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- [00:00]
Clay
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
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- [01:05]
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- [01:45]
Grainger Advertiser
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- [02:15]
Host Clay
The Team 47 podcast is sponsored by.
- [02:18]
Host Buck
Good Ranchers making the American Farm strong again.
- [02:24]
Host Clay
Team 47 with Clay and Buck starts now. President Trump at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day and we have a couple of cuts from what he had to say there. And if we could play those now, that would be fantastic.
- [02:43]
President Trump (audio clips)
Everything we have, everything our country has achieved, has been purchased by the muscle, spine and steel of the United States military. We owe it all to the fierce and noble men and women of the army, the Navy, the Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, and the United States Marines is a guy. Our service members, our own words are the greatest possible tribute to their immortal valor.
- [03:18]
Host Clay
Trump also, Buck, talked about the decision to switch back to the Department of War, and here is what he had to say about the necessity for that.
- [03:29]
President Trump (audio clips)
From now on, we're going to be celebrating Victory Day for World War I, for World War II, and, frankly, for everything else under the Trump administration, we are restoring the pride and the winning spirit of the United States military. That's why we have officially renamed the Department of Defense back to the original name, Department of War. And remember, we won World War I, we won World War II, we won everything in between. We won everything that came before. And then we brilliantly decided to change the name of this great. This great thing that we all created together, and we became politically correct. We don't like being politically correct, so we're not going to be politically correct anymore. From now on, when we fight a war, we only fight for one reason. To win. We fight to win.
- [04:24]
Host Clay
Okay, so that's President Trump. Arlington National Cemetery, I will say, and I don't think this has gotten enough attention, and certainly it should, because it's a very positive story here as we celebrate Veterans Day. Buck the overall enlistment numbers for our military has skyrocketed since Pete Hegseth has gotten in there, since President Trump has taken over, and since they've gone back to the idea of warriors. And we want the people in the military to be in shape, and we want them to be badasses, and we want them to be a lethal fighting force. It turns out that that's actually a much better pitch to young men and young women than, hey, we want to be diverse and inclusive, and we want to make sure that you can have your trans surgeries while you're also in military. Young people want to be better, sharper, tougher versions of themselves. And that's certainly coming through, I think, in the renewed vigor of our enlistment numbers.
- [05:28]
Host Buck
Yeah, esprit de corps is a critical aspect of having an effective military, of military cohesion. You have to have belief in what it is that you are doing, because otherwise, it almost seems like an inherently irrational thing to sign up for a job where you're saying, I might die doing this job. You have to believe and you have to love something to be willing to do that. And as we're talking about, of course, Veterans Day, that is what all of our veterans are willing to do. That is why they sign up. And yet, on the bureaucrat, political side of things, they have started to Chip away at that. They have started to make it seem like there's a social justice experiment that is the primary goal of our military or that the military is a jobs program, but not really for fighting or for combat. It's for some other purpose. Right. I'll never forget. This isn't about the military, but the idiot former CIA director Brennan, who's in all kinds of trouble with Trump and the DOJ and everything else, he said something like, CIA doesn't steal secrets. Do you remember this? He actually said that he was a CIA director. He's like, the CIA doesn't steal secrets. And for a lot of us who sat there and said no, that is. That is the fundamental.
- [06:50]
Host Clay
That's like saying the fire department of the entire. Of the entire agency.
- [06:54]
Host Buck
That is like saying the fire department does not put out fil. Like, this is the most straightforward thing that you can possibly have. And so I think what they're doing with the military, what they're doing and how they're trying to get a vision of the future going here makes a lot of sense. And everybody that I know who has been in a combat role or in direct support to a combat role that I've talked to about this, and that's. I know this is personal. It's anecdotal. They like the direction of this Pentagon. They like what's going on.
- [07:34]
Host Clay
I'll also point this out. And we've got Rutherford and Dakota Meyer on, too. And I'd encourage you to go subscribe to the podcast and make sure that you're not missing any of the Clay and Buck podcast network, including Badass David Rutherford. One of the things since I've started doing the show, I've gotten to meet Buck. A lot more seals, a lot more Special Forces guys. I'm astounded by how humble they all are and meaning they don't carry themselves as if at any point in time they could kill you. They clearly could. But you wouldn't know that these guys are the badasses of badass Dumb just by walking into a bar. They're not the guys that are getting the most attention for looking like tough guys at the bar. And they clearly are. Reminds me, Buck, I remember seeing a guy back when I was younger, when the Nashville Predators were in town. One of the hockey guys are not that big, you know, but they fight for a living. And I remember one time seeing a Predator, Nashville Predator player, NHL player, bump into a guy at the bar. And the guy at the bar didn't realize that he was like, bumping into an enforcer because he's like 5, 8, 5, 9. And it didn't go well for the guy at the bar. You know, of all the people that you could bump into a guy who fights on ice skates for a living, you definitely don't know who you're bumping into at the bar. A lot of times you bump into a seal, you're in trouble, and you don't even see it coming.
- [09:03]
Host Buck
You know, there's the. The quote, also on the Department of War issue, attributed Napoleon that in war, morale is to the physical as 3 to 1, meaning the morale of your force is essential. Morale is not just. Again, because this goes to your willingness to put yourself in jeopardy of possibly dying.
- [09:27]
Host Clay
Yes.
- [09:27]
Host Buck
Which is the essence. Unfortunately, it's a human reality. The essence of warfare is you are willing to put yourself in situations where you can die. And morale and belief and a sense of greater purpose has to be there for that.
- [09:45]
Host Clay
And also your willingness to withstand misery even when death isn't necessarily at its forefront. I mean, you go back and you read American History, which I love to do. I'll be honest. We kind of jokingly talked about how you and I don't want to camp outside. You go read I. Which I've been doing recently. The great book that's out, I think, from Rick Atkinson is the author. He's working through a trilogy of the Revolutionary War. I was reading recently about the Valley Forge experience. You go back and you read about what Civil War soldiers did in camp, what they put up with. You go back and. And read about what happened during the. During the Battle of the Bulge and all of the chaos surrounding the winter that happened in World War II. What people went through, even when they weren't necessarily directly facing death. And many of the times they were. But I'm talking about just being constantly cold, being constantly miserable. I don't think the average American even comprehends it. And don't even get me started on the decision that people made back in the day when they were in Ireland and they were in England and they were all over Europe. And they said, hey, you know what? I'm gonna get on this boat for the next six weeks, which might or might not ever make it to land again. And you're. The. The disease and the. And the. What people put themselves through in this country. I don't think we sit and think about it enough. And I think to your point, the morale associated with what that requires, the spirit, the belief in something greater, is transformative. When you study American history, In that way, yes.
- [11:29]
Host Buck
But the. The ability of our military to have been as successful as it has been is tied directly to the belief that the people who have taken up arms, overwhelmingly men who have taken up arms for this country, feel in the American experiment and this country. Right. So that, I think, is something that the left undermines. I think the Democrats in many of their policies lost focus on, and that is being restored now. But to your point, I remember one thing that I still say this to people and they don't believe, isn't it two out of three casualties in the Civil War were from disease, Right?
- [12:07]
Host Clay
Yeah.
- [12:07]
Host Buck
Two out of three deaths in Civil War from disease. Another part of this is we often think of the sacrifice, because you mentioned the willingness to go through. Nonsense. We think of the sacrifices of people who are charging the machine gun nest.
- [12:21]
Host Clay
Yes.
- [12:21]
Host Buck
Or running across no man's land in the First World War or storming the hill at Gettysburg. Right. Whatever it may be. But then there's also the contracting typhus in camp because you're not with your family and you're part of a military effort. And that's a very real. You know, there are sacrifices, including the sacrifice of one life, that can come along with military service that aren't in that clash of combat that we think of.
- [12:53]
Host Clay
Yeah, no doubt. And to your point, especially because so many people who were Civil War soldiers had never been living necessarily in close proximity. This was actually one of the benefits that some northern troops had was they were in city environments, and so they had had viruses and. And all of that run through their. Their families already. But a lot of people were living in rural places at the time, so you were rarely, other than church, maybe some rudimentary schooling, you were rarely surrounded by people. And so, yeah, in the winter camp, you can imagine how the viruses just ran roughshod through the entire camps and how many people died completely as a result. And some people froze to death. I mean, again, I just think the. The. What veterans went through, we don't spend enough time contemplating throughout all of human history and the sacrifices that they've all made, even if they weren't necessarily under fire every day in the midst of the Battle of Gettysburg. Just living in those camps during the winter would have been brutal on a level that most of us can't even comprehend this day. Go read about Valley Forge. I mean, just read about it from the comfort of your warmly, warmly comfortable living conditions and just think about how brutal it would have been.
- [14:19]
Host Buck
What's the best. Do you have a favorite historical com. You know historical war novel.
- [14:27]
Host Clay
Yeah.
- [14:28]
Host Buck
Not history.
- [14:28]
Host Clay
Yeah. Killer Angels by Michael Sherra I think is really good. You know he goes into I'm sure some of you have read it, but it's about the battle of Gettysburg and he goes into the the minds of each of the characters and then his son Jeff later wrote books that built around that. But that's probably my favorite historical work of fiction. What about you? Back in the day? Anything that you loved?
- [14:51]
Host Buck
Oh yeah. Gates of Fire Steven Pressfield about Thermopylae Spartans and the and the.
- [14:57]
Host Clay
I don't know anything. I'm writing that down because I've never even heard of that book.
- [15:01]
Host Buck
Oh my gosh, it is so good. I it is one of my favorite just novel fun reads of all time. Gates of Fire Steven Pressfield if you like the movie 300, you will love this book.
- [15:15]
Host Clay
I I'm going to go in and order it during the break because I'm sold. I recognized when I got to go to Italy a couple of years ago that I had a absence of knowledge about Greek and Roman history that I wish I didn't. And I've been trying to read more about that era and familiarize myself with it better. And and so that's one of my in addition to American history, which I think I have a pretty good grasp of, that's one of the areas of history that I think I can get better at. So I have been focused on it.
- [15:49]
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- [16:49]
Elevate Health Advertiser
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- [17:29]
Clay
Dude.
- [17:29]
Host Clay
This new bacon, egg, and chicken biscuit from AM PM Total winner, winner, chicken breakfast.
- [17:34]
Host Buck
Chicken breakfast?
- [17:35]
President Trump (audio clips)
Come on.
- [17:35]
Host Buck
I think you mean chicken dinner, bro.
- [17:37]
Clay
Nah, brother.
- [17:38]
David Rutherford
Crispy bacon, fluffy eggs, juicy chicken, and a buttery biscuit.
- [17:42]
Host Clay
That's the perfect breakfast. All right, let me try it. Okay.
- [17:46]
Clay
Yeah, totally.
- [17:46]
President Trump (audio clips)
Winner, winner, chicken breakfast.
- [17:48]
Host Buck
I'm gonna have to keep this right here.
- [17:51]
President Trump (audio clips)
Make sure every breakfast is a winner.
- [17:53]
Host Clay
With the delicious new bacon, egg, and chicken biscuit from AM PM AM P. M. Too much good stuff. You're listening to Team 47 with clay and Buck.
- [18:05]
Host Buck
We are very pleased to be joined by our friend David Rutherford. He's a former Navy seal, served a combat tour in Afghanistan. He's also the host of the Dave Rutherford show on the Clay and Buck Podcast network, which is growing, growing, growing every month. It is a fantastic program. Program Recommend you all go check it out. Dave, we call you Rut. So for Anyone who's confused, Mr. Rut, tell us first off, your thoughts on this Veterans Day. Speaking for yourself and your fellow veterans out there, what's your top level view? How's it going.
- [18:41]
Host Clay
Buck?
- [18:42]
David Rutherford
Clay, thanks for having me on again. I think for veterans right now, there's a rebirth. There's a revival taking place, and what Pete is doing, I mean, every time I see Joe Kent post something, I want to go get my kid on and, you know, sign back up. And I just think right now there's a revitalization, and the numbers are showing that people are wanting to go in, they're wanting to serve. They believe that the president is fired up to, you know, make the American military the mightiest force in the world again. And I think it's. It's a real positive moment for everyone.
- [19:22]
Host Clay
When you see those enlistment numbers, and Pete Hexseth came out at the Patriot Awards, and he was talking about them on Thursday night, and I know that on this Veterans Day, they're shining a bright light on it. Isn't that the best actual indication of how the Secretary of War, as we now have it renamed, but the Secretary of Defense for the last 30 or 40 years. Isn't that the ultimate judgment on him and on the trajectory of the military? Do people want to join or not?
- [19:56]
David Rutherford
Yeah, I mean absolutely, it is. I mean you went to that. I mean I love that there was this incredible gala, right? You saw the Marine Corps balls, you saw vice president speak at vance, speak at one, you know, the E5 mafia represented at the highest levels. Yeah, people are stoked and the numbers reflect that. You know, I think it's, it's, you know, the other, the other great challenge is because we're not in a very substantial kinetic environment right now that it's difficult to tell, you know, whether it'll last because that's the real testament do people stay in over when there's high levels of combat. But right now I think young people, young American, 24 year old men are revitalized with this idea that I can go and serve in the military, that my uncle, that my father, that my grandfather, that my great grandfather served in. And I'm going to get that genuine sense of real patriotism and service.
- [21:03]
Host Buck
Dave, take us back if you would, to your decision to join up. Just what it was like going through what was going through your head, what your feelings were about it, the motivations, your sense of what it would mean to be in the Navy and of course to join the teams, become a Navy seal. Like just take us back to that moment because I think for a lot of people who today maybe are considering once again, you know, we have younger audience members who are listening who might be thinking about it. We have college age people listening who might be considering it. What was your mindset like when you first decided I'm going to throw my hat in the ring?
- [21:38]
David Rutherford
That's a great question, Buck. You know, for me I was, I was struggling to try and figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I, you know, my athletic career hadn't worked out the way I hoped at college level and, and I was just in this position where it's like what is the meaning of my life going to represent. And you know, my great great uncle was in Rose Theodore Roosevelt's cabinet. You know, I, I had, you know, it's been several generations since anybody had served but you know, I, that legacy and link I think was a driving force as well as just my, you know, I was a Gen Xer. I was influenced by Rambo and Commando and all the incredible movies that, you know, showed American military might and power at the highest levels. Top gun, Navy seals. And that consumed me. I was like, this is the, this is the thing that's gonna put me on my way, help me figure out what I'm made of, if I'm, if I represent something bigger than myself and, and something that'll give me purpose and meaning to figure out the longer term idea of what I might ultimately become. So, yeah, it was a powerful influence over me to go try and become a part of, you know, not only the DoD, but the Navy and the SEAL teams and down all the way to the guys that were next to me that I served with.
- [23:04]
Host Clay
We're talking to David Rutherford, encourage you to go subscribe to his podcast. It's a part of the Clay and Buck Podcast network. It's Veterans Day, you are a Navy seal, and I don't know if we've ever asked you this question, but when you were going through the process of becoming a Navy seal, what was the toughest thing to you about the Navy SEAL process itself? Was it, was there a moment where you thought, I cannot push myself any further. And we've got a lot of people out there, a lot of young guys that, that listen to us and maybe aspire to be a Navy SEAL one day. What would you say they should know? What would you say they should do?
- [23:45]
David Rutherford
I think the biggest thing is to recognize that there's, you have so much more in your reservoir of willpower than you can even imagine, you know, and these programs, whether it's buds or it's selection or the Q course or mar socks or whatever, amazing selection process from all the different soft units. Like, you have to realize you have what it takes. It's just a question of believing in yourself. And then for me, the biggest thing is I didn't want to let the guys down next to me. That was the biggest motivator. Like, I'm going to be honest, I thought about, you know, quitting all the time. I mean, the pain of just going through it, being wet, being Sandy, being miserable, having people scream at you, the whole thing. But what it does for me is it just motivated me to be better for the guys next to me. And then they became the ultimate motivation. So, you know, I think when you're thinking about what it is, first and foremost, the number one thing, and I just had a call with a young man the other day who's in college and, you know, really thinking about it and the thing I, I say the most is, is do the deep dive. Understand what you're committing to understand. You know, Bongino Dan, put a great text out or tweet out today where he said, you know, the ultimate thing is service, serving the men and women that are next to you in the line of fire. And, and that is the thing that is the driving force. Ultimately. I, you know, I know guys that have 800 combat missions. I know a couple guys that have 500, 400, you know, multiple silver stars, five bronze stars with valor. These are the ultimate heroes. And you ask them, why did you serve? Why did you fight as hard as you did? And the ultimate thing always comes down because of the man that was next to me. And so, you know, that's the driving force. If you want to participate with the, with the very highest caliber of committed human beings to you and your success, then these programs are right for you.
- [25:52]
Host Buck
Dave, I wanted you to also weigh in on how are we doing. You know, there was this whole period during the GWAD era where a lot of people who served and a lot of people who saw combat were being brought back in and going through the transition back into civilian life. That is less of a focus now in the general public discussion than it was. Cuz you point out we're not really in active combat zones the way we were before. How are we doing in taking care of our veterans though? Because whether it's, we have Tunnel to Towers, for example, a great sponsor here on the program, you know, there are some veterans who have long term needs who still need that assistance from whether it's psychological or physical wounds. You know, is the VA getting the attention it needs under this administration? You know, I'm wondering how we're doing on that front.
- [26:41]
David Rutherford
I still believe there is an immeasurable amount of work to be done. Yeah, I see the director of the VA going on all the shows and he's saying the right things and. But there are still, you know, thousands, tens of thousands of, of of people in the soft community alone that took the brunt of those g rock operational tempo. You know, and it's not just the combat deployments, it's the endless training cycles.
- [27:10]
Clay
Right.
- [27:11]
David Rutherford
That also have a really profound effect. And that's why for me, I've really kind of linked myself to Dr. Chris Freeh and the framework of operator syndrome. You know, I started a little nonprofit to really try and figure out how to address the 17 different medical and behavioral health challenges that long term exposure to high training tempos and high deployment cycles has an impact on people. You know, you, you can't send a guy, you know, doing 14, 15 deployments and not expect there to be some long term damage. And that's why There was actually just a new study from Stanford Dr. That did a case study with 200 special operations guys and he used the operator syndrome framework. And that study validated the original paper and book written by Dr. Chris Freeh, that this is a reality, right? That long term exposure causes metabolic destabilization. It causes behavioral health challenges in different ways. Yes, ptsd, but also survivor's guilt, extensive existential challenges, intimacy issues.
- [28:26]
Elevate Health Advertiser
Right.
- [28:26]
David Rutherford
Then you have neurogenic issues from blast wave exposure, endocrine dysfunction, and then the orthopedic injuries, the perpetual living in pain. And so I think there's still a lot of work to be done. There's a lot of work to be done at the administrative level to at least bring in the Stanford Doc and Dr. Freeh. I would love to see them be able to testify on Capitol Hill and tell the people that are in charge of the funding to carve out a little bit of funding to do research on operator syndrome. I mean we've seen the most, the most substantial thing I think we've seen has been on the state level. You saw former governor Perry work with the lawyer, Hubbard was his name. And they got $50 million in funding to do research on ibogaine and 5 emo DMT, which is the vets program initiative that really helps guys, one get sober, come off prescription drugs and then the other to reestablish neuroelasticity and establish new brain patterning that can help facilitate putting some of those demons to rest. So there's a lot of work to be done, a lot of guys still struggling. And what I would really love is that for the next kinetic war that could take place, which right now could be anywhere. I hope that we have a better plan in place to take care of them. As opposed to what the GWAT guys, the Vietnam guys, the Korean, and then Also World War II guys did not receive.
- [30:06]
Host Buck
David Rutherford, thank you for your service, our friend. We appreciate you appreciate what you did for the country and also would recommend all of you listening go check out the David Rutherford show on the Clay and Buck Podcast network. Rut, always appreciate you man. Thank you for giving us your time today.
- [30:23]
David Rutherford
God bless you guys. Thank you Buck, for your service too, buddy. Take care.
- [30:26]
Clay
God bless.
- [30:27]
Host Buck
Thank you my man.
- [30:27]
Host Clay
You too.
- [30:28]
Annabe Advertiser
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- [31:28]
Elevate Health Advertiser
We all know those GLP1 injections work wonders, but that price tag almost gave me a heart attack. When my insurance denied coverage, I was staring at a choice between paying my mortgage or paying for weight loss. Talk about a rock and a hard place. Then I found Elevate Health Compounded semaglutide at just $58 with payment plans that don't require a second mortgage. Same medication, same results, but a price that real folks can actually aff. Visit joinelevate.com today. That's J-O-I-N-E-L-E-V-A-T-E.com. your wallet will be as happy as your waistline. This medication is not FDA approved.
- [32:08]
Grainger Advertiser
This is the story of the One as head of maintenance at a concert hall, he knows the show must always go on. That's why he works behind the scenes, ensuring every light is working, the H Vac is humming, and his facility shines with Grainger's supplies and solutions for every challenge he faces. Plus 24. 7 customer support. His venue never misses a beat. Call quickgranger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.
- [32:38]
Host Clay
The Team 47 podcast is sponsored by.
- [32:41]
Host Buck
Good ranchers making the American farm Strong again.
- [32:45]
Host Clay
You're listening to team 47 with Clay and Buck. We are joined now by Dakota Meyer, Medal of Honor recipient, and we're going to get into a bunch of different stories, but we appreciate you making the time and appreciate all your service. I thought we would just start. I know you've got the Medal of Honor. I haven't heard you tell a story about how that Medal of Honor came to be. I believe it was in Afghanistan about a little bit less than 20 years ago. Can you share with us the story of what happened that that led to you becoming a Medal of Honor recipient?
- [33:25]
David Rutherford
Yeah, no.
- [33:25]
Clay
Thank you so much for having me. It's an honor? No, I was in Afghanistan. I was part of an embedded training team in 2009. And basically it was four US and 80 Afghans on a base. And our job was to mentor, to train to, and to kind of, you know, teach them our tactics and things like that. And so we'd gone in, we were going to run this mission into a place called the Gangegal Valley. There's going to be a big mission, a bunch of teams coming together. I was on a team with Lieutenant Johnson, Gunny Kennefick, and Doc Layton. And then, so we've gone in this, this. We go down this valley, we meet up, we get our mission brief, and then the next morning we. We go and start, you know, to perform this patrol. And I was left with the vehicles, and I was replaced with a guy named Gunnery Sergeant Johnson. And so, as you know, they. They entered the village. It's the typical story of that. We'd been set up. And so they'd been set up and gunfight started. And my team ended up getting cut off by the enemy and separated from the rest of the group. And so after hearing the, you know, over the radio, how dire the situation was, myself and a driver knew we had to do something. So we took the. The gun truck that we were in, we made multiple trips in the valley trying to get the team out. And then, you know, after five or six hours, we ended up. We lost contact with them and then finally located them. And they'd all been killed.
- [34:57]
Host Clay
Wow.
- [34:59]
Host Buck
And then could please continue on so that. What. At that point, what did you. What did you do?
- [35:03]
Clay
Dakota Fish recovered the bodies and brought them back out. You know, fought our way back out. And then I stayed there for another few months and then came home after that.
- [35:15]
Host Clay
It's an extraordinary story.
- [35:18]
Host Buck
I'm wondering, Dakota, there's a few things we wanted to talk to you about today, including how we're caring for and how we're keeping the sacred promise to our veterans after their service. Veterans like yourself and the millions of others who serve, particularly in the gwad era of Iraq and Afghanistan, who have come out. But what was your thought when the Biden administration had the pullout from Afghanistan, a place where you saw considerable combat and the folding of the Afghan army. Cuz you were effectively involved in training Afghan units. Right. At one point, were you surprised at how it all ended in Afghanistan, or was that along with what your expectations were?
- [36:01]
Clay
Yeah, I mean, we should have pulled out of Afghanistan. I mean, you know, we should have pulled out Afghanistan a long time ago. You know, I mean, the only thing I'll say about the pull out of Afghanistan is thank God that somebody did it. Outside of that, you know, I definitely, we all can have some opinions on, on how it went down and things like that, but I mean, look, I mean, how much longer? Look, at the end of the day, what I am so thankful for is that not another service member is dying in that country right now. You know, we've got to change up the way that we fight wars. I mean, we've got like, that's, that's the real problem to this whole thing. You know, I don't know, I don't know what would been a great way to pull out of Afghanistan, but I'm just thankful that, that we did.
- [36:43]
Host Buck
But I'm all. I was also particularly curious, Dakota, about your assessment. I was in country with the CIA in 2009 or 20. 2010, sorry, 2010. And I was looking at all the assessments that the four star was getting and it looked bleak in 2010 to your point about pulling out sooner when the Afghans that we had trained and mentored for so long just didn't fight. I mean, they just. There was no fight against the Taliban. Was that along with your expectations or was that a surprise?
- [37:15]
Clay
Yeah, I mean, I mean, absolutely. But this is like, this is more my frustration part is with, you know, everybody advocating for. Look, I brought my interpreter over and I think that anybody we made a promise to, we 100%, you know, fulfill that promise. But here's, here's where my stance is on this thing is, look, bring any of the women and children over, but you're, if you're a military age male, you don't get to come to the United States because you don't get to live off the freedom on the backs of our service members. You need to fight for your own. Coming here is not going to be what's going to fix your country. We need people that are going to fight for what's right. We stood over there and our people were dying for 20 some years to try to help them build up their country, to help build up an infrastructure. And, you know, what are we going to do?
- [38:03]
Host Clay
Right?
- [38:03]
Clay
I mean, what are we going to do?
- [38:05]
Host Buck
Yeah. I wanted to ask you one more thing, Dakota, before we transition actually into something else. The, the fight for gender rights that I know that you are, or rather just for gender, which Clay and I definitely want to talk to you about, because that's something we talk about a lot here on the show. But as it is Veterans Day how are we doing in your mind of honoring, supporting, and keeping the promise of the American people to our veterans, given the wars that we've been fighting and the operational tempo that many of them have seen?
- [38:38]
Clay
Yeah, I mean, I think that first off, I don't know that there's a country on the face of the planet that loves their veterans or takes care of their veterans better than the United States of America. You know, look, the Vietnam generation made sure that our generation would never deal with that. That again. Right. They fought so hard to make sure that that wasn't going to happen over again. You know, I think. I think obviously there's. There's more to do. I think that we can always do more. We could do better. But I'll tell you what, I don't. I don't think. I don't think it's not from a lack of trying or effort. I just think that we've got to evolve the way that we're doing things. Right? I think that we've got to evolve the services. You know, we've got to make things current, what the needs of today's veterans are and not what they were 10 years ago.
- [39:25]
Host Buck
You know what I mean?
- [39:26]
Clay
Like, I think that's kind of where we're at right now. I do think that there's tons of things out there, but I think we could always do better, for sure.
- [39:33]
Host Clay
Dakota, I know. Again, thanks for your service. I know you're doing work with our friend Jennifer C. Jennifer say, who has a great company, xxxy, and you're motivated because you have a couple of daughters. I know the Olympic committee right now is saying, hey, we're going to adjust gender policy. Would you have ever believed, growing up that we'd be in a position where you would have to say, hey, men can't compete in women's sports, and that that would be considered in any way a controversial opinion to have?
- [40:07]
Clay
No, it's crazy. I mean, it's absolutely insane. I think. I think what made me really realize how insane it had gotten was whenever President Trump got, you know, he got sworn in and his first executive order was that there's only two genders. I mean, it's crazy. Yeah, right? I mean, like.
- [40:25]
Elevate Health Advertiser
Like, it's.
- [40:25]
Clay
It's crazy because we all know it. And even the people who are trying to pretend that it's not, we all know it. We all know it. And no, it's absolutely insane. But I'll tell you, and obviously, you're in Afghanistan. You know, name a country that's thriving or that's doing good. That doesn't respect its women.
- [40:46]
Host Buck
Yeah, it's not possible.
- [40:49]
Host Clay
I've said, Dakota. It's actually interesting in that way. You can look at women's World cup soccer matches and you can almost pick the winner just by determining which country has more rights for women. And I wish that our soccer team had been more aggressive in making that case because, I mean, it's not going to shock you, but if you can't wear shorts, you're probably going to have difficulty. Being one of the best women's soccer players of all time, I would just toss out there. And sadly, that's the case in a bunch of countries.
- [41:17]
Host Buck
It's tough to play soccer in a burqa, for sure.
- [41:20]
Host Clay
Yeah, for sure.
- [41:21]
Host Buck
Yeah.
- [41:22]
Clay
I've never tried, but yeah, it definitely looks tough, you know, but. But I just think, you know, but I do want to, like, put the blame where the blame goes, right? So the blame is absolutely 100% on men, right? We have weak men. Every problem we have in this country is because of weak men, period. Hard.
- [41:42]
Host Buck
Stop.
- [41:42]
Clay
Every problem we have is because of weak men. And until we start policing our own and still until we stop and we start fighting this idea of toxic masculinity. Masculinity is desperately needed right now, Matt. Not toxic, but masculinity is for sure. And look, there's no bigger feminist on the face of the planet than a father of daughters. Like, I want my daughters to. To be able to have any experience. They want to be as equal. They have equal rights to any other human being on the face of the planet. But what I don't want them to be is I don't want them to be equally valued as men. They should be held up at a higher value because they are sacred.
- [42:20]
Host Clay
They are.
- [42:21]
Clay
They. They are sacred. Women are sacred. That's the reason they carry kids. That's the reason they reproduce, right? Like, they are sacred and very, very valuable. And we must protect that.
- [42:33]
Host Buck
These individuals who are making this argument that I don't know how many of these you've seen, for example, Dakota, but you even had esteemed scientist Clay. What was his name?
- [42:46]
Host Clay
Neil DeGrasse Tyson.
- [42:48]
Host Buck
Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Thank you. Who went on Bill Maher show and when Bill Maher looked at him and said, we all know that men have a biological, a physical advantage in size, strength, speed over women, right? This scientist, this man of science said, well, I do not know that. What. What is that? How does that happen in society?
- [43:09]
Clay
Well, I mean, you have to think about this. Everything has Been weaponized.
- [43:14]
Host Buck
Right.
- [43:14]
Clay
Like, it's not about facts. Everything has become. When, when you take. And this is. This is where it starts to come in. You know, have you heard this concept where people think, well, everything's gray. No, it's not. Because you know what happens in the gray? There is nothing. Everything is. Everything is subjective. It's not objective. There's no right and wrong. There's no accountability. There's no win or loss. I mean, and that's what's happened. Is, is, is, is. You know, how you change the truth one word at a time, one word at a time. And that's what they're doing. And in this gray area is where depression, where anxiety lives. And you know how you get gray. Let's go back to art class. You take black and white and you mix it together until there's no definitive color between the two, and you get gray. Everything in the world is black and white. Everything. That's the only way you get better. It's the only way that there is. There is empowerment is when there is right and wrong, good and evil. Like, and that is the way. That's the only way to get through things. Like, that's the only way to become better people. That's the only way for a civilization to still thrive, for societies to exist is if there are those lines so that the parameters that people can live in. Right. And so, you know, these, these people that don't want to do this and that's what they're doing is now they have gone at. They're going at everything. I mean, it's going at everything that we have. There's no. I mean, they started in sports. Right. And you know what the worst part of it is? The worst part of it is this, is that how many women name. Name the women that have came to men's sports and that are there that are trying to take titles from men.
- [44:51]
Host Clay
Yeah. It doesn't exist, of course.
- [44:53]
Clay
Yeah, yeah. Because it's weak. Men who can't compete against men. They're going over to women and getting in their sports and competing against women. We is absolutely insane in the sheer fact. And so when you go back to the original question you asked me, I mean, it's kind of like our doctors, right? Like when the people who are writing, who are. Who are, you know, selling the prescriptions, are writing the protocols for the doctors. Well, guess what?
- [45:22]
Host Buck
You're.
- [45:22]
Clay
Guess what you're going to have. You're not going to have doctors who are free thinking and who are making medical treatments better. And who are going out and trying to make people better. You're going to have people who are just managing, managing the, you know, the, the protocols. You don't have doctors, you have people managing the protocols. Scientists. Like everything is agenda. It's all, it's all subjective. And so, yeah, I mean, look, this guy is standing back because he doesn't want to take a stance. Because at any point in time that he takes a stance or makes a statement of something, of what something is or what something isn't, then he has to be prepared to defend it. And we don't have people who are willing to stand up and defend things like that.
- [46:03]
Host Clay
Well said. Thank you for your service, Dakota. Thank you for continuing to speak out for truth, honesty, and frankly, basic human sanity. Good luck with those girls and I hope you have a good Veterans Day, sir.
- [46:15]
Clay
Thank you so much. Have a good day.
- [46:17]
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- [46:56]
Host Buck
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- [46:58]
Clay
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- [47:26]
Grainger Advertiser
This is an iHeart podcast.