All across America and around the world, welcome
to America's number one veterans program, Veterans
Radio. And now, here's the voice of today's program
here at Veterans Radio, former CB, July 66, Republic
of Vietnam, Gary Lilly. Well, thank you, Bob.
Good morning to you, too. 101st Airborne you're
representing. And good morning to the troops,
that thin green and blue line that's protecting
not only our country but the rest of the world.
What a fine job you're doing and us older vets
admire you. I want to say welcome home to my
veteran brothers and sisters. Welcome home. And
to the folks down under, thanks for listening
in. Good morning America. Welcome to Veterans
Radio. A good program lined up. John Voight will
be on later as soon as we restore the connection.
He's a delightful person. He and I had talked
a number of times this week and he's just as
delightful as could be. We laughed a lot. We
talked about some serious things in some very,
very upbeat fashion, but right now we've lost
the connection. So Bob is over there dialing
numbers. I'll go into some of the introductions
before we get them back on. In 1969, John Voight
made a big splash with the movie Midnight Cowboy.
He made it with Dustin Hoffman. It was kind of
hilarious. I was looking on the internet last
night and I saw a photograph of the two of them
walking side by side. Dustin Hoffman comes up
to his shoulder. 1972, Deliverance. 1978, Coming
Home, in which he played a paraplegic Vietnam
veteran who had turned against the war. He did
that with Jane Fonda. Many other movies and TV
programs. What I found interesting is that Dustin
has two brothers, Wes, who goes by the writer's
name of Chip Taylor. He wrote Wild Thing, the
songs Wild Thing and Angel of the Morning and
his brother Barry studied geology at Columbia
and is a volcanologist at Penn State. Those are
two of my favorite songs. Wow, I love that. I
played in the band and we played that. I love
that. You make my heart sing. I keep forgetting
you got a rock and roll band. Give us some announcements
while I get my throat back. Okay, thank you,
Gary. Veterans Radio. Veterans Radio is going
to be a part of the big game at Eastern Michigan
University, Ryerson Stadium. That'll be Saturday,
September 5th. That's right, Saturday, September
5th. It's going to be a night game kickoff at
7 o 'clock. However, you'll be able to get tickets,
that's right, for a special price of just $3,
of which a dollar of that will benefit the EMU,
that Eastern Michigan University ROTC program,
and it's going to be used. for some very, very,
very important facilities that they're going
to build. It's going to be a new rifle range.
So, over the next four weeks, we will let you
know how you can purchase your tickets. You can
get them online, order forms, et cetera, right
here on Veterans Radio. By the way, we're going
to have a pre -game program. That's right, we're
going to be on it in our usual time, 9 o 'clock
Eastern Standard Time. we're going to have veterans
veterans that are going to be there as part of
the army and when i say the army i mean like
in west point please hey how about that gary
you know you know how you get a square meal right
you know they do that oh yeah i know okay that'll
be once again saturday september 5th The kickoff
is at seven o 'clock. The tailgate party is from
four to seven and all veterans of the U .S. Armed
Forces, all veterans, all armed forces are invited
to attend the pregame party prior to the football
game. That's from four to seven and there will
be no charge for veterans and their families
to attend that tailgate party. There'll be all
kinds of things, you know, hot dogs and all that
good stuff and parking is also free. So we'll
be talking more about discount tickets. for that
game. How about that? That's going to be great,
eh? The army's coming. It's easier to get in
there than to the Big Ten or the Big Eight or
Southeast Conference. You've got to park a mile
away if you want free parking. Well, not anymore.
I think we're going to have that all set. So,
are we set for welcome home? Oh, yeah. Let's
go to welcome home. I think that would be an
excellent idea. Let's welcome home the troops.
Welcome home. This is Bob Gould welcoming home
all troops. All troops each week on Veterans
Day we welcome home servicemen and women who've
been stationed around the world in the service
of their country and are returning home. Dateline
Houston, Texas. The 712th Military Police Company
combat support of the Texas National Guard base
in Baytown, Texas were welcomed home after a
year in Iraq. Dateline Fargo, North Dakota. The
Happy Hooligans, that's right, Happy Hooligans,
have sent mechanics, security police, and other
support personnel to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other
areas of the Southeast Asia theater. That's been
many times in the past recent years. Last appointment
to an unnamed location in Southeast Asia, the
119th wing of the North Dakota Air National Guard
also sent some hardware. Last week, the Hooligans
Welcomed home, airmen sent overseas in May in
one of two of the unit's C -21A Lear jets. The
deployment marks the first time the Hooligans
sent a jet into a war zone, despite the many
years the unit has been in operation. Dateline,
Illinois. After a long year in Afghanistan with
the Illinois National Guard, Staff Sergeant Tyrone
Reddus was happy to be reunited with his Calumet
City family at Soldier Field. I quote, The first
thing I'm going to do is take off this uniform.
I love my country, but I've been wearing it for
a year," said Sergeant Redis as he was among
the 147 troops to return from the state's largest
National Guard deployment since World War II.
His unit, the headquarters and headquarters company,
1st Battalion, 178th Infantry, was deployed in
Afghanistan. Each week, Welcome Home is brought
to you by the Marine Scholars Program of Ave
Maria University. And I remember that song very
well. I remember that speech, I should say, very
well. And I was wondering if I was going to end
up there. And actually, I was looking forward
to helping the troops. I was a CB. We built things
in support. And we took that seriously. We're
really pleased to welcome John Voight to Veterans
Radio. John, welcome to Veterans Radio. Gary,
I've been listening. You're doing a fantastic
job. Oh, thank you so much. That really means
a lot. The way this all came about is you gave
a talk twice to the Vietnam Veterans at the Vietnam
Veterans of America National Convention last
week, and it was heartfelt. You could feel it
and I approached you afterwards and asked if
you'd be on Veterans Radio and you said absolutely.
Tell us the story of how you happened to be on
there. You phoned them and also Seinfeld, the
Seinfeld tie -in at the banquet. Well, I have
been working with a fellow by the name of Jose
Ramos who's a sergeant, served in Vietnam. and
he's been working on a welcome home day for the
Vietnam Vets since the 90s and has organized
gatherings out in California and I attended one
of those gatherings and it was a tremendous gathering.
He really organized a very large and very well
attended gathering of the Vietnam Vets and I
walked into it a couple of months ago and And
of course, you know, my history is such that
some people know that I was on the other side
during the end of the 60s, beginning of the 70s.
So it was kind of interesting for me to walk
in there. But I've been with the Vietnam Vets
for some time. I have to tell you, I've done
a few things specifically for the Vets from that
time as well. So I wasn't, you know, so uncomfortable
because I... as I might have been if I had treated
the vets badly and I never have done that. So
I wasn't so uncomfortable but I really enjoyed
seeing everybody and then I got up and made a
little speech and admitted the error of my prior
ways and sending my love to the guys and then
they embraced me and we talked afterwards and
then I met Sergeant Ramos there, Jose. And we
decided that we would get together to do something
on a national level. And the result of it was
this visit to the convention. And for those who
don't know, the VVA convention was in Louisville,
Kentucky. And it was attended by, very well attended
by, I guess over 650 people from across the country.
A serious group. Yeah, a very serious group.
I had given a speech to a group last year which
was a USO gathering to raise funds for the USO
in New York and General Petraeus had attended
that. The audience was filled with military guys.
I made a speech and the speech was very impactful
to the people who were listening. I repeated
that speech after some introduction and a joke
or two, as you remember. And then I gave the
same speech pretty much, adjusting only slightly
to the guys who were there. And I would read
that speech to the people listening now so that
they would understand where I'm coming from and
some of the things that I might have said there.
Bob, will we have time in the first segment for
him to read the speech? I think it's about five
minutes long, is it? Yes, we do. Let me go right
into it. I've got something serious on my mind
because I was the MC that night and I said this.
I said I feel humbled and greatly blessed to
be here with you all. You are indeed our great
American heroes. You are the true ones and I'm
saying this now to all the people listening.
to all the military listening. You are the true
ones, the blessed ones. You understand the importance
of keeping America safe. America could not be
the great, powerful good without you. I've been
asked to be with you tonight, and this is a great
honor. And if I could, I would like to address
a very serious topic that has plagued me for
years. Back in the late 60s, I was one of those
young people caught up in trying to end the Vietnam
War. There was a fire and fever burning in our
country. I'm saddened and ashamed of it if I
knew then that a bloodbath of millions of innocent
people would take place I certainly would not
have been part of that insanity and to think
today we still have people like William Ayres
boasting about his terrorist acts against our
government and proudly stating he still feels
he didn't do enough and he and people like him
are Given a voice to be able to spout their madness.
We let him teach in our colleges where he is
able to corrupt our new generation of young,
impressionable minds. How sad I feel that our
war heroes of Vietnam were not given a hero's
welcome back then and their suffering was unimaginable.
So many American lives lost in vain and no one
hailed those that returned. Can we blame them
for their bitterness? Our country turned against
them. Because of people like William Ayres and
all those who still refuse to admit they were
wrong, we have almost seen a repeat of this madness
during the Iraq war. We've seen how they tried
to discredit our great general, Petraeus, trying
to end this war before we saw victory. Yes, we
still have a lot of people from the Vietnam era
trying to bring the country down. And when I
look out among all you great American heroes,
I can be thankful to God. It has given me an
opportunity to repent from my young, ignorant,
arrogant days. And I'm here to be able to try
to see it does not happen again. I would like
to see a day of true remembrance, of true recognition
to honor our Vietnam war heroes who fought the
longest military conflict in U .S. history. Something
specific just for them. I'm proud of you all.
You are true magnificence. Thank you for letting
me speak my heart. That speech really touched
the hearts of a lot of people. Some of the comments,
the one that sticks out in my mind was one of
the guys said, what a stand -up guy. We always
talk about clicks, clicks of elevation. The guys
are saying that you went up a lot of clicks that
day. Yeah, well it was a big day for me, very
important for me to express that. I was able
to meet all the guys during the brief time that
I had. I think I must have shaken almost every
hand in the place and had a word or two to share.
I was deeply impressed with that group, I must
say. I spent a lot of time in hospitals welcoming
some of the kids back from our present war. And
I'm very impressed with that group. This is of
course a full volunteer group and they are the
best of us, as I say, you know. When I was with
the Vietnam vets, I must tell you, I said, no,
maybe these guys are even of a higher understanding
because they're wiser, older, been through more
stuff and really have... extraordinary character.
So those two groups of people are really the
best we've got. Let me tell you a little experience
Bob and I had a few weeks back. We observed the
training at Camp Grayling, Michigan, a specialized
training that the National Guard at this moment
is going through. And we're going to do a program
with that in the future. But I spent, I would
always tell the troops, you know, older veterans
are proud of you. And war is kind of tough, so
you always... Have this question in your mind.
Can the next generation do it? That feeling probably
goes back to before the Roman legions And I said
I want you guys to know that now you are we very?
Comfortable we're very impressed with you and
we think I think personally you guys are better
than we were and you know Three different people
at three different places said to me They said
we have to be you guys set a very high standard.
We have to live up to Wow, that's wonderful.
That's difficult for me to say without choking
up. Yeah. But you talked about looking in their
eyes and the guys in the hospital beds and their
attitude as they're laying in the hospital beds.
Tell us about that. Yeah, well, I've heard it
said prior to my going to Walter Reed and to
the Bethesda Hospital down here in Maryland and
then also to the the hospital down in San Diego
where I am right now. I just did the Hannity
Freedom concert last night and so I'm down, you
know, close to my friends here. Who is that concert
for by the way? The concert is, it's Sean Hannity
has these freedom concerts and the concerts are
to raise money for scholarships for the children
of the four. What a noble cause. And this was
the work of Colonel Oliver North and he hooked
up with Sean and the two of them have been responsible
for these concerts and they're just terrific.
I didn't mention this to you, maybe I did. I
came across a letter from the Government Department
of Veterans Affairs recently as I'm cleaning
out a bunch of boxes. It said it was for my scholarship,
my GI bill, the money, I forget the term. is
$24 .65 per month and you have 31 and a half
months eligibility left. Less than $30 a month.
Oh my God. I wasn't going full -time, admittedly.
The guy's going full -time, probably got three
or four times that much. Well, you know, there's
nothing... We should be surrounding these warriors,
you guys and these fellows we're fighting today.
with everything. We should just give them every
kind of backup. It's more than just putting a
bumper sticker on. Oh man, we've got to do that.
That's the big work. I was in touch with some
of these guys who were fighting this land grab
of veteran lands. I hooked up with them shortly
after I came back. They were also terrific guys.
Gee, wonderful fellows. So I'm on that team too.
You know, so we'll be doing a little work with
them. But that's what our country has to do.
And one of the reasons why I really feel a day
to honor the Vietnam vets, I know the Vietnam
vets don't need it in a certain sense. They don't
need it. They've gone through all the damn pain
that they can go through. And they've, you know,
developed very strong character. And those that
have, well, of course, those that were there
were... very successful people who have had families
and overcome so many things. But it's almost
more necessary for the country. The country really
needs to make amends. And there isn't anybody
that I have talked to about giving a day of welcome
home to the Vietnam guys that hasn't said, oh,
that's important, John. That's important. We
got to do that. And this goes across the... the
political lines and everything else I mean there's
nobody who hasn't understood that so I think
the time has come when people just say please
let us please let us make some make up some of
the for some of the things we did well society
has a huge part in the healing of people coming
back from a war the world everybody talks about
how the world war two guys got on with their
lives but the whole country mourned for those
that were killed there the more The whole country
honored them for what they did. That helps you
heal because you realize that it wasn't just
in vain and it's not whether you win or lose.
Our country thinks highly of you for doing it.
Absolutely. I wanted to address something with
what you said at some point, but maybe we'll
do it after the break. I was just going to add
on to that ADD. Never mind. Go ahead. What do
you think people could do? For the vets? Correct.
For you guys? No, not for the vets. For the troops
overseas now. We really need to support them.
Oh my gosh. Well, I think that once we clear
the air, you know, I mean, the priorities are
all messed up. Isn't that true? One thing that
happened during 9 -11, in the aftermath of 9
-11, people woke up to who the real heroes are.
And that means the military, and that means the
firemen, and the first responders. We needed
to really wake up I'm an actor and I have a great
respect for those of us who take our jobs seriously
and the entertainers who have such great talent
and give their talents to folks and stuff like
that. But we've become very narcissistic, this
community. And also, in a silly way, the country
has been encouraged to view these people as something
special and they're really not very special.
They're certainly not as special as our military.
or our firemen or our nurses or our teachers,
the vocation is not a vocation that is heroic.
And something's gotten way off here. So we've
got to put that right. And I think that once
it's put right again, you know, once we say,
hey, listen, fellas, there are people who are
signing the blank checks. who are putting their
lives on the line for us every day. These are
the people that we should be revering, and we
should be caring for them, especially when they're
in need. In any way, we should drop everything
else and take care of these guys and gals and
their families. They should not be able to fall.
We should be backing them up in every way. I
was at a VBA convention, oh, maybe 8, 10 years
ago, and Dale Dye, who is the political, not
political, the military consultant. I know him,
yeah. He's a character, isn't he? Well, you know,
I don't know him to know he's a character. I
just know that I bumped into him a couple of
times. I always thought he was a good guy, you
know. Oh, he definitely is, yeah. Yeah, I think
he's a real guy. In fact, right now, that's...
You know, he's involved, the good thing about...
about him is that he's connected to some real
loonies out here that he gets along with. And
he's actually able to take a seat at the table
and stick up for proper values in some of these
discussions. That's where I find him to be helpful.
For people in the listening audience who don't
know who Dale Dye is, he's been on the program,
but that was about five years ago. Yeah, yeah.
And he is the military consultant and he's become
very close friends with Tom Hanks and Gary Sinise
because he's done the work on Forrest Gump. He's
also a close friend of Oliver Stone's. Oliver
Stone, his first break was the movie Platoon.
What he does is he prepares the actors. for playing
the role of somebody in a war and as I said to
him When I saw platoon I leaned over to a buddy
of mine who had not been in the military and
I said I don't know how they did it, but they
got the eyes right those eyes were tired and
What he does is he takes him up in the mountains
for three weeks And he has them walking patrols
with heavy packs getting ambushed not getting
much sleep and all that then they go right to
filming He's not easy on them. They get ambushed,
they do assault. But one thing that he said at
that convention, which ties in with what you're
saying, when someone in the military raises their
hand and takes that oath, they're not saying,
I'm willing to give up a couple days' pay or
I'm willing to give up some overtime or some
vacation time. I'm willing to give up my life
if need be for my country." And that hits the
nail on the head. And how can we not honor those
that are out there protecting? They took an oath
and basically it's an open written blank check.
I'll give up my life for my country and they
do. So you are doing wonderful work and you've
been going to the hospitals. What do you see
when you talk to those wounded troops? Well,
I always am amazed when I walk in those doors.
And by the way, I always feel better coming out
than when I go in, you know. I'm always a little
worried that I won't be able to take it a little
bit and that I won't say the right things and
be of good cheer to these guys. But I don't have
to worry about it. I go in those doors and no
matter what the injury, I'm meeting a cheerful
person. I say, �How are you doing ?� And they
say, �Oh, we�re doing real good, real good, John.
Thank you.� You know what I mean? Oh, my God.
It might be in a body cast. It might have been.
No, it�s real, yes. Serious injuries. Right.
Always looking for a moment of good cheer or
laughter. And thank you for your service. No
problem. No problem. That's what you get. I'm
laying in a hospital bed, but no problem. And
then you say, well, what do you want to do? I'd
like to get back in there. I'd like to get back
with my guys. As soon as they fix this leg, I'll
be able to do something with it. Hopefully, I'll
be able to keep it. But if I lose it, they'll
find something else for me to do. Whatever. It's
like you can't believe what you're seeing in
terms of this positive energy and the strength
of these people. Obviously, they have their good
days in bed when you're in a hospital. You have
your down days, especially with those who are
seriously injured, but they're extraordinary.
We've got a half a minute left, and I wanted
to comment on that. I asked the question earlier,
what can people do for our troops? There's VA
hospitals all across the country. They could
volunteer. Also, you know, just in saying, absolutely
volunteer, but you know, the one thing they can
do is visit. Just go. Exactly. You know, just
go spend it. If you have a little free time,
go over there and bring them some flowers or
something. We're going off in four seconds. Will
you stay with us? Yes. Thank you so much. We'll
be back. The Medal of Honor is the highest award
for valor in combat given a member of the Armed
Forces of the United States. There had been over
3 ,400 recipients of the nation's highest award.
This is one of them. Marine Corps Sergeant Daniel
Matthews became a one -man army before being
killed. Details after this. Back against a firmly
entrenched and well -concealed North Vietnamese
force, Matthews fearlessly advanced in the attack
until his squad was pinned down by a murderous
sweep of fire from an enemy machine gun. Observing
that the deadly fire prevented a corpsman from
removing a wounded man in an open area, Matthews
worked his way to the base of the hostile and
machine gun emplacement, leaped onto the rock
formations surrounding the gun, and single -handedly
charged the hostile emplacement with his rifle.
Although severely wounded when the enemy brought
a withering hail of fire to bear upon him, he
continued his one -man assault, and firing his
rifle with deadly effectiveness, succeeded in
killing two of the enemy, routing a third, and
completely silencing the enemy weapon, thereby
enabling his car meds to evacuate the stricken
Marine to a safe position. Matthew succumbed
to his wounds before aid could reach him. The
Medal of Honor series is a production of Veterans
Radio. We're back on the air and we've lost John
Voight again, so Bob is dialing the number. But
before we get him back on, what he is working
towards to help promote with Sergeant Jose Ramos
is a welcome home for Vietnam veterans that will
be nationwide. It does not have to be a huge
parade, although he'd like to see parades take
place. It could be a block party. It could be
an event at a shopping mall. It could be a city
sponsored, a town sponsored, a church sponsored
event. And it's March 28th. There's a Vietnam
Veterans Recognition Day passed by Congress of
March 30th. And this would be two days beforehand
because March 30th is on a Tuesday and they're
looking for the event to be held on, I guess
that would be Saturday. It's funny that Congress
picked March 30th because all of the bills when
I was researching trying to find the date said
March 29th and that had to do with some event
at the end of the Vietnam War. I have no idea.
I don't remember what but they selected March
30th anyway and so that's the official day every
year for Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day and
the Welcome Home Event the welcome home party
for Vietnam vets will be March 28 2010 Don't
wait for somebody else to organize it. You can
organize it yourself But one of the things he
John was talking about gave me made me think
about and it had to do with our freedom and Benjamin
Franklin said he who gives up freedom for temporary
safety deserves neither freedom nor safety and
that's The country wasn't built on marshmallows.
I mean this was built by hard people doing hard
things to create freedom the first country in
the world that had it like that and like we have
it and We need to preserve that we need to when
I talk to Along with other vets to high school
classes The kids asked, you know, why did you
join the military? And I was shocked to hear
that other people said the same thing I said,
and that was John F. Kennedy said, ask not what
you can, what your country can do for you, ask
what you can do for your country. And we've got
John Voight back on the line. John, we keep using
you, I'm sorry. The name of the game with this
technology, huh, Gary? Right. Well, yeah, I shouldn't
complain. You're sitting over there in California,
and we're over here in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and
we're talking like we're sitting next door to
each other, and people all around the world are
listening like we're sitting next door to each
other. Absolutely. I was just talking about that
National Day of Celebration that Jose Ramos and
you are working on. Yeah. What is your vision
for it? Well, the idea would be just to have,
you know, have all across the country. First
of all, let me say that the Senate and the House
have both voted to have a day of recognition
for the Vietnam vets on March 30th. And that
falls on a Tuesday. So we were thinking on that
Sunday, the 28th, that we would have this welcome
home day across the country in malls and on baseball
fields. and military bases, just all across the
country, block parties to welcome home the Vietnam
vets and have whatever day, whatever way the
celebration might take place in a local spot,
that they would find a way to take those vets
who are local and salute them and stand for them
and honor them. uh... you know uh... and and
there's so much to express so the day would be
full of a lot of real information and then a
lot of happiness and and you know family fun
and all of that but the the people like myself
and many people all across the country would
be able to stand up and say i'm sorry for what
happened and let's not let that happen to the
new guys who are so in need when they're coming
back and let's surround those guys with love
so it's a it's a two -pronged thing it's one
to celebrate and welcome home the vets of the
Vietnam era and then to take that energy and
pledge that we will surround the new warriors
with all sorts of love, understanding what they
go through and do everything we can for them.
So that's the idea. Recognizing what they go
through, I don't know if anybody could ever understand
it like, oh there was somebody said something
to me that indicated that I was pro -war. And
I said, excuse me, there's nobody who is more
opposed to war than those who have been there.
And I've told my veteran friends about that statement,
and we all laugh, and we say, yeah, who would
not want to have your feet rotting off? Who would
not want to be wet all the time, mud all the
time, so tired you don't know if you can take
another step, scared to death half the time,
lonely, hungry? Who wouldn't want that? For people
that say that somebody who's been there is pro
-war, it is laughable. And you can't ever understand
it Yeah, it's very very important that and I
think that in the idea that people don't want
to know that in a certain sense because it makes
them feel guilty for not participating and I
think and and I think that That's what's so important.
We should recognize the people the heroes who
are doing this workforce on a daily basis for
us to have the freedoms that we have and to the
enjoyments and and the And just every aspect
of our daily lives is paid for by members of
our community who are heroic. Let me tell you
something that occurred the other day to me.
I went to one of the town hall meetings on the
health plan and as chance would have it I was
standing in line next to a 30 year old guy who
was a lieutenant and now out of the military
who had done two tours in Iraq. And we were talking
about Iraq. a lot and what's going on over there.
I told stories about Vietnam. He told stories
about Iraq. At one point, listen to this, he
looked around and he said, do you know what I
love about America? I asked, what's that? He
said, look at this crowd waiting to go into a
political meeting. It's a huge crowd. It was
600 people. He said, you know what? Nobody's
looking around nervously to see if there's a
suicide bomber or a car bomb approaching. And
boy, when you hear something like that from somebody
who has seen it, and he had seen the aftermath
of those car bombs and suicide bombers, and when
you hear something like that say that about America,
you realize, really realize how much we take
for granted. Yeah, you bet. There was a point
when they were looking around for the man of
the year. Time Magazine, Man of the Year, Newsweek.
All I could think of was our guys over in Iraq.
I'm saying, what's the matter with you people?
Don't you understand? It's obvious who the Man
of the Year is. The Man of the Year is our soldier.
Exactly. And let's not forget the women. Boy,
it's made up about 15 % of women now. Oh yes,
yes. And you know, whenever you are the soldiers.
and know the sacrifices they've been through
and empathize with that aspect. You certainly
must also include their families who do those
vigils, you know, who are just, you know, staying
at home, praying every day, thinking about their
boys and girls. Yeah, absolutely, going through
that suffering until they can touch their loved
one again. I've become very close to some high
school kids that come to work for me and I think
periodically about events that might take them
off to a war. I get tears in my eyes and I have
to walk away before somebody thinks I'm nuts
and I've come to realize it's easier, at least
in my experience, I've talked to guys that have
been in combat and I said you know it's easier
to go to war than it is to have a son or daughter
go to war and boy everybody agrees to a person.
And that goes for the wives, the spouses I should
say. And thank God kids don't have enough experience
to really understand why they should worry. But
we've got a little over two minutes left in this
segment. I want to talk about that Seinfeld episode
at the beginning. Wes Guidry and Mark Leapsen,
who are part of National Headquarters BVA, what
was that skit based on that they did on the screen?
What program was that? I can't remember. It was
a Seinfeld program in which George Costanza had
been sold a car based on the fact that it was
John Voight's car. And you can imagine Well,
I don't know if you can imagine. I was asked
if I would do a Seinfeld, if I would appear on
a Seinfeld. That's when the question came to
me. That's how I found out about this. And they
were such a good team. I really thought that
they were a tremendous comedy team. And I said,
boy, these guys are terrific. And of course I
would do that. It was based on that TV game show
where you have to ask a question and they showed
Thirty clips were in that program. Somebody was
saying, John Voight, John Voight, John Voight,
John Voight. Well, that was part of the... All
of that was part of the show. They cut it up.
And I must say that Wes and Mark, Mark Leibson
and Wes Guidry, I don't know how they did that.
They didn't have any time. I'd called them just
a couple of weeks before the event to say, I'd
love to visit and speak to the guys. And they
put through this thing together and they went
through this Seinfeld episode and they cut it
together and put together this nice little video.
And it was really funny how many times my name
was mentioned on that show and they put them
all together so it was quite funny. And they
did it as a game show where you asked the question
and then the answer was who is Jerry Seinfeld?
And that caught everyone by surprise and we cracked
up. We're going to be back in 16 seconds. Are
you willing to stay for us with the last 15 minutes?
That would be great. If you're listening to Veterans
Radio, coming to you on Veterans Radio Network,
we'll be right back. We're back on Veterans Radio
with John Voight. And before I leave that Seinfeld
clip, in doing my research, I found out that
the writer who wrote that skit wrote it because
it's exactly what happened to him. He bought
a car that was owned by a John Voight. And he
thought it was you, and he told all his friends
that he bought John Voight's car. That's right.
So it was a true event. When I went to the set,
Gary, he came up to me very humbly and quietly.
He said, could I ask you to take ten minutes
out and then just walk with me for a second.
I said, sure. He walked around the corner of
the set, and there was this... You know Chrysler
convertible. He said is this your car? Did you
ever own this car? He still was tried. He couldn't
believe he was taken, you know, oh my gosh, that's
funny and Then you had to learn the awful truth
Yeah back in what other? People and how the Baron
can the little Baron convertible. Okay. Yeah,
that was a while back wasn't it? Go ahead. Go
ahead What other Hollywood actors and personalities
are behind the vets and doing things for them?
There's quite a lot of guys, but you know there's
guys like Powers Booth and certainly Clint Eastwood
as well. But the guy who's doing the most, and
he's just a sensational guy, is Gary Sinise.
Yeah. And you know he has his band, the lieutenant.
Lieutenant Dan Band, is that what it is? And
he's constantly traveling, he was just on the
East Coast. And he goes all over the place and
he's been to Iraq several times and he's been
to Afghanistan. He's the Bob Hope of today, this
guy. And a good friend of mine and we've spent
a lot of time together in California. And our
friendship is based on I love the troops and
her, you know, love of the country. When you
did the movie, Coming Home, what was your feeling
about the troops at that time? I mean, you're
a great actor, I know that, because I've hated
you a lot. Well, I always had the, thank God,
I always had a respect for the troops, as I said.
But, you know, I was just coming out of it, actually,
coming out of this fog. Even while the programming
was so deep, and that's why I understand what's
going on today. Very serious business, you know.
This programming and of course all of that stuff
in the 60s. It was Marxist programming. It was
a communist run marches. It was real propaganda.
And it's what's happening today in many ways.
You have to be suspicious about some things.
When the highest ranking KGB officer ever, and
he had up the KGB in one of the countries, Eastern
Bloc countries, defected, he said that their
budget for the protest movement exceeded their
budget for arms and ammunition, weapons, and
economic aid combined to North Vietnam. Say this
again. I think I'm trying to remember this. Their
military budget? No, their budget for propaganda
of the Vietnam War, the protest movement. Exceeded
the combination of their military aid and economic
aid combined. So a lot of stuff that even that's
taught in schools is repetition of those days
and it's false. Absolutely right. So when you
go back and examine it and I did wake up You
know, I woke up and I said, hey, wait a minute.
It's almost like I woke up in the middle of the
night and said, what? And I said, this was all
Marxist baloney. What am I talking about? What
was I doing? You know, stuff like that. Waking
up in a cold sweat and saying, where have I been?
But you know, we saw the end of the war. And
even then, I wasn't quite turned around. But
I saw this horror take place. And I saw the left
walk away. and not take responsibility for what
they had caused. And then the dimes started to
drop, you know, and little by little I became
alert. But it took me a while, so I understand
what's happening when people are heavily programmed.
It's very hard to talk to them. I think people
ought to keep that in mind, too, when some of
their actions are today. And that's why we learn
history. The old saying is those that... don't
learn history or are doomed to repeat it. That's
one of the reasons why we talk about those things.
I've never known a group that has more right
not to be patriotic than Vietnam veterans. But
as a whole, I don't know of a single group that
is more patriotic than Vietnam veterans. that
my take on it is that they are the ones that
have kept us going. They are the ones who have
stepped up and made sure that these guys who
are returning are getting a proper welcome. Now,
people have said to me, who didn't know this,
you know, this architecture, they say to me,
you know, well, at least we treat the guys better
now, you know, they get their respect. Well,
they don't get half the respect they should get,
as far as I'm concerned, but the respect that
they get is because the Vietnam vets will not
let what happened to them happen to this group.
And the founding principle of Vietnam Veterans
of America going to the first convention when
people were saying, well, who are we? What are
we going to be? The founding principle is never
again will one generation of veterans abandon
another. That was a line from a speech given
by a local state legislator who was a Vietnam
vet and that was in a speech and everybody kept
going back to it and they said that's who we
are. You have become that and thank God you have
become that and you know there's just this little
tribute to a fellow on one of the few times that
the military has been celebrated on mainstream
media, Charles Gibson. gave attention to this
fellow who had met you know thousands you know
how many 50 ,000 flights in Massachusetts like
a Vietnam vet and it was and it was very moving
and the fellow was as impressive as the vets
I met in Louisville it was wonderful to see that
tribute and I hope it took it made its effect
across the country and it was the first time
I've seen it now I don't know what We know how
that occurred, how that story became focused
on. But it's something to build on. I say, well,
that's a sign that we're starting to come around.
Maybe we are making some inroads now. And I do
think that things are changing right now. Politically,
it's a very dangerous time. And I've alluded
to that and I made a speech last night with the
Hannity Freedom Concert talking about really
the freedoms that we're losing, this takeover
of our true freedoms. by this administration.
That's the way I see it. It's a very dangerous
time and these people are speaking out at the
tea parties and stuff like that and they're being
characterized by this administration as being
thugs and bullies and these guys of this administration
are professional at being agitators. You know,
one of the things that I've said and, you know,
I'm... And what they're doing is they're throwing
people into the mix here to have fights at these
tea parties and blaming it on the GOP. It's an
insidious and very dangerous time for us right
now as a nation. We need to forget parties and
we need to think of country. First America, first
family. God, America, party. Well, I have to
say that right now we're fighting a force here.
I have to say that the hope for me is in the
Republican Party now. I know that these leaders,
you know, I know most of the guys, and I've bumped
into them, and there's tremendous leadership
there with Romney and Giuliani and Gingrich and
Sarah Palin. There are some good people coming
up. Boy, I like Duncan 100. I don't know where
you live. We're coming up to the break or to
the end of the program, John, and I just really
want to thank you for being on Veterans Radio.
John Voight, star of Screen, big screen, little
screen. Thank you once more and thank you for
what you do for the vets. One more time, I just
want to say to those guys listening, the Vietnam
vets are are a tremendous force in our society
today. I so much deeply appreciate them and I
send my love to each and every one of you guys.
Keep up the good work and hopefully we'll have
this time when we can celebrate you and learn
a few of the lessons you have to teach us. Thank
you John Voigt and God bless you too.