190 --> 00:43:10.630 spirit, and they had every chance to come to 00:43:10.630 --> 00:43:13.210 the negotiating table prior to that strike. But 00:43:13.210 --> 00:43:16.969 it is good that Iran is now not as close to a 00:43:16.969 --> 00:43:21.239 nuclear bomb. That's good news. That's good news 00:43:21.239 --> 00:43:23.380 for all us to hear and I appreciate you taking 00:43:23.380 --> 00:43:25.579 your time out of your very very busy day I'm 00:43:25.579 --> 00:43:29.239 sure to come here on veterans radio and calm 00:43:29.239 --> 00:43:31.280 some of our fears and let us know what really 00:43:31.280 --> 00:43:34.139 happened and I'm looking forward to Contacting 00:43:34.139 --> 00:43:35.920 you probably in the near future to see if we 00:43:35.920 --> 00:43:38.099 can figure out what the results of this whole 00:43:38.099 --> 00:43:40.460 thing were That sounds great. It's always an 00:43:40.460 --> 00:43:43.179 honor to talk to veterans radio. Thank you. Thank 00:43:43.179 --> 00:43:46.440 you so very much. That's dr. Rebecca grant talking 00:43:46.440 --> 00:43:50.690 about what's been going on in the last day or 00:43:50.690 --> 00:43:54.289 two, and I'm really excited to, I was very excited 00:43:54.289 --> 00:43:57.329 to have her come on and talk about Operation 00:43:57.329 --> 00:44:00.090 Midnight Hammer. So we're gonna take a quick 00:44:00.090 --> 00:44:02.630 break, and when we come back, we've got some 00:44:02.630 --> 00:44:05.510 new news to talk about with you. So you're listening 00:44:05.510 --> 00:44:08.849 to Veterans Radio. The Medal of Honor is the 00:44:08.849 --> 00:44:11.030 highest award for valor in combat given a member 00:44:11.030 --> 00:44:13.230 of the Armed Forces of the United States. There 00:44:13.230 --> 00:44:16.130 have been over 3 ,400 recipients of the nation's 00:44:16.130 --> 00:44:19.719 highest award. This is one of them. Captain Louis 00:44:19.719 --> 00:44:22.300 Millett was wounded by grenade fragments but 00:44:22.300 --> 00:44:27.239 refused evacuation. Details after this. If you 00:44:27.239 --> 00:44:29.340 have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans' 00:44:29.519 --> 00:44:31.659 Appeals, contact Legal Help for Veterans at 1 00:44:31.659 --> 00:44:36.000 -800 -693 -4800. They're experts in handling 00:44:36.000 --> 00:44:38.300 cases before the U .S. Court of Appeals for Veterans' 00:44:38.539 --> 00:44:42.480 claims. Their number again, 1 -800 -693 -4800. 00:44:42.829 --> 00:44:45.469 While personally leading his company in an attack 00:44:45.469 --> 00:44:48.510 against a strongly held Korean position, Millett 00:44:48.510 --> 00:44:51.070 noted that the first platoon was pinned down 00:44:51.070 --> 00:44:54.050 by small arms, automatic, and anti -tank fire. 00:44:54.949 --> 00:44:57.389 Millett ordered the third platoon forward, placed 00:44:57.389 --> 00:44:59.969 himself at the head of the two platoons, and 00:44:59.969 --> 00:45:02.809 with fixed bayonet, led the assault up the fire 00:45:02.809 --> 00:45:05.849 -swept hill. In the fierce charge, he bayoneted 00:45:05.849 --> 00:45:09.090 two enemy soldiers and boldly continued on throwing 00:45:09.090 --> 00:45:11.750 grenades, clubbing and bayoneting the enemy, 00:45:11.900 --> 00:45:14.639 while urging his men forward by shouting encouragement. 00:45:15.820 --> 00:45:18.320 Despite vicious opposing fire, the whirlwind 00:45:18.320 --> 00:45:20.980 hand -to -hand assault carried to the crest of 00:45:20.980 --> 00:45:23.719 the hill. His leadership and personal courage 00:45:23.719 --> 00:45:26.659 so inspired his men that they stormed into the 00:45:26.659 --> 00:45:29.019 hostile position and used their bayonets with 00:45:29.019 --> 00:45:32.019 such lethal effect that the enemy fled in wild 00:45:32.019 --> 00:45:35.500 disorder. During this fierce onslaught, Millet 00:45:35.500 --> 00:45:38.099 was wounded by grenade fragments but refused 00:45:38.099 --> 00:45:41.099 evacuation until the objective was taken. and 00:45:41.099 --> 00:45:43.920 firmly secured. The Medal of Honor series is 00:45:43.920 --> 00:45:47.199 a production of Veterans Radio. Military veterans 00:45:47.199 --> 00:45:49.639 touch everyone's life. I'm guessing right now 00:45:49.639 --> 00:45:52.139 you're thinking of a veteran, a close friend, 00:45:52.659 --> 00:45:55.800 relative. Maybe it's you. Even the toughest of 00:45:55.800 --> 00:45:58.380 us sometimes need help but don't know where to 00:45:58.380 --> 00:46:00.719 turn for support. You don't need special training 00:46:00.719 --> 00:46:03.019 to help a veteran in your life. We can all help 00:46:03.019 --> 00:46:05.239 someone going through a difficult time. Learn 00:46:05.239 --> 00:46:08.800 how you can be there for veterans. Visit veteranscrisisline 00:46:08.800 --> 00:46:12.699 .net. Veterans Crisis Line dot net a message 00:46:12.699 --> 00:46:20.360 from the US Department of Veterans Affairs And 00:46:20.360 --> 00:46:22.699 we're back here on veterans radio and I hope 00:46:22.699 --> 00:46:26.000 that you enjoyed and learned a little bit from 00:46:26.000 --> 00:46:29.139 dr. Grant as I mentioned before she's always 00:46:30.059 --> 00:46:32.219 Always willing to come on our program at short 00:46:32.219 --> 00:46:34.679 notice and I you know with everything that's 00:46:34.679 --> 00:46:37.760 going on today I wanted to really thank her For 00:46:37.760 --> 00:46:40.699 taking time out of her very busy schedule. I'm 00:46:40.699 --> 00:46:43.000 sure I'm sure if you go to television not yet 00:46:43.000 --> 00:46:45.820 if you go to the TV news I'm sure you're going 00:46:45.820 --> 00:46:50.360 to see her on many different outlets this evening 00:46:50.360 --> 00:46:52.679 Talking about some of the same things that we 00:46:52.679 --> 00:46:55.139 talked about here. So as I as I mentioned we 00:46:55.139 --> 00:46:57.500 are going to try and figure out when we can get 00:46:57.500 --> 00:46:59.659 her back on, or some other folks that we've been 00:46:59.659 --> 00:47:02.480 talking to over the years that will give us a 00:47:02.480 --> 00:47:05.360 little bit of insight as to what's going on in 00:47:05.360 --> 00:47:07.539 Iran. And as I mentioned, it is kind of frightening 00:47:07.539 --> 00:47:10.500 when you think about it. Nobody wants to get 00:47:10.500 --> 00:47:14.920 involved in another conflict in the Middle East. 00:47:15.619 --> 00:47:19.619 Over the last 20 years, another thing where we 00:47:19.619 --> 00:47:22.480 didn't necessarily have a plan when we went in, 00:47:22.500 --> 00:47:25.960 and we didn't have a plan when we got out. I've 00:47:25.960 --> 00:47:28.320 got to leave it up to the powers that be. So 00:47:28.320 --> 00:47:31.900 I'm hoping that they will do a good job and do 00:47:31.900 --> 00:47:37.039 what's right. for all of us at that time. Here 00:47:37.039 --> 00:47:39.320 on Veterans Radio, as I mentioned, I let her 00:47:39.320 --> 00:47:41.559 go a little bit early. So I wanted to tell you 00:47:41.559 --> 00:47:43.360 what's coming up in the future. I already talked 00:47:43.360 --> 00:47:46.440 about our fundraiser coming up on September 28th. 00:47:47.179 --> 00:47:49.420 That's a great opportunity for us, and I'm really 00:47:49.420 --> 00:47:53.599 excited to be out at Freedom River. It's a wonderful 00:47:53.599 --> 00:47:56.639 place for veterans to go with their families, 00:47:56.639 --> 00:47:59.980 to relax. They've got fishing, they've got boating, 00:48:00.119 --> 00:48:02.199 they've got, as I mentioned, they're going to 00:48:02.059 --> 00:48:05.780 eventually have training programs out there. 00:48:06.219 --> 00:48:08.079 For our Radio on the River thing we're going 00:48:08.079 --> 00:48:10.739 to have all kinds of different organizations 00:48:10.739 --> 00:48:14.570 that will be available to you. When you come 00:48:14.570 --> 00:48:17.909 out, the VA will be there. There's going to be 00:48:17.909 --> 00:48:21.030 some other organizations, women veterans and 00:48:21.030 --> 00:48:23.969 so on and so forth. We'll have booths there to 00:48:23.969 --> 00:48:26.250 show you. We're going to have a display of military 00:48:26.250 --> 00:48:29.349 uniforms and artifacts and so forth. So I think 00:48:29.349 --> 00:48:32.610 it's going to be kind of a fun day and food and 00:48:32.610 --> 00:48:35.820 music. What else did you have? Oh, and storytelling, 00:48:36.199 --> 00:48:38.179 because that's what we do, storytelling here 00:48:38.179 --> 00:48:41.099 on Veterans Radio. As a matter of fact, next 00:48:41.099 --> 00:48:43.920 week, I think we've got a really cool storytelling 00:48:43.920 --> 00:48:46.699 program coming up. We're going to be talking 00:48:46.699 --> 00:48:51.050 to a couple of Army nurses from Vietnam. The 00:48:51.050 --> 00:48:53.289 main speaker or the main guest is Sarah plum 00:48:53.289 --> 00:48:56.030 and she has written a book called warrior nurse 00:48:56.030 --> 00:48:59.630 talks about PTSD and healing and I just wanted 00:48:59.630 --> 00:49:01.869 to read a little bit from the back of the book 00:49:01.869 --> 00:49:03.989 and because she was in an area that I was in 00:49:03.989 --> 00:49:06.449 in Vietnam and I think I probably flew over her 00:49:06.449 --> 00:49:09.530 hospital It says that the 12th evac hospital 00:49:09.530 --> 00:49:13.050 in Coochie Vietnam Sarah plum is an operating 00:49:13.050 --> 00:49:15.389 room nurse during the fighting in the Iron Triangle 00:49:15.389 --> 00:49:20.889 of 1967 the Iron Triangle is west of Saigon west 00:49:20.889 --> 00:49:23.670 and northwest between the Parrots Beacon and 00:49:23.670 --> 00:49:27.889 so forth out in that area. Anyway, so it said 00:49:27.889 --> 00:49:30.250 that mass catalyzes with severely wounded soldiers 00:49:30.250 --> 00:49:32.590 show up for Sarah and her fellow nurses, and 00:49:32.590 --> 00:49:34.409 the surgeons treat them in the midst of mortar 00:49:34.409 --> 00:49:37.269 attacks, monsoons, and exploding artillery. I've 00:49:37.269 --> 00:49:41.110 heard this story so many times from nurses from 00:49:41.110 --> 00:49:45.230 the Vietnam era. We've all seen the television 00:49:45.230 --> 00:49:49.800 version of MASH. It wasn't like that. These men 00:49:49.800 --> 00:49:52.059 and women were in operating rooms, sometimes 00:49:52.059 --> 00:49:55.179 24 hours a day, you know, trying to put together 00:49:55.179 --> 00:49:57.860 and put back together American soldiers. They 00:49:57.860 --> 00:50:00.400 also took care of local villagers and kids and 00:50:00.400 --> 00:50:03.980 even sometimes the enemy wounded would come through 00:50:03.980 --> 00:50:08.099 their hospitals. Her story is intertwined. With 00:50:08.099 --> 00:50:10.920 a gentleman by the name of Johnny who's hit by 00:50:10.920 --> 00:50:13.900 American artillery And Jim a baseball pitcher 00:50:13.900 --> 00:50:16.000 with multiple wounds including his pitching hand 00:50:16.000 --> 00:50:19.360 and encompasses her terror on the tarmac of Benoit 00:50:19.360 --> 00:50:22.219 Airbase on the day that she leaves culture shock 00:50:22.219 --> 00:50:25.519 emerging post -traumatic stress assaults by protesters 00:50:25.519 --> 00:50:29.139 being head nurse of an orthopedic ward at Madigan 00:50:29.139 --> 00:50:32.239 General Hospital up in Washington I believe and 00:50:32.239 --> 00:50:34.360 her growing awareness of the effects of war on 00:50:34.360 --> 00:50:37.039 her and her fellow soldiers. So next week we're 00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:40.800 going to have her on the program with two other 00:50:40.800 --> 00:50:44.239 nurses from the Ann Arbor area who also were 00:50:44.239 --> 00:50:46.059 in Vietnam. They were further north. They weren't 00:50:46.059 --> 00:50:49.639 in Cu Chi. One was in Pleiku, and one was in 00:50:49.639 --> 00:50:52.280 Phu Loi, I think. I don't know. I was down south, 00:50:52.280 --> 00:50:54.019 so I'm not familiar with all those places. But 00:50:54.019 --> 00:50:55.920 they're going to be on the program together to 00:50:55.920 --> 00:50:58.579 talk about really what it was like being a nurse 00:50:58.579 --> 00:51:03.139 in Vietnam. I know that many of you have listened 00:51:03.139 --> 00:51:05.139 to our program where we talked about the book, 00:51:05.239 --> 00:51:09.639 The Women, which is a fictional story of nurses 00:51:09.639 --> 00:51:13.099 in Vietnam. And this is this is a group of veterans 00:51:13.099 --> 00:51:14.960 who have been overlooked for years and years 00:51:14.960 --> 00:51:18.320 and years. And I'm very happy to give them an 00:51:18.320 --> 00:51:23.119 outlet for their stories and just the admiration 00:51:23.119 --> 00:51:26.980 that the men and women in Vietnam had for army 00:51:26.980 --> 00:51:31.539 nurses and their docs, of course. is beyond the 00:51:31.539 --> 00:51:34.679 pale. They just did an amazing job daily, every 00:51:34.679 --> 00:51:39.539 single day. They had to face multiple amputations, 00:51:40.440 --> 00:51:43.619 terrible, awful wounds and burns and everything 00:51:43.619 --> 00:51:46.659 else. So I encourage you to listen in next week. 00:51:46.739 --> 00:51:48.760 I think you'll find a very interesting program. 00:51:49.280 --> 00:51:51.880 And of course, the following week, the first 00:51:51.880 --> 00:51:55.039 Sunday of July will be our benefits program. 00:51:56.179 --> 00:51:59.400 And we've got a new contact at the VA health 00:51:59.400 --> 00:52:01.440 care side of it. So we're going to be able to 00:52:01.440 --> 00:52:03.760 have someone on to talk about that. I know there 00:52:03.760 --> 00:52:06.619 are many concerns from our veteran community 00:52:06.619 --> 00:52:10.840 about what could or may be going on at the VA 00:52:10.840 --> 00:52:13.340 hospitals around the country. So hopefully we're 00:52:13.340 --> 00:52:17.170 going to be able to. Talk about those and maybe 00:52:17.170 --> 00:52:19.329 we can eliminate some of the questions that you 00:52:19.329 --> 00:52:21.349 might have and some of the concerns. I can't 00:52:21.349 --> 00:52:23.329 imagine that anybody's going to do anything too 00:52:23.329 --> 00:52:26.489 drastic to the VA system. There are veterans 00:52:26.489 --> 00:52:28.630 that can be a very loud group of people when 00:52:28.630 --> 00:52:31.070 they get upset. So I don't think they're going 00:52:31.070 --> 00:52:34.150 to want to do too much. I understand them willing 00:52:34.150 --> 00:52:37.949 to want to save money and that's fine. And sometimes 00:52:37.949 --> 00:52:40.849 you've got to... Sometimes you've got to knock 00:52:40.849 --> 00:52:43.429 down the whole forest before you can, you know, 00:52:43.650 --> 00:52:45.449 replant all the trees. I'm hoping that they don't 00:52:45.449 --> 00:52:49.869 go to that extreme. But please, just, you know, 00:52:50.170 --> 00:52:52.909 give everybody a moment to think about what is 00:52:52.909 --> 00:52:56.469 going on, because many of the cuts and budgets 00:52:56.469 --> 00:52:59.409 and so forth that were talked about for the last 00:52:59.409 --> 00:53:04.300 five, six months have been reinstated. and they're 00:53:04.300 --> 00:53:06.219 still trying to figure out a way to get us out 00:53:06.219 --> 00:53:08.920 of debt, and it's not gonna be an easy task. 00:53:09.679 --> 00:53:12.719 So I'm trying to encourage people, my friends 00:53:12.719 --> 00:53:17.860 who might be on the other side, to exercise patience, 00:53:18.179 --> 00:53:21.059 and we'll see what happens. So that's coming 00:53:21.059 --> 00:53:25.559 up. As I mentioned the first Sunday of July. 00:53:26.019 --> 00:53:29.239 So Again, I want to thank everybody for listening 00:53:29.239 --> 00:53:32.159 today. I know we've got time left to go So I'll 00:53:32.159 --> 00:53:35.679 just keep going on here for two minutes as my 00:53:35.679 --> 00:53:45.079 as my sign is is out there I know the I talked 00:53:45.079 --> 00:53:47.000 about Radio on the River. There are other fundraisers. 00:53:47.019 --> 00:53:49.199 Oh, I know. There's a great fundraiser for people 00:53:49.199 --> 00:53:51.460 here in the local area, in the Ann Arbor area, 00:53:51.699 --> 00:53:55.440 coming up on July 9th. It is a fundraiser for 00:53:55.440 --> 00:53:58.699 the Washington County Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 00:53:59.099 --> 00:54:01.780 And it's going to be at the freight house over 00:54:01.780 --> 00:54:04.440 in Ypsilanti. And I believe it starts at five 00:54:04.440 --> 00:54:09.400 o 'clock. It's $20. Great music. Again, great 00:54:09.400 --> 00:54:14.880 food, great stories. It's so heartwarming to 00:54:14.880 --> 00:54:18.059 see all of these veterans getting together and 00:54:18.059 --> 00:54:23.300 helping each other. You know, the saying was, 00:54:23.300 --> 00:54:25.059 you know, when we were in combat that we had 00:54:25.059 --> 00:54:27.260 your back and we like to keep that going now 00:54:27.260 --> 00:54:29.039 and saying that we have your back while you're 00:54:29.039 --> 00:54:33.510 here. Come on out and support the memorial. There's 00:54:33.510 --> 00:54:36.250 all kinds of organizations in your local area 00:54:36.250 --> 00:54:39.050 that are always looking for volunteers or always 00:54:39.050 --> 00:54:41.929 looking for some sort of donation that can help 00:54:41.929 --> 00:54:44.630 them meet their causes. There's dogs out there. 00:54:45.110 --> 00:54:48.090 There's all kinds of fundraisers, people marching 00:54:48.090 --> 00:54:50.809 and running and riding bikes across the country 00:54:50.809 --> 00:54:54.659 trying to get people to realize. mental health 00:54:54.659 --> 00:54:58.159 or issues that need to be taken care of. We have 00:54:58.159 --> 00:55:01.039 a local guy here locally who is really promoting 00:55:01.039 --> 00:55:04.320 the 988 emergency number to be on all police 00:55:04.320 --> 00:55:08.619 cars, to be available for everybody. So, yeah. 00:55:10.280 --> 00:55:12.880 Join a group, find some organization that meets 00:55:12.880 --> 00:55:17.300 your needs. And I think that you'll, it's so 00:55:17.300 --> 00:55:20.780 rewarding to be involved helping these men and 00:55:20.780 --> 00:55:23.860 women. Now a younger generation of men and women 00:55:23.860 --> 00:55:27.280 coming up. So we got ten seconds So this is Dale 00:55:27.280 --> 00:55:29.519 Thornberry for all of us here at veterans radio 00:55:29.519 --> 00:55:46.280 till next week. You are dismissed God bless America 00:55:52.139 --> 00:56:00.239 Stand beside her and guide her Through the night 00:56:00.239 --> 00:56:08.679 with the light from above From the mountain to 00:56:08.679 --> 00:56:19.559 the prairie to the ocean White with morn, God 00:56:19.559 --> 00:56:27.190 bless the man God bless America, my home sweet 00:56:27.190 --> 00:56:37.690 home God bless America, my home sweet home