In this episode of America’s Veteran Stories, Kim Munson welcomes David Bray, USA, a former Navy corpsman and dedicated musician. David discusses his transition from military service to becoming a corporate entertainer, performing anthem rock and roll for audiences nationwide. Discover how his mission to honor the sacrifices of veterans and law enforcement drives his music and advocacy. Through stories of his family’s military heritage and his continued commitment to service, David Bray illustrates the indomitable spirit that defines American patriotism and the ongoing fight for liberty.
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World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and our other wars and conflicts. America’s fighting men and women strapped on their boots and picked up their guns to fight tyranny and stand for liberty. We must never forget them. Welcome to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson. These stories will touch your heart, inspire you, and give you courage. We stand on the shoulders of giants. Here’s Kim Munson.
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And welcome to America’s Veterans Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteransStories.com. And the show comes to you, it’s because of a trip that I took in 2016 with a group that accompanied 40-day veterans to Normandy, France for the 72nd anniversary of the D-Day landings in World War II. Return stateside realizing that we need to know these stories. We need to record them and broadcast them and hear them and archive them. So, hence, it is my great honor to bring you America’s Veterans Stories. The official Marine Memorial is located right here in Colorado in Golden at 6th and Colfax. It was dedicated in 1977, and it is time for a facelift. the usmc memorial foundation is working diligently to raise the funds to make that happen and a great way that you can honor our military to say thank you to those people who have put their lives on the line or have given their lives for our freedom is to support the usmc memorial foundation and you can do that by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org the center for american values is located in pueblo on the beautiful riverwalk and it was founded for several reasons one to honor our medal of honor recipients And they do that through over 160 portraits of valor of Medal of Honor recipients. But additionally, they are teaching these foundational principles of honor, integrity, and patriotism through many of their educational programs and also their On Values presentations. So for more information about the center, go to AmericanValuesCenter.org. That’s AmericanValuesCenter.org. And a sponsor that I greatly appreciate for America’s Veterans Stories is Hooters Restaurants. They have locations in Loveland, Westminster, and in Aurora on Parker Road. And great specials Monday through Friday for lunch and for happy hour. Great place to get together with your friends to watch the sporting events and just have some great food. In particular, their fish and chips and their nachos are delicious. I hear that their fish tacos are quite good as well. So, again, thank you to Hooters Restaurants for their sponsorship of the show. And we have David Bray on the line. David, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s good to be here, Kim. Thank you so much for all you guys do, and thank you for shedding the light on these American veteran stories.
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Well, and you are a Marine veteran. Tell us a little bit just about you, David.
SPEAKER 09 :
Sure. Well, I served with the Marines. I was an FMF corpsman or a Marines high corpsman. Some people call them a devil doc, but we were implicitly known as devil docs during the Vietnam time. But long story short is I went into Dixie Cup Navy back in the 90s, and then I got out as an FMF devil doc for 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. And I was blessed to serve with both branches and do some pretty cool stuff.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. And so what years was your service then, David Bray?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yes. I went in 1993 right out of high school, 17, and joined right up. And I actually did a year of delayed entry, so I was a young one coming in. And I got out in 1998.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. And with that, you have a real heart for our military and our first responders. And tell us a bit about your musical career. You do, you said it’s anthem rock and roll with a country edge. So tell us about being a musician.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah. You know, music has always been a calling for me as a young kid. I was a young man that was, you know, dancing in front of the mirror with a tennis racket kind of thing. And, you know, once I picked up a real guitar and started writing and working with music and getting more involved in starting a band in high school, we had the typical garage band. It was a calling and it really awoken, you know, something in my spirit. And I always had felt called that to do something in music after I’d gotten my feet wet with it. But I had already signed up for the military by the time I really got into it with the band. So I decided to stick with what my decision was. My dad was a Navy guy. My brother was enlisted Navy. I have family members that served as pilots, as law enforcement in World War II. I have a Purple Heart certificate of a World War I family member who fought in the Battle of Argonne Force. So we have service deeply embedded in our family. And so I wanted to follow that tradition and, you know, have that, you know, moniker put to my name that I was a serviceman, a veteran, somebody who gave to his country first. And then, you know, like I said, was able to do music afterwards. But music has always been part of what I’ve loved. And after my service in the military, I wanted to do something that was a continuation of my service. So music and what I did in the service sort of came hand in hand with my writing. And that’s how we moved into where we are today.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, and you’ve performed with many, many different performers. What’s that experience like to meet all of these legends?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I tell you what, you know, Kim, every stage of my career has been very, very different. In the beginning, it was just me and a bunch of guys in the back of, you know, and playing anywhere we possibly could play. Now, I’m a corporate entertainer. I perform for major corporations, national corporations all over the country as a fundraiser for some of their nonprofit arms and different nonprofits all over the country. The broad spectrum is grinding it out in a van to black tie and everything in between. But like you said, I was truly blessed to open up for some amazing artists. I was signed to a record label out of New York in 2010, and we formed a band called Madison Rising. That band was a touring act for five years. We opened up for Leonard Skinner, Brantley Gilbert, Toby Keith a couple of times. Aerosmith was obviously one of the biggest ones. Just truly blessed to share those stages with some of those amazing artists. Just like everything else, some of them are great. Uh, experiences and some of them are like, they really put you in your place and you make you realize that you got way a longer journey ahead of you than, than what you’ve expected. But, uh, all in all the music and the mission continue. And, and you have to, if you’re going to make it in any kind of business, um, if you’re a serviceman or woman, I always like to encourage, continue giving back to your communities, find something that is embedded in your heart, um, and go after it, charge after it, and just use the same things that they taught you in the military to get up and over those hills and through those obstacles to succeed in whatever you do.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, and the other day I was taking somebody out to the airport. It was on Sunday morning and we passed or I guess they passed us three big semis of a country artist. And it was clearly his stage stuff. So three big semis. And I thought, as glamorous as we look at that life, it’s also a commitment. It’s a lot of work, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 09 :
It’s a lot. It’s a lot of time away from the family. I raised two boys as well with my beautiful wife, Becky, and she and I are in this music business together. We basically constructed our own label and do all our own merchandising and everything by ourselves. So, you know, raising kids in that environment when dad has to travel a lot was an issue. So we, again, sort of moved away from the record label grind of going out and touring for years. you know, weeks and months at a time. And we just pushed back and said, you know, Hey, if we’re going to do this, we’re going to have to do it at our own pace or else we’re going to, you know, the family unit takes a hit. So family’s most important to us, um, obviously. And then, you know, the music and the mission come next. Uh, but yeah, it’s, it is one of those things that is oftentimes glorified, but some of these people, you see them on tour, you’re like, man, that’d be great to be out there on the road. But The first week is fun. The ones in the middle are pretty rough, and then the last few are usually fun. It’s a lot of work. It’s tiresome. It’s laborsome. It’s very, very exhausting. Just be careful what you wish for out there.
SPEAKER 05 :
Exactly. So, hey, David Bray, USA, we’ve got about a minute and a half left in this particular segment. You want to set this up for a song that we’re going to play for everybody?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, we’re going to crank it up with the rock rendition. This is the one that put me on the map. It’s called the Star Spangled Banner, the rock rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. I just like we wanted to give it a fresh coat of paint. The song is one of the oldest cover songs ever released. done by a rock artist so we’re proud of that moniker but this one is is meant to inspire the the patriotic heart and the listeners out there and remember that you know our song and this song and our nation was built on defiance and standing up to tyranny and i just hope that it electrifies your spirit and you guys if you want to stand up put your hands over your heart or put your fist up in the air and and get back to the defiance portion of what it takes to be an american either way i hope you enjoy this is the star spangled banner by dave gray usa
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Yes, and again, David Bray, USA, will be performing at the USMC Memorial Foundation event on August 24th. So here we have David Bray, USA, with the Star Spangled Banner.
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And the twilight’s last gleaming Goes broad stripes and bright stars We’ll be right back.
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music music
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We are. We are.
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We are. We are.
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In the heart.
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Remax Realtor Karen Levine helps bring to life the individual stories of our servicemen and women. With her sponsorship of America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson, Karen honors the sacrifices of our military and is grateful for our freedom. As a member of the National Association of Realtors Board of Directors, Karen works to protect private property rights for all of us. Karen has a heart for our active duty military and veterans and is honored to help you buy or sell your home. Call Karen Levine at 303-877-7516 to help you navigate buying or selling your home. That’s 303-877-7516.
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All of Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Munson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmunson.com. That’s kimmunson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories, and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier, and thank you for listening. And welcome back to America’s Veterans Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteranStories.com. And I wanted to mention the Center for American Values, which is located in Pueblo on the beautiful Riverwalk. And they’re focused on a couple of different things. Their Portraits of Valor of our Medal of Honor recipients is truly sacred. And they put together a great quote book of these Medal of Honor recipients as well. So highly recommend that you have that in your freedom library at home. But also they’re doing great educational programs to instill in us these foundational values of honor, integrity and patriotism. And in fact, Drew Dix, who is one of the co-founders, he is a Medal of Honor recipient for actions he took during the Vietnam War, is planning on being one of the guests of honor today. at the event on August 24th at the USMC Memorial out here in Golden, Colorado. And you can get your tickets by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. That is usmcmemorialfoundation.org. And you’ll have the great opportunity to rub shoulders with some of our heroes, such as Drew Dix and Al Jennings and Jim Blaine, both World War II Iwo Jima Marine veterans. are planning on being there as well. I tell you, these experiences don’t come along every day and would highly recommend that you take advantage of that. So again, buy your tickets at usmcmemorialfoundation.org. And the evening and the event is going to include a special concert by David Bray, USA. We have him on the line now. And, David, your genre is anthem rock and roll with a country edge. But I’d like to talk with you about our military. You are a Navy corpsman. And just our military, there’s such a small percentage now of people that are in our military that really keep us free and safe. So let’s talk about that.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, yeah, you know, again, thank you so much, Kim, for having me on. I love the American veteran story. And although, you know, I’ve walked with a lot of heroes and a lot of giants in that community, you know, I certainly don’t consider myself one. I was a serviceman and I did my time. And I got out and started pursuing music. And I created what’s called Music on a Mission. And, you know, some of the encouragement that I like to give to our veterans out there and even those who are serving today is that, you know, You are going to have to figure out what you’re going to do, even after 20 years of service or whatever your idea is. There’s still that large span of life that you have left. And I pray my music is a connective tissue between the civilian community so that they can relate more to those brave small percentage of people that keep them free. And that’s the idea behind it. It’s not just for our veterans. It’s also for the civilian community to relate to them so that they can understand a little bit more about what their thought processes are, how they see the world spiritually or faithfully or emotionally and some of the things they’re dealing with. You know, I feel like in this day and age, in this time and, you know, around the world, there’s conflict everywhere. And our veterans are sort of walking on eggshells as to when and where the next call will be. I mean, we’ve become a global police force in a sense. And, you know, it could happen at any time for some of these men and women that are still serving today. You know, it’s interesting how the dynamic works, you know, for the generation that I served with. There were still guys that had, you know, deployed in Vietnam and Korea that were our, you know, our leaders at that time. And now it’s, you know, the Iraqi and Afghan veterans, they’re stepping out of the arena. And, you know, it’s those who served in the war on terror overseas, and they’re now the leaders. But with each generation, I feel like one of the most interesting things is, and that’s just very unique to the community of veterans and to the warfighter, is that Thank you for having me. an unmanned vehicle. So everything is just evolving continuously. And no matter what, there’s still that underlying thing that every man and woman who puts on the cloth of this great nation has to do is they have to swear an oath to the Constitution and they have to write a blank check for up to and including their lives. And that’s a common thing, whether you serve now or whether you served in Vietnam or World War II, that carries the whole way down through the DNA and through the bloodline of the warfighter.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, and you’re alluding to something, and that is, I think, the warrior spirit. And is that acquired? Are people born with it? What do you think?
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, they’ve actually done some gene mapping that has found they did mass groups of volunteers. They’ve done gene mapping and they have found that people that actually serve in the military and that go into law enforcement, they actually carry a certain genome that is prone to selfless acts of service and also heroism. And they were trying to, obviously, our military is up to all sorts of things on all levels. So they’re trying to find what makes the best warrior, what makes the best serviceman, what makes the most obedient, you know, uniformed soldier. And they’re finding it, obviously, more in our law enforcement community and those people who are service members, service hearts, which is very interesting and actually brings up the idea for the next song that I’d like to introduce. And I don’t know how much time we have.
SPEAKER 05 :
We have about three minutes before we get to that.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, but again, so they are actually finding in the human genome through genome mapping, there’s two things that they are finding, and what’s interesting is that Within each of those DNA strands that they find that human genome that is prone to be more service related, more prone to volunteer or acts of heroism. There’s also a counter to that, which is almost relative to a haunted spirit. So it’s very strange. A lot of these haunted spirits. of war fighters are people, and oftentimes you look at the military, a lot of the enlisted people in the military, there’s some scarred people in the military. There’s some scarred people in service. And they want to fight. They want to go out and they want to do something with their lives because they’ve been put in a situation or they want to change something so drastically. And they want to make a huge difference in the world. And that’s where our heroes come from. That’s where our servicemen and women come from. And those are the ones who were born with that warrior spirit inside of their human genome.
SPEAKER 05 :
So that warrior spirit is something that once they get out of the service, they still have that. Yes. So how do you address that? We’ve got about a minute.
SPEAKER 09 :
And I touched on that before. It was the fact that, you know, no matter if you’re going to do 20 years, even 30 years, you still have a half of a life that you’ve got to figure out what you’re going to do with that warrior spirit. And you’ve got to remember, you swore an oath to your country. You swore an oath to that constitution. And the fact is we are losing way too many veterans. These are the best and the brightest of what we have out there. Those most experienced in war, those most experienced in combat, they’re taking their own lives or they’re given their walking dead is what I call them by abusing alcohol and prescription medications. oftentimes by the VA, even prescribed. But long story short is deep down inside of that man or woman who’s out there, it doesn’t matter how long your boots have been in the closet. It doesn’t matter how long that you can’t fit in that uniform anymore. Don’t ask me to get my dress blues on anymore. That’s not going to happen. But no matter how long it’s been, I like to remind people when I’m out on the road, when I play this song, I like to remind that the men and women in the audience that have served this great nation and to all the other people who didn’t, No matter what, you have to recognize that service inside of your heart. And you have to find a continuation of that service. That’s what Music on a Mission is all about for me. And so this next song that I’d like to introduce to you is a song called Warrior Inside. And if you look deep down inside of your heart and your soul and your spirit, That young man or woman that swore that oath to this great nation is still in there. And if there is still a breath within your lungs, there is still a warrior deep down inside of that spirit. So the song is Dave Bray, USA, Warrior Inside. And people can find out more at DaveBrayUSA.com.
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I was a young man I swore to defend this land With all that I had Some of my best years Washed away in blood and a tear and tears I probably drank a thousand liters For those who care I’m still in this fight And I was born to survive Cause I’m a warrior inside No longer a young man I swore to stand. And I still defend this land. I survived the nightmares and the fears. And I know there will still be tears that fall for my friends until the end. To survive Cause I’m a warrior inside I’m a warrior inside Warrior inside Warrior
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I’m sorry.
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I’m a warrior.
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SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories, and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier, and thank you for listening.
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God bless America.
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And welcome back to America’s Veterans Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteranStories.com. We have on the line right now, David Bray, you, Navy Corpsman, Marine. But law enforcement is very near and dear to your heart because all of this is connected. So talk to me about law enforcement.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, yeah. I mean, a few years back, people were screaming defund the police and, you know, just literally burning cities to the ground, anything they could to sort of spit in the faces of law enforcement. And I see our law enforcement and our Leos here on the home front. They’re fighting the same, very similar to the same fights we, you know, these men and women have fought overseas in the war on terror. It’s right here. If you look at some of the statistics from some of the big cities, you’ll see that law enforcement officers are not only fighting in the trenches. I mean, some of these battlefields, we’re losing more lives here in Chicago every month than we are in the entire war on terror globally. So you start looking at those numbers and you start taking a step back and you start seeing some of the tactics and some of the The same things that are carrying over from, you know, urban warfare and through law enforcement and SWAT. Some of these guys, again, I serve with the sniper team, so I see a lot of that stuff carrying over. And so it makes sense that a lot of men and women who serve in the military cross over into law enforcement as their continuation of service. So, again, as from from my perspective, music on a mission. I wanted to include them. It just doesn’t have to be veteran-related. You know, they’re wearing the cloth of the nation. They’re putting on a uniform and a badge and going out every single day. They swear an oath, and they’re fighting a good fight out there. So to all the, you know, the good solid law enforcement out there who understand what the Constitution is and who are out there standing up for it, you know, shout out to you guys. But, you know, I’ve been truly blessed to kind of be brought into that fold through music. A lot of it was through my tribute song, Last Call. which went viral a few years back. And with that song, I was able to enter into some very amazing arenas that I didn’t know existed. One of my favorites was the candlelight vigil that they hold each year for all of the fallen law enforcement officers, families, and coworkers. And every year, I don’t know if a lot of people know this, but every year right around May 15th is called Police Week. And so there’s multiple organizations. Concerns of Police Survivors is one of them. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund is another. And the Border Patrol, they are all very integral parts of putting on these memorial services for these families of fallen law enforcement officers. And I’ve performed at pretty much all of them, surprisingly. So I’m just truly blessed to be brought into their circle and be allowed to rub shoulders again with some of these heroes that walk the streets every single day in blue.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, and David, I think one of the things that we forget as citizens is certainly law enforcement, our military, and we thank them for our freedom, for our service. But it’s a commitment by the family as well. And this day and age when a police officer leaves for The spouse, I’m sure they think, hopefully, they’ll come back through that door at the end of the day. It’s a different mindset to be in law enforcement and be married to somebody in law enforcement.
SPEAKER 09 :
It truly is. And the one thing the military has is tactical advantage. And in law enforcement, it’s the opposite. The tactical advantage is given to the bad guys. The law enforcement is out there in the black and white car wearing the uniform and the bright silver badge over his heart. The bad guy walks by him, and the cop has to go off of intuition, insight, those types of things. The bad guy knows the cop’s a cop, but the cop doesn’t know the bad guy’s a bad guy. And unfortunately, you know, there’s a lot of citizens who, when approached by law enforcement, maybe just asking some questions or on a routine traffic stop, they turn into the bad guy because the law enforcement officer has to err on the side of caution no matter what. So a cop comes to your car window, and let’s say you were speeding or whatever, and just says, hey, I pulled you over because of this, that, or the other thing, cut to your driver’s license or registration and immediately get on defensive. You’re holding that cop up from doing what he really needs to do, which is find a bad person. You know what I mean? If you’re not a bad person, you have nothing to hide, give up your creds. Let him run your stuff. Go about your business. Go about your day. Let him be secure. These guys are out there every single day. They wear 60 pounds of gear in the heat. They’re sweating their dogs off day in and day out. to keep us safe, and you got people trying to take the mickey out of them at any chance they can for some social media fame. It gets old, it gets tiring to watch, it’s very juvenile, and it’s time to, you know, help them do their job. So, you know, I see a lot of this stuff, this, you know, Rhetoric about law enforcement on social media and these people getting millions abused because a cop wasn’t sure of maybe the appropriate code. It’s the toughest job in the world, and you’re held to a higher standard. And, you know, I see these guys, these men and women who have been on the job for years and years, and they get callous. do it all. And the fuse gets shorter and shorter when dealing with some of the juvenile antics of people instead of just people that are trying to cooperate and help them do what needs to be done to hold that thin blue line. So, yeah, I support law enforcement in a big way. Again, truly blessed to be a part of their circle.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, and a little respect goes a long way. Being courteous, having good manners, a little respect can get you through just about anything, I think, these days. Let’s talk about this next song that we’re going to be playing for everyone.
SPEAKER 09 :
Sure. You know, the song that’s well known across all musicians in the world, actually, is one called Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen. And I was actually called to perform a version for law enforcement that someone else had done. And I said, you know, I don’t really love how they sung this part or that part. I started editing things. And then finally, I just got to the point. I said, you know what? I’m going to recreate my own version. I’m going to sing it the way I would sing it. I’m going to put in the lyrics that I would put in. Because I feel like I write from a very unique perspective. I’ve been allowed inside some of the inner sanctums of law enforcement, which… Not a lot of musicians have. Not a lot of people even that are in law enforcement have seen and rubbed shoulders with some of the people and heard some of the stories. So I took what I’ve learned, and I wanted it to be poignant. I wanted it to be specific. I wanted it to humanize the badge so others that, again, the civilians on the outside might take a step back and say, hey, you know what? I maybe hadn’t respected the job of law enforcement enough. I didn’t see it from that perspective. I didn’t recognize the sacrifice on a daily basis that these men and women do. So that’s what I’m hoping comes from this. It’s called Hallelujah by Dave Bray, USA. If people want to watch the video, it’s amazing. Go to any of the YouTube channels, YouTube channel Dave Bray USA. You can find all my videos there. Please grab one, share one out on social. Love to hear your insight. And if you tag me on anything, I always share to my stories on on Facebook, Instagram and anywhere else.
SPEAKER 05 :
OK, and here we have David Bray USA with Hallelujah.
SPEAKER 10 :
Hold the line and protect us all. But you don’t know about this badge now, do you? Well, it stands for justice, hope, and truth, and mourning faith by those in blue who answer the ancient call of hallelujah. Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah So you swore an oath and you took a stand You pled your life as you raised your hand But you don’t think that you’re right Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. How much they truly need you It’s the lion’s roar that keeps us safe The badge that shines and lights the way So we can sleep in peace the whole night through Yeah And the hardest part of every day is seeing the instant lives betrayed and holding back what you really want to do it. The lion’s heart begins to roar. After all the sirens and all the lights, you never got to say goodnight to the ones at home who were all. of us who depend on you to answer the ancient call of
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I love you!
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That’s 303-880-8881 Call now.
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Do you strive for excellence as you work with your clients and customers? Does it make sense for you to add a unique and focused branding opportunity to your marketing portfolio? Would you like to access a broad customer base that loves our country and wants to make life better for ourselves, our neighbors, our colleagues, our children, and our grandchildren? Then you may be a perfect fit as a sponsor or partner of The Kim Munson Show. To learn more, reach out to Kim at kim at kimmunson.com. Kim would love to talk with you.
SPEAKER 05 :
Thank you so much for listening to America’s Veterans Stories. We are rebroadcasting some of the shows that we have recorded in the past because we have these amazing guests and these amazing stories, and we need to hear them. And so we thought that it would be a great idea to rebroadcast some of these so that you can hear our history and know our history because it is so important. So again, this is something that was recorded earlier, and thank you for listening.
SPEAKER 10 :
And welcome back to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson.
SPEAKER 05 :
Be sure and check out our website. That is AmericasVeteranStories.com. And David Bray, let’s talk a little bit about patriotism in America. And that is actually one of the core values of the Center for American Values is honor, integrity, and patriotism. So what does patriotism mean to you?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, well, first off, I just want to circle back for that USMC Memorial Foundation. It’s USMCMemorialFoundation.org to get tickets for the 824 event. USMCMemorialFoundation.org. I just want to hit that real quick. Awesome. But patriotism, Kim, patriotism and being a citizen. It falls into doing the same thing. Just because you live in America doesn’t mean anything. You have to participate as a citizen of this country. This country can only survive with citizens who participate in what needs to happen in order for it to survive. The reason that we’re people are I hear the word, you know, you’re trying to destroy democracy. Well, democracy is just a process. The true relevance of what we are in this country is that we are a republic. We are the republic of that allows the government to be democratic. It’s not democracy that allows us to be a republic. The republic allows people to live in a democracy by voting in elections, but it’s the people, the citizenry of a country that makes it strong. It’s not the government. All those things are misbeliefs and improper use of vocabulary. I hear it day in and day out. Democracy, it’s trying to take away democracy. Democracy is just a process. It’s the republic that allows the government to be democratic. And we need to hold on to ourselves first. We need to hold ourselves accountable. We need to hold our representatives accountable. We need to hold, we were just talking about this, our school boards accountable. And that’s one thing that has gone away is the fact that the citizenry in America has become apathetic and they’ve become ignorant to what’s happening around them. Legislation that’s just running rampant. And it’s just one of those things. It’s more over and more over government overreach. Everybody’s like too much government overreach. We let it happen. We let those people get into those office positions. We let that legislation pass without standing out front on the Capitol steps and raising a thing about it. This is a part of being an American. You don’t get to get to kick back and enjoy the freedom. that people have given their lives for, you have to participate in America in order for America to work. And that is what patriotism is. It’s pledging that allegiance. It’s swearing those oaths. It’s standing up for what’s right. It’s doing the right thing at the right time. It’s supporting those who support what we do and allowing freedom to exist through us allowing it to exist through the democratic process, not the other way around. I think people get that twisted.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, and you alluded to something, and it’s taken me a while to figure this out. I served on city council for four years, and people talk about local government. But local governments can get out of their proper role of government. And what I learned, and I think you alluded to this, is the most local of all governments is ourselves. So we have to start there. And then it goes up from there to our local governments, our county, our state, and our national governments. But that is really what the founding of America was about, was the individual, individual freedom, the idea that we’re all created equal, that we have these rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. And so the most local of all government is ourselves. And when we start to get that right, then we start to get everything else right in our country as well.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, people – exactly. And I’ll put the family unit in there as being the sovereign of its own local government. Sure. The fact that we have gotten away from apatriarchy being a bad thing, true leadership from a male father figure in a household is an important, important thing. And if you look at any – Any metric, any amount of data, when you remove that father patriarchal father figure out of a household, the outcome is detrimental to the to the next generation. And it is that is documented data in and out. But for whatever reason, the patriarch is a bad thing. You know, we can’t have men in charge of everything. We don’t want this. We don’t want that. Listen, there’s a time and a place for anybody who’s the best. fitted for the job but when it comes down to the house the family the sovereign unit those are the building blocks of this nation the families the families make up the communities the communities make up the school districts and that’s how it works and it does not work if you don’t have the family participating as a family if you have rogue agents as children out running the streets doing whatever because because the dad wasn’t there to lay down the law That’s an issue. That’s a problem. That’s a problem with our society, with our government. And the same, it’s trickled up. It’s trickled up anarchy the same way it’s trickled down chaos from our government. It’s the same thing. If we are not responsible for our homes, if we are not responsible for our families and for our offspring, then how are we supposed to, how are we expected to vote people who have no regard for any of those things in the office and expect it to work out? It cannot work out. It’s a failed metric and it will not work. So Again, we as citizens, you say about patriotism, you have to stand up. You have to do what’s right. And you have to self-police. And you’ve got to make the hard choices. And you have to participate in the citizenry of America, which includes voting, which includes being a part of what’s going on legislatively and being in the know and being in the knowledge and holding accountable our representatives. You have to be a part of it.
SPEAKER 05 :
And voting is so important. There is a however, and that is that people need to be informed voters, not emotional voters, but informed voters. And so there’s a responsibility to become informed. And if one, I take heat for saying this, but if someone does not take the time to become an informed voter, then perhaps they shouldn’t vote. Because I think that that is just a huge responsibility in our country, David Bray.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, I would say the same thing for the Second Amendment. You know, there’s a lot of people out there who probably should not carry weapons. I see a lot of Karen’s out there. I see a lot of road raging old men out there. There’s people out there that should not open carry or conceal carry. The Second Amendment is a right, but it doesn’t mean that you exercise it. JUST BECAUSE IF YOU’RE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH THAT WEAPON OR YOU DON’T TRUST YOURSELF IN SITUATIONS OUT IN PUBLIC, THEN YOU SHOULD NOT CARE. THE SAME WAY, JUST LIKE YOU SAID, VOTING IS A PRIVILEGE, IT’S A RIGHT. BUT CERTAIN PEOPLE, UNEDUCATED, SAME WITH A FIREARM, I PUT THE TWO IN A VERY SIMILAR CATEGORY. The two are very similar because, listen, if you don’t know who you’re voting for or you don’t know how to carry a weapon, you should not carry that weapon unless you are informed and trained in that environment. So, yeah, 100% agree for that. And, you know, what it all comes down to is this. America still has more freedom than any other country, but we’re losing it. It’s slipping away. It’s falling into legislation. It’s falling away bit by bit. The pieces of the Constitution are being rat-eaten, moth-eaten by what’s happening in D.C. and around the country. But here’s the deal. Many, many people for generations have paid the ultimate price for us to have what freedom we have left. And just because the government is moving one way does not mean it’s going to continue to move that way forever. The American people need to understand that if things aren’t the way we like them, we need to pay more attention, hold more feet to the flames, because the brave men and women who paid the ultimate price deserve that from those of us who have been taking up. and enjoying the freedoms that they have paid the ultimate price for.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, absolutely. So David Bray, USA, that event, you can buy your tickets at usmcmemorialfoundation.org. That event is August 24th. We’ve got about 30 seconds. Set this next song up for us.
SPEAKER 09 :
So just like I said, you know, the men and women, when we swear an oath to this country, to this Constitution, when we swear that oath, sometimes it does mean that you’re writing a blank check up to and for your life. And that means sometimes that life is given. But they say that the tree of liberty cannot exist without the blood of heroes. So this next song is called Freedom Rings, Blood of Heroes. And again, I’m Dave Bray, USA. You can find me at Dave Bray, USA on social media, davebrayusa.com.
SPEAKER 10 :
For every soul from every war Across the seas, around our shore For every fold of our flag Our coffins are laid as a widow’s land For every daughter and every son The price is paid for everyone. So remember him, cherish his name. Your freedom reigns. His final breath, our flag still flies. Never dies So for every soul From every war Across the seas Or on our shore Every foe Holds a lot of fight Coffins lead To the widow’s land And every dog For everyone, so remember him, cherish his name, your freedom reigns. His final breath, our flag still flies. heroes never dies for every soul from every war across the seas Cherish his name Your freedom
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you for listening to America’s Veteran Stories with Kim Munson. Be sure to tune in again next Sunday, 3 to 4 p.m. here on KLZ 560 and KLZ 100.7.
SPEAKER 02 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
