Welcome to big blend radios military Monday show with Mike Guardia award-winning author and historian Hey everybody welcome, you know, it is the 4th of July week. It is the 1st of July Can you believe it? I thought it was winter just a couple minutes ago, and now it is definitely summer You know, we love our military Monday show with Mike Guardia and today He's gonna give us a little insight on American history. We're gonna talk about the American flag Yes, the red white and blue why and we're gonna talk about the American anthem and what about that word? Patriot which has become a little bit political now. So welcome back Mike. How are you? Hey, we some doing great What was a pleasure to be on the show? Hey now the history channel give us an update What's going on? Yes, ma'am, okay. People see you Yeah, yeah, yeah, so this is my second time on the history channel and The current series that is out is season one of the proof is out there military mysteries and season one just wrapped we had six episodes in season one I was in five of those six episodes and What this show does is it capitalizes on the format of the original proof is out there So I think in a general sense the history channel is making proof is out there a kind of analogous to the old CSI TV series where you know, you have CSI Las Vegas and CSI Miami So whereas proof was out there was dealing with mostly Tales of the supernatural and extraterrestrials proof is out there military mysteries is focusing on the unresolved military mysteries of the past things that can't quite be explained and just Uncanny happenstances that can't normally be addressed through every day scientific inquiry and analysis and One of the one of the broader themes that we tried to keep throughout the episode is that you know you have these things that have been unusual circumstances and strange phenomenon that have happened within the context of military operations and You try to find the explanation for it and the best thing that you can come up with a lot of times is just a very plausible theory, but nobody's ever really quite sure at any rate I had a tremendous amount of fun filming this series and any of your any of your listeners out there Can find it either on Amazon Prime. That's also on streaming. Oh, oh cool Xfinity on-demand pretty much any streaming service to include Yes, they're gonna watch Mike tonight That is so cool. Oh Because it used to be that you could only get on the history channel, you know, and now so now they've expanded Whoo cool cool. So that's interesting. You talk about the unexplained right like there's those weird mysteries but I just did an interview with clay Schwab who is the great grandson of Manishwab who actually had the biggest whiskey distillery in Tennessee before Jack Daniels and he was this massive entrepreneur Not written about Kind of like you writing about the stories that need to get out there of people The day he died The distillery burned to the ground here your accident like what like how do you there is no proof of or anything other than It was a wildfire nearby and that's what happened It had nothing to do with any kind of shenanigans but that's weird like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams dying on the 4th of July. Don't you think that's weird like getting into our American history? For the 4th of July. I still think that's weird. Don't you think that's weird? Of course that they died Yeah, yeah, and yeah, I've been that they both died on the same day. They both died on July 4th and It's almost a touch of divine irony because Both Jefferson and Adams. They hated each other. I know It's like you're gonna have to keep dueling it out when you get to where you get. Yeah, like if you think they're still fighting it now And then it's like it's kind of like Hamilton These people are gonna still fight. I mean, you know, what's gonna happen after the two people We're supposed to look at voting for when they pass on are they gonna fight up there or down there or wherever they go? They're gonna fight it out still, you know, it's kind of it's interesting about that energy, right? But it's unexplained yet, but I want to ask about this about the unexplained mysteries and things like that that kind of thing where I was talking about this with an writer who had He's an outdoorsman and he had hiked the entire He traversed with his friend Pete McBride who's a national geographic photographer the two of them hiked the entire Grand Canyon right across it No one's done it other than Native Americans in, you know history context and this was a national geographic thing to really document species and Cultural sites and climate change and all this stuff and I said to well Did you feel like other things when you were there once you got past the? Touristy stuff of the Grand Canyon because there is touristy stuff There's a lot of noise pollution with helicopters and stuff like did you feel like we have this other? Energy news. We were talking about that and he was talking about some of the Native Americans. He met on the trail And I mean it's interesting So do you think when you go into combat? That there's this extra Sense that we tap into I know I'm getting woo-woo, but I am I mean we're supposed to talk about the flag and everything but the woo-woo factor I believe actually exists in it's not been documented as such maybe but it's about like true awareness, right? Do you think that happens in combat or going out there even if you don't end up in combat your senses are so heightened and Aware that you're in another sense that we'd be on the five senses I do and I think a lot of it is attributable to the sustained rush of adrenaline and how it how just really the presence of that amplifies the senses and You know, you've probably heard any number of stories about when people get a big surge of adrenaline that they achieve almost superhuman feats of strength like you know parents who have a child who might be trapped under a car and you know They they they dig down deep and with that rush of adrenaline. They're able to lift the car off of the person But not the next day. No way, right? It's not gonna happen at all Yeah, so yeah that that I think is always present in any high-10 situation like that and you know the thing that I the other thing that I commented on in one of my previous works and there were a lot of a lot of interviewees who I spoke to who have confirmed this particularly the pilots that I interviewed when I was writing Skybreak They say that you know, you not only have that heightened sense of awareness But for them in their particular instance what they commented on was the presence of time Dilation I said that everything and it probably in no small part of function of the adrenaline but I also think there's an otherworldly Aspect to it is that when you're in those intense situations time does in fact seem to slow down Yeah, a lot of times it seems like things are moving in slow motion and you can In the the ambient sound of whatever is happening all around you also dims It's like somebody turns the volume on a stereo down really low for just a few seconds and then they crank it back up That that is another phenomenon that is out there, but yeah What about people jumping out of their bodies and seeing this situation and seeing themselves in the situation? Have you heard of that? Oh, yeah, yeah, I've heard of that quite a bit. It's uh, yeah, it's uh It's uh, it's uh, it's where the supernatural really does take Cold of you in some form or fashion and uh in a roundabout way that actually reminds me of something Um, I can't remember if I talked about this in an earlier episode or not, but um uh Tales of the supernatural and encounters with the supernatural, you know, uh most frequently and I don't think this gets told enough But most frequently the people who share Encounters with encounters with ghosts or you know, just these supernatural experiences most of the stories actually come from cops and firefighters and they're remarkably consistent with how they tell it and If you think about it To me, it makes sense because i'm thinking okay. Well Your your cops your emts anyone who you can call a first responder. They're very close to the epicenter of an event where there is a lot of uh There is a lot of intensity and a lot of energy and also a lot of death destruction There's always a morbid element to it and being that uh, you have that meta energy there Um, there is bound to be some encounters with the spiritual aspect as well. You know, I mean, I just think of A lot of the stories that uh, I've heard of of you know cops encountering ghosts or you know cops having these Weird premonitions or you know firefighters having an out-of-body experience Well, uh, you know, it uh, it makes sense because of the nature of the job when you take the spiritual plus the adrenaline You're gonna have that woo-woo factor as you called it Yeah, I don't mean to put it down, but it's because you know people will go. Oh, you're getting wonky and woo-woo But things happen and I think there's just this other element. We don't know You know, we haven't quite I think the adrenaline is right. I mean, Nancy was in a car accident um when we first got to this country within like months and this elder gentleman was on new blood pressure pills and he passed out at the wheel Hit his head and Nancy was at a stop. She couldn't move. She was at a stop sign and he just went into her the airbag everything broke her sternum Um, and she was a bit of a mess, but you know fine But it was a lot of healing because her ribs were broken all of that But they put her in an ambulance and she went to the top of the ambulance and looked down at herself And she was like and then when the guy came out they put him in the same ambulance And he was like, how's that girl? Whatever it was that I hit whatever it was And she got so mad at how he said it that she came back down off the ceiling and said like hey, I'm here You know, so isn't that weird how that happens? And I always think that in military Situations you kind of it's almost like how to also overcome fear Is to be on the outside. It's so we have these extra powers maybe Because if you can see yourself from the outside in Right, you can actually see yourself there That's odd You then are seeing from a different perspective that our eyes are not there, you know, so I wonder about that in battle of Being able to see things from different perspectives That and I wonder about that when we look at the you know, people watch all those shows Oh, I don't I don't watch them all because we can't keep up with anything as we travel but like all these You know the the pagans fighting this and that you know um all of the ancient Wars, right the Saxons and all of that kind of thing But there's always that like Merlin. Merlin's got that right where it's like this Nature side and yet it's bloody hell and murder But they have this extra spiritual side. I wonder if that was always there as kind of a coping mechanism as well and Maybe when you're seeing things from the outside looking in it could just be your own mind Like how do you know if it's real like how much of it is illusion and real now that got trippy didn't it But I think when we're in those situations, it's like it's my for death So your body goes through all kinds of things, you know Wow Okay, are you ready to talk about the American flag? Yes, man. Fourth of july coming up. It's fourth of july week So this is going to be everyone on Our big blend radio a military monday podcast channel with mike and then also in our big daily blend show because we like to celebrate holidays, but The American flag. I wanted to bring this up. Okay. I think pretty much everything we're going to talk about it has some political controversy to it because Um, the flag has been a point of controversy right in sports and people Um saying hey, you know, I don't want to raise the flag if our country isn't going how I feel um So let's just start with When did the flag come into existence and didn't have didn't have many changes It had changes as we went from territories to states, right and but how did it get the red white and blue? I mean, is that a derivative off of england? Uh in a sense it is yeah, so if uh if we go all the way back to the early colonial times What we have uh as I can say the the basic idea behind the flag uh was a derivative of a uh was a derivative of the flag of the east india company and That was a british. Um, I think that I think you could probably call that the first conglomerate in the history of business So is that like the dutch east india company that went in south africa or separate? Uh, so this is actually the british east india company. Yeah, oh, okay Yeah, so um, so that flag was introduced in uh that that flag was introduced in 1707 As uh as an incin and it was flown at sea Throughout the indian ocean and what uh that east india company flag was was you basically took the union jack As it existed as the time and you put it in the upper left hand corner of that rectangular flag And uh the rest of the flag were the red and white stripes which would eventually be Associated with our own stars and stripes So that was uh, so that was the uh, that was the early inspiration for the flag We can see where we we can see where the genesis of that design came from Now of course, uh, you know by 1707 Not only did the british have the east india company Uh, but you know we were they were also very heavily populating the north american continent So, uh, we had a few different iterations of you know, some local or colonial flags, but still by and large We were flying the union jack here and what were the original 13 colonies? Um, but you fast forward past the french and indian war and as things are hitting critical mass for us to start the american revolution Uh, what the what the continental congress did Was adopt a flag that was very similar to that east india flag Uh, that I just mentioned except, uh, they shortened the dimensions and they uh, they elongate They made the uh, they made the stripes both the red and the white stripes a bit wider And they narrowed, uh, the union jack To where it almost looked like it had been inverted about 90 degrees to its right So that was the grand union flag. Uh, that was the uh, that was the flag that was uh, that was, uh, Used throughout most of the colonies those became uh known as the continental colors that were used between 1775 and 1777 Okay So, uh, june 14 1777 june 14th of course what we now know as as flag day Um, you know, june 14th basically just, uh, took the same basic design of the stripe portion The red and white stripes and in the blue field. That's when betsy ross came in and said, okay Well for the 13 colonies that are in rebellion against great britain Uh, a circular star pattern, which of course, you know is is going each star is going to represent each one one of the 13 colonies And of course that set the basis for what would become our national flag And uh, then as time went on as we added more states and we added more territories Uh, you know, the the flag grew and we added more stars to denote the number of states So you have that 13 star with, uh, you have that 13 star circular betsy ross variant Um, but there was also, uh, another interpretation of the flag that was used at around the same time Uh, a lot of people I think I mean We know betsy ross really as the as the as the mother of the flag so to speak Um, but I think less attention gets paid to the variant that frances hopkins also had Um, which was, uh, the same red and white stripes, but in the blue field instead of vip being a circular pattern Of stars you had, uh, you had these six pointed stars that were arranged in five different rows And, uh, you had alternating rows of three and two stars to make up 18 And uh, there was a yeah, there was a slight variation of it, uh, that was used as the navel ensign for our ships at sea And, uh, then of course When we added, uh, when we added more states in 1795, um, you know, it went from the original 13 to 15 To reflect, uh, you know, both kentucky and vermont entering entering the union as, uh, states We had a, uh, we had a 15 star 15 striped, um, flag okay and And, uh, let's stay, let's stay consistent Um, until of course we got, uh, we got more states And what happened over time was that, um Was that whenever a state was added, uh, there would be a new design and there would be a new arrangement of stars Each star of course representing, uh, a new state that had been added, but we didn't make that, uh, we didn't make that exception for Any territories So let's see, as we, uh, as we went forward, you know, of course we had the betsy ross one and then very briefly We had, uh, you know, as we added more states, you know going into the 1800s We had a, uh, an american flag that had the stars arranged in the shape of a star Right And then, uh And then of course as time went on You had the, uh, you know, you had the divergence where you had the, uh, confederate states try to break away And then they had the, uh, stars and bars and, um, oddly enough Uh, the stars and bars that we associate with the confederate flag today Never actually existed in the form that's represented as Uh, you know, if we take the, uh, orange flag with the blue x and all of the white stars that are lining Each part of that blue x What that was was that was actually the confederate Naval jack and a slightly different color scheme But, uh, after the war ended that really became the symbolic battle flag of the confederacy Uh, the national flag of the confederacy at least for the first, uh, two to three years of the war Looked very similar to the old style betsy ross flag And, you know, I think on a subconscious level, that's what the confederate founding fathers wanted because Uh, you know, if we look back, uh, through history, you know, the all of the confederates, uh, when they seceded They didn't want to call jefferson davis the father of the confederacy They said no, no, no george washington is the father of the confederacy Which carrying on the revolutionary traditions that the founding fathers of america started You know, these inks up north that they're doing their own thing So you had you had the union and the confederacy both thinking that they were the legitimate representation and the and the legitimate heirs to all of the founding fathers revolutionary ideals Wow, yeah Yeah, but now a day like when you when you drive around You'll see the confederate flag now and then people are going oh if they're waiving a confederate flag that It's like It's so complicated now if someone has that So I don't know what to say to that. I mean, I mean people are like, oh if they have this, you know You know, we were in gettiesburg the confederate flag was there and and we were at the bed and breakfast owner And I said well, that's confederate flag and doesn't mean this and they're like no like hello. We've got to remember about the civil war and what Not everybody was fighting about slavery some people were just fighting to protect their land and so I mean, it's So it's complicated, right? So we should just It is right. So this confederate flag. I mean has it changed over from when you were talking about to now Uh with the red and white it's red and white now, right? Am I right? Yeah Ren white. Yeah, well, it's um I guess you could call to me. It's always looked orange, but yeah, it is like a orangey red. It's like a brick red kind of thing Yeah, yeah Yeah, I now I I know that uh, I know that when people see the confederate flag, um, they they um have feelings of uh They have feelings of both rebellion and racism And I don't think that they're necessarily wrong for thinking that Because it was written into the confederate constitution that uh one of the basis of their means for secession Was they wanted to maintain slavery? And not only is this in the confederate constitution, but in each one of the state constitutions that made up the confederacy They're like hey, we're doing this because we recognize the legitimacy of slavery as an institution and the superiority of the white race Oh over the african So we're still fighting then basically. Yeah, so it it now But I think if more people knew that there would be less inclined to try to display the confederate flag and you know, I I I don't think that people are wrong for thinking that. It's just you know When I come to it with my millennial perspective, you know, I have to be sensitive to that because whenever I see the confederate flag Honestly, Lisa. The only thing I think of it is the dukes of hazard You're not a millennial. You can't be a millet. Are you a millennial? Yeah Oh, uh, yeah, I'm I'm I'm ancient. I'm in the mid-70s Um, but yeah, well you go millennial boy You're you're like, yeah, no, but but when I you know The dukes of hazard now don't stop me because of the cars that I see in in Georgia especially Georgia has the dukes of hazard cars like nobody else has but anyway, that's all We'll not go down that road, but you know, it gives us the general lee and uh And valedere coming over with this voiceover saying oh no dude boys is in trouble Well, but you know when we travel the country you see them displayed and then their office A lot of times displayed with a political stance too. Yeah, and so it becomes this thing and There's a lot of You know people we've interviewed over the years over a civil war and and some people like this and that and Lincoln Wasn't just it wasn't just about slavery. It was this too and that so it's very complex what happened with the civil war um But the flag is now the way the flag is Are we the United States of America? But what's interesting to me you're talking about the territories because You know, I look at Puerto Rico and I'm like That is such a weird situation. Yeah, I want to give them a star on there, but like it's odd like that They're part of our country, but they're not allowed to vote but It's it's and and america samoa Like half want to be part of it and like they're fighting amongst themselves whether they want to be part of it And i'm going have you seen the problems we have? Maybe you don't. I don't know You know, it's like um It's it's kind of interesting with the territories. So They don't get to be represented on the flag until you become a state um But it's it's an interesting thing what what goes on with having a territory too And I think we forget that and and it's interesting that hawaii is not a territory You know and how that happened and I think that had to do with dole and the money, right in a way Getting swooping in and taking that hawaii Okay, that's a whole other thing and i'm going to get in trouble for time by the way But did I mean how come hawaii got to be a state and not Puerto Rico? Yeah, well That's a very good question. Oh, that's a bad bad question to ask isn't it? Well, it uh, well We had a lot of strategic Salience placed on hawaii. I mean, it wasn't just what we could get from the agricultural community out there. Um, you know, it was also a Yeah, and it was it was uh, it was a territory for the longest time And I think because you know, if you think about it, hawaii really is the crossroads of the pacific because you know, that was generally the waystation Uh for any of your transpacific flights and you have your transpacific equipments Um, it was uh, it was where you could project any naval or extended land power onto asia proper Uh, you know, hawaii would be a waystation or hawaii would even be a staging area Um to an extent and I think just because of its Strategic value its strategic location and the fact that uh, it was a uh, it was a crossroads for transpacific trade I think that's what lent it to getting the big population that it did And then of course after after world war two, um, you know, the the salience of it was Even more blatant to us because this was american soil that had been attacked And, you know, I really think that after after vj day It was really only going to be a matter of time before hawaii itself. It did become a state Um, you know And I say that for a number of reasons. I know that after the war there was a uh, there was a big Surgeon of economic dollars pumped into what was been the territory And uh, alaska Was pretty much on the same trajectory and I think in small part also accelerated because of the cold war Uh, because you know, you have you have alaska and then the bearing straight, you know, it's only a stone's throw away from from the former Soviet union Uh, so you take all those things combined. It was I think The foregone conclusion that alaska and of why we're going to become states, but if you take a look at porterico Well, yeah, that was a territory that was granted to us after the spanish american war Uh, certainly no place that we have an issue with um, but just didn't offer the I I guess the strategic dividends that's someplace like alaska or hawaii did. I mean there there was less. I think to gain Uh, just just not only economically, but strategically Uh, there just wasn't that big of a drive to make for the rico state It goes about it goes about uh, security. Yeah, so okay Because grom there's grom american smoke, but that was like one war or you know, maybe others too, but Not like an ongoing thing Right and I guess you could probably say the you could probably say the same thing about the us virgin islands and uh, which Which in retrospect, I I think is Almost counterintuitive because after um after castro came to power in qba I and you you know, granny cuba is only 90 miles off the coast of florida I would have thought that uh, you know after cuba and especially even more so after granada and after you know, the uh, the communist Uprisings throughout latin america and in the caribbean that there would have been a greater push to make the virgin islands and Puerto rico states, you know to accommodate, uh, you know to accommodate that Strategic position that I would have thought we wanted, but uh, yeah Yeah, well, we'll make you president next Well, so it was this is the interesting about a flag where you know, it's you know, 50 states united in hawaiian Uh, alaska included, you know, which is interesting, you know and even the purchase of alaska from russia So fascinating to me how we we have this incredible state. It's just beautiful, but um, let's go to the american anthem Okay, so yeah um Couple of songs that are very patriotic songs american songs, but the anthem Tell us a little history of that because I think that's the other thing people It gets used like do you stand up or not and when people don't When they're angry at their country. They don't. I mean john melkamp was famously didn't stand up You know In sports, we we you know people didn't raise the flag. They didn't stand up. You know, so All kinds of pop culture parts of life, right the flag and the anthem um It's interesting and it's a way to show hey change these It it is a way to show change right of hey i'm just disliking what's going on um And that we're not as united is maybe we think right when someone does that Yeah Yeah, it's um It's it's rough. It's provoked a lot of controversy and you know, this is one that I tend to take very seriously now for it for those who Have taken offense to the confederate flag. I I do see where they're coming from and I am sympathetic to it um just based on the study of history, uh, but uh uh turning your back or kneeling during the national anthem that's something that I take issue with and You know, I I say that because look, you know if there are Things that you are dissatisfied with and things that you want to protest there are Ways that you can do that you can protest the specific actions of a group of people Or a section of the government or even the government itself and the people who are in charge at that time But there's still a level of reference that you need to have for the country itself because the national identity and the national psyche and what america stands for is far beyond whatever Whatever politics are happening at that particular intersection of space and time because you know A big issue that can be ongoing and can be uh, you know, a very critical matter In at one point in time. It can be resolved and then 20 years later Everybody looks back on it and says, okay. Well, that was a problem then but i'm glad it's not a problem now But you know, you can look back at how you conducted yourself over the course of That problem and say well, hey, I still maintained an air of dignity. I still was a patriotic american Despite the fact that some of the people in power or a certain segment of society was not uh Was not acting with good intentions or they did Or they had malicious intent because I think of um, I think of the civil rights movement of the 1960s And one of the things that stands out to me for better for worse I think uh back to the 1968 olympics, okay And uh, I think to uh, I think to george foreman when uh, he was when he was boxing in the olympics Yeah, this is 19. This was the 1960s. This was critical mass for the civil rights movement in america And yet george foreman who you know had a checkered past, you know, I mean he came from rough and tumble upbringing that I Had a criminal record before he Uh, you know before he became an evangelist but george foreman even at the height of the civil rights movement in america Displayed himself as a proud american and you know, he uh And he he was waving the flag And you could see the pride in his face. And I also think Now The example that i'm going to give has not aged well just as a matter of context But at the time that was very poignant before mohammed. Oh, but excuse me before Uh, cash is clave became mohammed ali Uh 1960 olympics, you know, he was the uh, he was the gold medal, uh winner for boxing in the in the light heavyweight division Mm-hmm. This is 1960 of course just as a civil rights movement was what was really getting underway You know, he said in a uh, there's a press conference. It was a meet and greet, uh with nikita cruciave of all people And he went on the record to say in my opinion the usa is the best country in the world including yours Mm. I'm thinking okay. Well, you know, he's uh, you know, he's uh, he's uh He's basically just throwing down the gauntlet Uh in front of the leader of the communist world saying hey despite the problems that i'm well aware of uh, back home. I still think america is the the number one country in the world and You know when he was asked, I can't remember if this was the same press conference or if it was another one There was a reporter who asked him what his thoughts were about uh, uh, the ongoing issue of segregation and and uh cash is clay in a um And what I think was a uh, moment of lucidity. I think Said hey, we have very highly qualified people who are working on that problem right now Hmm Yeah, so So it can be There there is a bit of political controversy, but you take those examples, right? And they're they're people who are able to keep themselves dignified despite the fact that well I look at you as as being as a as a army veteran, right? Yeah And you can have a change of what's going on in your country and be pissed all you want Pissed off at it, right pissed off at the leadership pissed off at What's going on but you're still fighting, right? So with that not a patriotism was Part of our conversation today. So that's this is what we're talking about like being a patriot So now being a patriot is now become a political statement You're not a patriot if you don't like so-and-so or something And I I think like dancing our patriots of this country because we document parks and public lands Because we want to make sure that they're out there for families and kids and and for green spaces to be healthy for our country That's part of patriotism, isn't it? If you care for your country, you do for your country and you know um There's you know, just even doing shows like this, you know, it's part of that um I don't believe patriotism should be part of I mean politics is kind of patriotism in that I don't know now because now it just seems off the hook crazy, but um Patriotism to me is you care about your country. You love it. You'll do what you can to sustain it. It's community It's a nation-wide community and the minute you drop your flag You drop your anthem then you're saying screw you Then then if you do that then move, you know, um I We can say Things are really bad and really go and protest and really go against a specific thing But you don't throw the baby out with the bath water is that what what i'm hearing from you on that don't throw it all out Mm-hmm Because then you might as well leave then you need to leave like if you Dishon your country that way? Isn't that it or no? I mean I don't know people are going to tell me i'm dissing that Politically, but i'm just trying to grasp on that because patriotism to me is about Loving and caring and being part of community is So the word patriot Has been used in the revolutionary war and also part of when we got here right that word I mean obviously it's an it came from you know earlier years but being a patriot was Wasn't that part of history of going against the british in a way like we were a patriot at that time You know, yeah, I don't know, you know, it uh, you know, we we um We did consider ourselves to be loyal british subjects. I think for the most part, but what disrupted that relationship for us was Yeah, really, you know from the outset Our whole relationship with the mother country was a lot different from what other colonies had with their their own parent country and You know, it's best summarized by that By that quip and that big wood is termed that i'm sure we heard a lot of uh throughout school And a lot of our early american history classes when we talk about sanitary neglect Uh, you know, we were allowed to run our own affairs. We were allowed to more or less be the masters of our own destiny We could you know conduct free trade. We were given such a wide berth of autonomy And uh, you know, the only thing that was really required of us was just to remember at the end of the day that we're still british Well after the french and indian war Uh, it became so much harder for any of the colonists to maintain their loyalty to the mother country In light of the repressive policies that were being put out of parliament And it was okay. Well, we're going to after years of not paying any taxes at all being, you know, free to Run your own affairs and uh, do everything as you see fit We're going to start putting shackles on you, you know, we're going to tax you for this We're going to tax you for that. We're going to uh restrict, uh, any number of freedoms We're going to make you house british troops If there is no room in any of the existing barracks Well, the problem with this again in the context of the time Is that the typical rank and file brit soldier was a conscript who was sent to the america's not necessarily of his own free will And typically these conscripts were guys who had gone before a magistrate For ryan for for crimes including murder rape arson And the judge gave them a choice. They said okay. Well, you can go to the calos or you can join the british army And go off, uh, you know, go go off to the frontiers of north america And uh, you know, if the uh, if the french don't get you then the indians will Wow Yeah, so these aren't typically the type of soldiers. I certainly would not want on my property or you know, living in a room in my house You know Oh No, but so When it comes to when we're talking about patriotism You fight for what you truly believe in right? Kim And when we look at today, we talk about the anthem the american flag Standing up for the anthem. This is this is a sign of trying to be unit unity, right? So this is where you go like hey, this is I don't like it when I don't I mean as a military man. I mean going out there for our country serving our country For the military I was thinking about that when we've seen these, you know episodes of people with the flag with the I mean, I feel this way about banning of books too, man. We should stop that crap too. Really. Um, it's all sides So I just I always have to say this on these shows Nancy and I are not like politically party. You know, um, we're very independent on things because we'd like to look at issues That's just who we are. Um, so we're not left We're not right but a little bit of everything, you know, because it goes according to issue I think books should be published period. Um, I do think if you're gonna live in this country You have some kind of commitment to the country and unity and put something into this country as Some as a citizen as you know, anybody living here and I also believe that of visitors You don't just come into our country and you know Have a good time and not give something back in Um, and I feel that way as we travel the world and as we go anywhere and you you you are in a temporary community You're part of it. So you should behave as such So that's just my own personal beliefs But when it comes to your right now in this country as we start doing all these things We start to lose history We've got to kind of get together a bit maybe, you know, and I think as a soldier if you're out Even in training in bootcamp and someone's putting down the flag or the anthem Does that kind of like make you go like dude? You have no clue what we're doing for you right now Like how does that like how would that feel for a soldier? Matt male or female out there in bootcamp out in the out in the field out at war Um, how would that feel national guard anybody when that happens? Well, it uh It's definitely something that would give any Any service member a reason to pause Yeah, and uh, yeah, just kind of uh kind of I won't say I wouldn't put them on the Burch of an existential meltdown, but would just give them a lot of uh a lot of reasons to A lot of reasons to question Why they're there and uh do a gut check and say hey, is this uh, is this really worth it? Is this really what I want to do? This day and age with the way the world's going. I think you've got to Kind of grow up. Do you think? I'm just saying I didn't want to go political, but I'm just saying we've got to kind of grow up here you know, the world is a little bit um on fire and You know Hopefully we can learn about unity, you know, hopefully we can learn that um And at the end of the day is in that part of what the military does Is jagged to create you know unity um And create peace and I think that's the other thing that people don't understand Is I mean if you look at what's going on in the world right now if you think that we could have no military in this country Um, that's insane um I mean You can't not have military or someone who defends you And defends and helps and supports that way And that's kind of It just it's it's altruistic, you know, it would be great that there were no wars, right? It wouldn't it be lovely if people weren't fighting and doing all this but That's not the case and then when people go out there and say, okay, I'm going to go out there risk my life and defense Um, we should really honor that and it's more than words for that there's more than words and That's kind of the thing I think when we look at fourth of july week right now Look at the history of our flag look at the history of the anthem the anthem coming about You know, um, it's a beautiful song and it's hard to sing Who's your favorite person to sing like sing the anthem? You know The the best National anthem performance that I ever That ever saw um was right before The 1991 Super Bowl and this was when we had had troops in the gulf, right? I had a operation desert storm. So there was a very high intense patriotic feeling um among all of youers, especially in the stadium and uh, they had a uh, they had an f-15 flyby happen uh with the with the national anthem, but I remember it was Whitney Houston who sang Yeah, Whitney Houston sang it uh right before the uh right before the 1991 Super Bowl and just the Everything from the way she sang it to the energy of the crowd to what the commentators were saying and You know, hey, this is great because we have troops who are you know, are about to go to war in the gulf Uh, you know to the f-15 flyover It's just like when you take all that together just a whole ambiance of that was like man That was that it's like that was the perfect rendition and the perfect setup and the perfect Stage and ambiance and feng shui to have the national anthem song, you know It makes you cry. I mean it brings tears the right the right and that that's what i'm saying if the National anthem brings you to tears when someone performs it It's it's It's telling you something. It's not just the song It is about the community of our country You know, that's the thing and I mean And then there's jimmy hendrix and woodstock right He said i'm gonna do it this way, but he's appealing to a different generation at that time, right? So that's also something to look at jack white. Did you see jack white performance? It was pretty good He did a different version, but there's there's something Whitney Houston is like the perfect I think you're 100 percent. She's like the perfect person that voice and I miss her She every time I hear her music. I'm like I grew up with her You know in music listening to her not with her You know, but I always thought she had one of the most incredible voices of of humanity ever And what a waste like so sad to see her go. It's just like Gosh, you know, it's not a waste because we all get to hear her But like I it's tragic is my word tragic to see her go, but Man, you're so right about her voice for that for that performance Hmm Something to think about right as a community. What do you think about the community looking at america as a community? instead of Red white and blue splattered across the country. We all divide up. What do you think of looking at as a community? Well, you know, I think as a community it still works. You know as a community It's still it's still highly functional and we still at the end of the day have many of the same goals uh and matter of fact, I think Taken as a whole american's no matter what side of the aisle, uh, they fall on I think uh, you know, we all agree on what the goals for america should be But the difference is how we reach those goals. Yeah and they were united by a lot more things than divide us and uh, not not that it's it's It's kind of odd and a little awkward that i'm going to say this, uh, you know, not that I would necessarily take a lot of advice from the From from the clinton political family, but there is one thing that stands out that bill clinton said that Has stuck with me ever since he said there is nothing that is wrong with america that can't be fixed by what is right with america And uh, I agree now of course I uh, who wrote that? Well, exactly. I mean It was brilliant. It was brilliant and it was well said but the minute I heard that i was like, hey That's brilliant, but then I was also I was also flippantly thinking to myself. Wow. I wonder if been sposter feels the same way it's but that's the thing it's um That's a really true. I mean The point is that we can argue things, you know, and the point is to maybe not Lose your family over arguing it. That's the point. You know, I have a friend and I bring this up on shows all the time and she said On the last election she says listen don't lose your best friend and your family over two old men. You don't even know That I thought you know what it's pretty true You know, and I'm going to say it again. I'm bringing that up Don't lose your friends and family over it. You can argue and disagree, but I think you know I met a um, you know, as we pets at the country We sat for military family pets that for a military family high ranking general and And We sat and had these great discussions and he just said, you know all of us Want a healthy environment all of us want fresh and clean air and healthy clean water for us and our family and our kids All of us want the same things just like you said we are just all coming at it at different ways but we all None of us want dirty water None of us want the endangered species to be gone You know, unless you're a psychopath, you know, none of us want that But we have to get to we have you know, none of us want homeless people None of us want that to be you know to happen to those people. We don't want any of that You know, we don't want drug abuse and and we don't want any of that to happen to people, but it does and So it's really true. So when we look at fourth of july, you know, it's independence day. We're free We got rid of the tea, but we still have tea now But And we're still taxed on it by the way Um, but it's just not the way it was Um, maybe we can have these discussions in a better way when we get together as families What do you think? What are you gonna do for fourth of july? Are you gonna have a barbecue gonna What do you do for a fourth of july barbecue? Do you like barbecue? Well, uh, yes, I do Um, but let's see. I think uh, I think The biggest thing on my bucket list for the fourth of july is going to be to watch the local fireworks As that's all right. Yeah. Yeah for me is that for me is uh Oh, oh, it's the most fun. You know, it uh, yeah, I I love Seeing the fireworks display and you know, just it to me. It's just a very vibrant way to celebrate the birth of our nation You know Right on Well, everyone keep up with mike at mikewarria.com his latest book is fire in the hole See he likes fireworks, uh fire fire in the hole tales of combat with the first engineer battalion in vietnam It's available now on amazon all those great places Um shop dot or what is that bookshop dot org? Um What is that i've got i've forgot what their their name is yeah bookshop dot org Check them out. Um, but everyone keep up with him again mikewarria.com But also he's on twitter on facebook and scram and youtube keep up with his youtube channel man Man, you you put up some crazy stuff up there, man Seriously like all kinds of combat stuff like yeah, if you're into real military stuff, you need to go follow him on youtube Thank you so much mike and happy fourth of july and summer to you and your family. Thank you lisa always a pleasure to be on the show Thank you for listening to big blend radius military monday show featuring mike guardia award winning author and historian Keep up with mike and his books at mikeguardia.com Follow us at big blend radio.com [Music]
