WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump commemorated Veterans Day with remarks honoring the United States military’s “legacy of gallantry and daring,” expressing gratitude to American veterans for their service to the nation.
&#8220;On Veterans Day, we honor those who have worn the uniform, who have borne the battle, who have stood to watch and whose ranks have formed the mighty wall of flesh and blood, bravery and devotion that has defended our freedom for 250 years,&#8221; Trump said as he spoke at Arlington National Cemetery.
&#8220;Today, to every veteran, we love our veterans, we say the words too often left unsaid: Thank you for your service. Thank you very much,&#8221; the president said. &#8220;And we want to also say thank you for carrying America&#8217;s fate on your strong, very broad, proud shoulders. Each of you has earned the respect and the gratitude of our entire nation. We love you. We salute you. And we will never forget what you have done to keep America safe, sovereign, and free.&#8221;
Trump reflected on the stories of American valor, filled with &#8220;tales of titans, icons, innovators, and trailblazers who built this country into the greatest, most ambitious, and most prosperous nation the world has ever seen.&#8221; He noted that his administration has taken the United States to &#8220;new levels,&#8221; and said, as he often jokes of late, &#8220;We have never been hotter than we are right now.&#8221;
But the United States of America, Trump said, would be nothing &#8220;without our veterans.&#8221;
&#8220;Everything we have, everything our country has achieved has been purchased by the muscle, spine, and steel of the United States military,&#8221; he said. &#8220;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.&#8221;
Trump shared the story of Major Sullivan Ballou of Rhode Island, who wrote to his wife Sarah before the Battle of Bull Run, &#8220;I know how great a debt we owe to those who went before us,&#8221; and, &#8220;I&#8217;m willing, perfectly willing, darling, to lay down all my joys of this life to help maintain this government and to pay that debt.&#8221;
&#8220;Just one week later, Major Ballou did just that,&#8221; Trump reflected. &#8220;He gave his life to save our country.&#8221;
The president told another story of an American hero from World War II, Colonel Bull Wolverton, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The president shared how Wolverton knelt with his men, the night before D-Day, and prayed, &#8220;We ask only this, that we die, we must die, and we as men would die without complaining, without pleading, and safe in the feeling that we have done our best for what we believed was right. We must do what is right.&#8221;
&#8220;Colonel Wolverton died for us so bravely in battle,&#8221; Trump shared of the war hero, who was killed the next day after his parachute became stuck in a tree and he <a href="https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/people_details.php?PeopleID=30909">was gunned down</a> by German soldiers.
He also honored Army Captain William Swenson, who was previously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Swenson was driving through the Afghan mountains in September 2009 when more than 60 Taliban insurgents ambushed his convoy, the president said. As Swenson and his comrades fought for hours without artillery or air support, one of his fellow soldiers was shot in the chest, prompting Swenson to cross an open field to help his friend.
&#8220;People said, &#8216;Don&#8217;t do it, Captain. Don&#8217;t do it,'&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;He did it. When the terrorists closed in around them and demanded their surrender, Captain Swenson threw a grenade at the enemy and rallied his men to break their advance. He then carried the wounded soldiers hundreds of yards to a rescue helicopter before charging back three times, back and forth, back and forth into the fire to save the wounded and bring them home. Even after seven hours of fighting, he refused to leave any man behind.&#8221;
The president thanked Swenson, who was present at the memorial, for his service.
Then he shared the story of retired Brigadier General Dale Stovall, also present at Tuesday&#8217;s memorial, who was assigned to rescue a downed American airman &#8220;deep in hostile territory&#8221; during the Vietnam War.
&#8220;Despite the extreme peril, Captain Stovall took off in his HH-53C helicopter and soon came under intense fire, forcing him to turn back. But the captain refused to abandon his mission,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;The next day, he willingly plunged back into the danger while taking fire from all directions. He didn&#8217;t have a chance, he felt, but he said, &#8216;I got to do it.&#8217; He rescued the downed American pilot who had been stranded on the ground for 23 days and brought him back home alive, completing the deepest rescue behind enemy lines in the entire Vietnam War.&#8221;
Stovall received the Air Force Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross as well as two Silver Stars, making him the fourth most combat-decorated Air Force Academy grad of all time, the president said, and he told the American war hero: &#8220;You are a legend. Thank you, General Stovall. Thank you very much.&#8221;
&#8220;You look good, General,&#8221; the president added. &#8220;I wish I looked that good. You look good.&#8221;
The president reflected on the &#8220;legacy of gallantry and daring&#8221; that American veterans have shown, &#8220;without parallel in human history.&#8221;
&#8220;Generation after generation,&#8221; the president said, &#8220;America&#8217;s warriors have left behind the comforts of home and family to face violence, evil, and death so that our families could know joy, goodness, and peace. We honor them so strongly. Our heroes have lived through unthinkable nightmares so we could live the American dream.&#8221;
&#8220;They have volunteered to give their last breath to all of us so that we could breathe free,&#8221; the president added. &#8220;And today we know without any doubt in our hearts that after two and a half centuries, America stands tall because America&#8217;s veterans stood so strong. And soon our country will be stronger than ever before.&#8221;
He also brought up his resolution to declare Veterans Day as &#8220;World War I Victory Day,&#8221; reminding those gathered of how he saw France celebrating its own Victory Day. Many other countries celebrate &#8220;Victory Day,&#8221; the president said, and now the United States will as well.
&#8220;America&#8217;s warriors never quit, never surrender,&#8221; he said. &#8220;They fight, fight, fight, and they win, win. That&#8217;s what we do. We win battles. As you know, today is not only Veterans Day, but it&#8217;s my proclamation that we are now going to be saying and calling Victory Day for World War I, Victory Day.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re the one that won the wars,&#8221; he added. &#8220;And I said, &#8216;From now on, we&#8217;re going to say victory day for World War I and World War II.&#8217; And we could do for plenty of other wars, but we&#8217;ll start with those two. Maybe someday somebody else will add a couple of more because we won a lot of good ones.&#8221;
He also brought up that his administration is dedicated to restoring the pride and winning spirit of the United States military, saying that this is why he has renamed the Department of Defense to the Department of War and reversed efforts to make the military politically correct.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t like being politically correct,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So we&#8217;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.&#8221;
Trump also promised that his administration is fighting for the veterans who have &#8220;always been there for us,&#8221; saying that in nine months, his administration has &#8220;cut the backlog of VA benefit claims in half,&#8221; and vowing that VA Secretary Doug Collins is &#8220;going to get it down to zero.&#8221; He stressed that President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration did little to help veterans, but that his White House is focused on working with those who respect and love them.
&#8220;Today, the flame of liberty shines bright,&#8221; the president concluded. &#8220;The people of our nation sleep safe. The American dream surges forward. And our magnificent destiny stands more splendid and glorious than ever before.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-VETERANS-TRUMP

Trump Honors Veterans At Arlington With Tales Of Valor, Courage, And Patriotism

Donald Trump

Executive

Military

Politics

United States

Veterans Day

The deal to reopen the government drives a wedge between Democrats, Florida probes JPMorgan Chase over helping the Biden administration target Donald Trump. On this Veterans Day, we talk to a retired Marine Corps Major about how the shutdown has affected veterans and service members.
It’s Tuesday, November 11, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251111-member-exclusive">the video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">Shutdown Deal Looming</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-998853" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Shutdown-Splits-Dems-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Shutdown-Splits-Dems-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Shutdown-Splits-Dems-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Shutdown-Splits-Dems-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Shutdown-Splits-Dems-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Shutdown-Splits-Dems.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: After the Senate reached a deal to end the government shutdown, hard-Left Democrats are taking aim at those who’ve worked toward a compromise. 
After the Senate reached a breakthrough Sunday night and moved forward with a procedural vote, it convened again Monday afternoon to wrap up the final details. Finally, it passed a clean continuing resolution to keep the government funded through January 30.
The next step for this bill is to head back to the House, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has already called his members back for a vote. While it’ll be close, Johnson said it’s expected to pass, and that President Trump is on board. Trump’s support will help push any Republicans who might still be on the fence.
Overall, this progress was welcomed by federal workers, air travelers, and especially investors. Markets jumped at the apparent agreement, the NASDAQ, for example, surged a whopping 2%, and the DOW and S&amp;P500 each closed just off record highs. 
Democrats face backlash: Not everyone was excited at the news, as a number of high-profile Democrats on Monday criticized the looming deal.
Social media erupted with calls for Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to step down. Democratic House Member Ro Khanna posted that “Schumer is no longer effective and should be replaced.” He added, “If you can’t lead the fight to stop healthcare premiums from skyrocketing for Americans, what will you fight for?”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) has stood by Schumer. He says he was effective and should keep his position.
“Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats over the last seven weeks have waged a valiant fight on behalf of the American people, and I’m not going to explain what a handful of Senate Democrats have decided to do. That’s their explanation to offer to the American people,” Jeffries said.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">JPMorgan Chase Probed Over Arctic Frost</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-998851" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Frost-Bites-JPMorgan-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Frost-Bites-JPMorgan-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Frost-Bites-JPMorgan-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Frost-Bites-JPMorgan-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Frost-Bites-JPMorgan-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Frost-Bites-JPMorgan.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Florida’s top prosecutor on Monday notified one of the world’s largest banks, JPMorgan Chase, that it’s under investigation for its role in the Biden administration’s controversial Arctic Frost probe.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter to the bank. This investigation was prompted by information released by the Senate Judiciary Committee indicating that former Special Counsel Jack Smith&#8217;s Arctic Frost investigation into Trump had targeted hundreds of GOP lawmakers, activists, and entities with subpoenas.
Uthmeier suspects that JPMorgan Chase provided sensitive banking information to the Department of Justice and to Smith as part of the malicious prosecutions of Trump. He <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-florida-ag-probes-jpmorgans-cooperation-with-arctic-frost-as-it-debanked-trump?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=EXCLUSIVE%3A+Florida+AG+Probes+JPMorgan%E2%80%99s+Cooperation+With+Arctic+Frost+As+It+Debanked+Trump">told</a> The Daily Wire that the bank was asking many questions of Trump Media, its client, that were seemingly unrelated to its business.
The bank did not directly address the Monday letter when contacted by The Daily Wire, but a spokeswoman said JPMorgan follows the law in responding to government subpoenas and will continue to do so. She also stressed that JPMorgan doesn&#8217;t discriminate against anyone based on politics, saying it&#8217;s terrible that people can lose their bank accounts because of broken policies that encouraged banks to be overly cautious. She added that it&#8217;s not fair and shouldn&#8217;t happen, and that it&#8217;s great this administration is finally bringing the regulatory change that&#8217;s been requested for years.
GOP looks at Boasberg: Judge James Boasberg signed off on the warrants for the FBI to go after the phone records and essentially spy on nearly a dozen Republican lawmakers. That has sparked more than a few calls for Boasberg to face some sort of accountability.
“But Judge Boasberg, what he did to the president or what he did to Sen. [Ted] Cruz and maybe other senators, absolutely – and I don&#8217;t say this lightly – absolutely is worthy of impeachment proceedings. There has to be accountability,” Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) <a href="https://x.com/SenEricSchmitt/status/1984279659790643327">said</a>.
Boasberg, as chief justice of the D.C. District Court, was the one who had to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/boasbergs-role-arctic-frost-investigation-sparks-criticism-from-gop-senators">review</a> the applications for phone records and sign off on them, as well as gag orders related to them.
It is unclear what was included in those applications – much of the materials that Boasberg reviewed are classified. But because Boasberg has discretion in approving these applications, many Republicans think he should be looked into for possible violations of the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause, which protects lawmakers from law enforcement actions based on their congressional work.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Veterans Day Interview</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-998849" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Saluting-Our-Veterans-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Saluting-Our-Veterans-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Saluting-Our-Veterans-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Saluting-Our-Veterans-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Saluting-Our-Veterans-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Saluting-Our-Veterans.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: On this Veterans Day, we wanted to take a moment to focus on how the events of the past 40 days have impacted our veterans and service members. 
Morning Wire spoke to retired Marine Corps Major and CEO of Lovell Government Services, Chris Lovell, about the government shutdown’s impact on veterans. (The following interview has been edited for clarity.)
Morning Wire: It looks like we have an end in sight for the government shutdown, but I wanted to ask you how this has impacted veterans and service members in particular. What kind of impact have we seen so far from the government shutdown?
Lovell: There&#8217;s been a little anxiety with some veterans not sure whether they get paid or not. The active-duty forces, you know, there were two paydays where that was in question. The administration did the right thing. They ensured they were paid in terms of the veterans, you know, post service – the VA suffered slightly with some outreach programs that would otherwise not have been affected if the shutdown was not an issue. Things like vocational and rehab for transitioning services for when veterans are getting out, backlog now about 10,000 at last count. The veteran secretary, Doug Collins, mentioned that a few days ago. But by and large, there&#8217;s a little bit of anxiety overall, like, is this going to end? And, am I going to get the services that I earned?
Morning Wire: Right, and we&#8217;ve covered how that one-time payment was possible, but going forward, it was unclear if the Trump administration was going to be able to figure out how to make ends meet for future paychecks. About the Trump administration, broadening out, how has this new administration impacted the lives of military service members?
Lovell: It&#8217;s encouraging that the commander-in-chief has their back and has said as much in terms of making sure that the active duty forces get their pay without delay. And for us, it&#8217;s the 250th birthday of the Marine Corps today. Now, Lovell Government Services, my company, we hire tons of Marines. We had a cake-cutting ceremony, and we talked about JD Vance, right? The vice president, the first Marine to be in the White House, and for the troops, what a morale booster to see, you know, the vice president, a former enlisted Marine, at the highest levels of government doing great work.
Morning Wire: Final question, with this being Veterans Day, how do you think we can best preserve the legacy of our military service members?
Lovell: Even if you&#8217;re not a veteran, I would encourage you to go to a Veterans Day ceremony. If you have friends and family that served, reach out to them, ask them about their time in service. What were their favorite times? What did they do that they remember the most that brought them the most satisfaction? And you know, when it comes to Veterans Day, I like to think of veterans that influenced me as a young man, and one of those people is Major James Capers. He&#8217;s a Silver Star winner, served in Vietnam, and right now his Medal of Honor is pending at the highest levels of the Secretary of War&#8217;s office and with the administration. And he&#8217;s 88 years old, and he did some superhuman things that I think are well-deserving of the Medal of Honor. … And so I think it would be fitting to mention Major Capers this Marine Corps birthday and also for tomorrow for Veterans Day.

MRN 11.11.25

Morning Brief: Shutdown Deal Divides Dems, America’s Largest Bank Investigated, & Honoring Veterans

Arctic Frost

Chuck Schumer

Government Shutdown

James Boasberg

JP Morgan

Media

Mike Johnson

Morning Wire

On Independence Day, we celebrate.
On Memorial Day, we remember.
On Veterans Day, we honor. We honor all who, at one point in time, signed a blank check to the United States of America and said, “I’m in.”
But in for what? And for how long?
What I signed up for was to be part of the solution, to be a defender for my country. To be part of something bigger than myself and to sacrifice my “right now” for the future of my nation.
That oath wasn’t about a uniform. It was about a calling. Service doesn’t end when the deployment does; it simply takes new form.
When I first took my oath, I thought it was a promise limited by time, a contract that ended when my active duty did. But years later, I’ve realized that my oath was never meant to expire. It was a declaration of lifelong responsibility, a commitment to something far greater than myself: to stand ready, in whatever way the moment demands.
<div id="attachment_998785" style="width: 812px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-998785" class="size-full wp-image-998785" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jimmy-graham.jpg" alt="" width="802" height="564" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jimmy-graham.jpg 802w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jimmy-graham-300x211.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/Jimmy-graham-768x540.jpg 768w" sizes=" (max-width: 802px) 100vw, 802px" />Credit: Jimmy Graham</div>
I may no longer be on active duty status, defending freedom on distant shores, but I’ve never been more active. Everything I do is a continuation of service — to this nation that I dearly love and to the people in it. The war today is against apathy, division, and moral decay. It’s the fight for our children’s minds in classrooms that have forgotten the truth. It’s the struggle for integrity in leadership, for unity in our communities, and for courage in a culture that rewards comfort. It’s a war for meaning in a generation that’s been told purpose is optional.
My battleground has shifted from standing on the frontlines of combat to standing in the frontlines of my home and community.
True service evolves. It becomes mentorship, leadership, and example-setting. It means preparing others to stand firm when life demands strength. It means showing young men and women that service isn’t just about defending borders; it’s about defending principles.
Many veterans understand this instinctively. We can’t turn it off, nor should we. The discipline, humility, and vigilance we learned in uniform are needed now more than ever right in our own city. Our duty didn’t end when we hung up our gear; it was simply reassigned.
But, we can’t expect our military or our first responders to shoulder all of the responsibility for keeping our nation safe and strong. If the last few years have shown us anything, it’s that danger doesn’t always knock first, it shows up unexpectedly in our schools, our churches, and our neighborhoods. We can’t outsource courage, so we must all be ready to fight and defend.
That relentless commitment to excellence and readiness is what our nation needs. It’s what we can all learn from the men and women who’ve worn the uniform and adopted a service mindset that transcends battlefields.
<div id="attachment_998787" style="width: 730px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-998787" class="size-large wp-image-998787" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/J-Graham-720x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Jimmy Graham" width="720" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/J-Graham-720x576.jpg 720w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/J-Graham-300x240.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/J-Graham-768x614.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/J-Graham.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px" />Credit: Jimmy Graham</div>
So how do we honor veterans this Veterans Day? By doing more than saying, &#8220;thank you.&#8221; By showing our unyielding appreciation for those who fought for this country, but also by recognizing those wearing a new uniform and continuing the fight here at home. The ones leading in their churches, mentoring the next generation, and protecting their communities.
To those who’ve never served, I hope you turn your gratitude into movement. Put on that metaphorical uniform and join the new mission alongside the Vets now serving at home.
To my fellow veterans, thank you for your courageous service. I invite you back into “active duty.” This nation needs your leadership, professionalism, and courage now more than ever. Find a way to better serve your family, your community, and your country once again.
More than a once-a-year &#8220;thank you,&#8221; we need active appreciation. We need proof that the generations to come will carry on our fight for freedom. That the men and women of this great nation will continually defend our land and sacred institutions through service that comes in all shapes and sizes. That is how we can truly honor our veterans.
* * *
Jimmy Graham, CEO of<a href="https://ableshepherd.com/"> Able Shepherd</a>, is a veteran Navy SEAL and former CIA Global Response Staff Protective Officer with over two decades of experience in high-risk environments worldwide. He and his team train civilians, law enforcement, and first responders across the U.S. in armed and unarmed response to active threats to improve community safety and preparedness.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Military Family Reuniting at Miramar in San Diego

Honoring A Veteran Means Doing More Than Saying ‘Thank You’

Honoring A Veteran Means Doing More Than Saying 'Thank You'

Marines

Navy SEAL

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U.S. Air Force

U.S. Army

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The recent attempted shooting of Border Patrol agents in Chicago and the public warning to ICE by New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani are not isolated events. They signal something far more dangerous: the erosion of operational legitimacy for federal immigration enforcement inside the very cities where the rule of law should be most secure.
As an Army veteran and former Border Patrol agent, I have seen the indicators of insurgency and state destabilization around the world. I never expected to see them unfold here, in our own communities, under our own flag.
What’s happening now is not a series of policy disagreements. It is a systemic breakdown of enforcement authority, political clarity, and institutional courage. And at its core lies the question every Republic must eventually answer: are we still a sovereign people — capable not only of defending our borders, but of defending the meaning of citizenship itself?
<h3>The Question Every Veteran Is Asking</h3>
This Veterans Day, many of us are reflecting on what we fought for, and increasingly, we are asking the question: What was it all for?
Across the West, veterans from Normandy to Fallujah are feeling the same pain. One British WWII veteran, Alec Penstone, <a href="https://x.com/GMB/status/1986715254869332096?s=20">broke down on camera</a> when asked what Remembrance Sunday meant to him.
<blockquote>I can see in my mind’s eye rows and rows of white stones — hundreds of my friends and everybody else who gave their lives. For what? A country of today? No, I’m sorry. Their sacrifice wasn’t worth the result of what it is now. What we fought for was our freedom, and it’s a darn-sight worse now than when I fought for it.</blockquote>
That grief is not confined to Britain. It’s the recognition of a veteran’s intuition that something deeper is unraveling, not just the loss of order, but a whole-of-society assault aimed at eroding the very freedoms we fought for: life, liberty, and property. 
Because at the heart of every service member is one thing above all: home. Even when deployed abroad, our thoughts drift back to the people and principles we left behind. When we hang up the uniform, we hope the fight was worth it. We hope the home we return to still resembles the one we fought for.
<div id="attachment_998559" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-998559" class="size-large wp-image-998559" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2243382338-864x576.jpg" alt="CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - OCTOBER 28: Masked federal agents walk alongside the Dirksen Federal Building on October 28, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois. The agents circled the courthouse ahead of U.S. Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino's departure following a court appearance, where he faces accusations that he and other federal agents have defied court limits on tear gas and other crowd control tactics during President Donald Trump's Operation Midway Blitz enforcement surge across the Chicago area. (Photo by Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2243382338-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2243382338-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2243382338-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2243382338.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Jamie Kelter Davis/Getty Images</div>
<h3>The War Has Come Home</h3>
Today, we see familiar signs of foreign wars on our own streets: the normalization of political violence, the collapse of enforcement authority, the ideological capture of civil institutions, and the strategic demoralization of those still willing to stand post. These are no longer foreign indicators, but domestic realities. 
What we are seeing in the streets of Chicago and New York is not random violence; it is the very thing we swore an oath to protect against. It is insurgent in nature, symbolic in purpose, and deeply strategic in effect. 
When Border Patrol agents are ambushed in an American city, it is not merely a crime; it is an assault on the institution charged with upholding the boundary of American citizenship.
Citizenship is more than paperwork. It is the covenant that binds a people; the shared rights, duties, and the consent to govern ourselves together. Without it, sovereignty is an empty word. 
And yet, in Chicago, ICE and Border Patrol, the frontline forces tasked with enforcing the lawful boundaries of citizenship, came under literal fire. When those who defend the meaning of citizenship are attacked, political independence itself lies wounded. Sovereignty survives only if citizenship is defined and defended. That is the first duty of a free government.
Every threat the Republic faces today — cartel proxies like the Latin Kings, lawfare against enforcement, the erosion of border integrity, and the politicization of compassion — tests whether we still understand what it means to be a self-governing people. When the institutions meant to uphold the rule of law are politically dismantled or physically overwhelmed, the promise of citizenship becomes a dead letter, and the Republic begins to die from within.
<h3>Federal Immigration Enforcement Now Operates in Contested Space</h3>
Border Patrol agents were once primarily deployed to defined border zones with clear mission parameters. But over the last few months, enforcement responsibilities have expanded into the urban interior.
In these environments, agents no longer operate under presumed legitimacy or unified command. Instead, they enter contested space where local political actors, extreme left advocacy networks, and even elements of civil governance view their presence as unlawful or illegitimate. The Chicago shooting confirmed what many of us already knew: federal agents are being sent into environments that are not only tactically exposed but politically opposed to their mission.
This is no longer conventional law enforcement. It increasingly mirrors the asymmetry we once confronted abroad: constrained by policy, vulnerable to political interference, and dependent on interagency cooperation that may no longer exist.
<div id="attachment_998565" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-998565" class="size-large wp-image-998565" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2245411718-865x576.jpg" alt="CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - NOVEMBER 06: Federal agents stand guard as they are confronted by residents after making a stop while driving in a caravan through the Brighton Park neighborhood on November 06, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. Federal agents participating in Operation Midway Blitz, engage in daily patrols through Chicago neighborhoods and surrounding suburbs searching for undocumented immigrants. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2245411718-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2245411718-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2245411718-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/GettyImages-2245411718.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Scott Olson/Getty Images</div>
<h3>Narrative Inversion Is Undermining Enforcement Legitimacy</h3>
We’ve reached a point where the narrative surrounding immigration enforcement has been fully inverted. Those upholding the law are portrayed as tyrants, aggressors, and racists, while those obstructing it are framed as defenders of freedom and justice.
This inversion did not happen by accident. It is the product of deliberate political messaging, selective prosecution, legal interference, and media framing that blurred the line between lawful enforcement and oppression.
The operational consequence is uncertainty and paralysis. In cities like New York and Chicago, agents now operate under the assumption that any use of force, no matter how lawful or proportionate, may trigger political condemnation or legal retaliation. That has a chilling effect on enforcement and a corrosive effect on morale.
Meanwhile, the message to the Mexican cartels, transnational criminal organizations, and domestic terrorists is clear: the political environment is ripe for disruption. They don’t need to defeat enforcement with bullets; they can do it with narrative manipulation and lawfare. The front line has shifted from the Rio Grande to the American metropolis.
Chicago is a warning. If our leaders allow political clarity to erode or fail to defend the institutional legitimacy of immigration enforcement, then these same dynamics will spread, just as cartel and trafficking patterns have migrated elsewhere in response to enforcement pressure.
We must restore political clarity, invest in interoperable command and legal infrastructure, and defend the moral legitimacy of enforcement itself. Immigration enforcement is not cruel, and it is not optional. It is a sovereign function of a free state.
If the federal government cannot enforce its own laws or protect those who do, then the border is no longer the boundary. The boundary becomes wherever authority collapses.
<h3>Veterans Know What This Is — And We Know What Must Be Done</h3>
This Veterans Day, we must say the quiet part out loud: the war we fought abroad has come home. The difference is that we no longer call it war. We call it politics. We call it protest. We call it compassion. But we know the truth.
We were trained to recognize insurgency, subversion, and the collapse of legitimate authority. We were trained to defend boundaries, not just lines on a map, but the moral and legal foundations of a free nation. That fight is now ours again.
The most important function of government is to secure the rights, responsibilities, and freedoms of its citizens. Because if we cannot define who a citizen is, then we are no longer a Republic. We are something else: fragile, and far more dangerous.
This Veterans Day, we do not mourn what we lost. We rally to defend what remains.
* * *
Ammon Blair is a Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He is a 22-year U.S. Army veteran and former U.S. Border Patrol Agent.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-US-BORDER PATROL-IMMIGRATION

A Veterans Day Warning: The War We Fought Abroad Has Come Home

Border Patrol

Chicago

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Opinion

A church on Nashville&#8217;s west side has sat for years with no purpose. CreatiVets, an organization for wounded veterans, saw the church&#8217;s potential, but it came with a hefty Nashville real estate price tag of $3.35 million.
Thankfully, Gary Sinise saw the potential too. The actor best known for his role as Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump, donated $1 million to CreatiVets this spring to help buy the church for veterans to have a place to go to immerse themselves in songwriting, music, and other artistic avenues.
&#8220;Quite often our veterans don&#8217;t want any help. But through art and theatre as well, acting out what they are going through can be very, very beneficial,&#8221; Sinise told the Associated Press.
The Gary Sinise Foundation has given to CreatiVets the last two years but nothing compared to the million-dollar gift, according to CreatiVets Co-Founder and Executive Director Richard Casper. Casper, who started CreatiVets in 2013, called Sinise&#8217;s donation a catalyst for the non-profit&#8217;s mission.
&#8220;It will accelerate the opening of our Nashville art and music center, expand access to life-saving songwriting and visual arts programs, and help us drive down the waitlist of veterans seeking creative healing,&#8221; he said.
Two other donors who remained anonymous each gave $1 million toward the purchase of the church, which was finalized in July. Other influential people, including Grammy Award-winning artist Amy Grant, also donated toward the effort. Grant and Sinise toured the property in person in the spring and wanted to make CreatiVets&#8217; vision a reality.
Part of the CreatiVets&#8217; new home will be a performance center dedicated to Sinise&#8217;s late son, Mac, who died in 2024 after a battle with cancer. Casper said Mac loved music and was very involved with helping veterans through his father&#8217;s foundation.
The Academy Award-nominated actor started his foundation in 2011 to help military veterans, first responders, and their families. The foundation supports programs designed to entertain, educate, inspire, and build. Programs like CreatiVets.
Casper said the funding so far for the new location has been a blessing. To restore the church that&#8217;s been left untouched since at least 2017, the non-profit needs at least $1.9 million for basic renovations. After that is completed, they&#8217;ll need additional support for office supplies.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-998757 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/IMG_7874-768x576.jpeg" alt="" width="768" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/IMG_7874-768x576.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/IMG_7874-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/IMG_7874-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/11/IMG_7874-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></div>
At CreatiVets&#8217; current location in the 12 South area of Nashville, veterans can only use the space to its full potential after working hours because it shares space with another business. Casper has fought for the empty church as a new space for more than a year. His goal of providing a 24-hour oasis for veterans keeps him moving through any setback he faces. A new space is needed to play music and have access to other machinery, sometimes noisy, round-the-clock.
The plan is to have the new CreatiVets music center open by next fall.
If you want to donate to CreatiVets, you can visit their website <a href="https://creativets.org/">here</a>.
The organization is hosting a fundraiser on Wednesday at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. You can buy tickets to &#8220;Stars and Scars to Scripts&#8221; featuring performances by Vince Gill, Charles Esten, Kalsey Kulyk, and Jay Demarcus <a href="https://www.tpac.org/events/detail/creativets-15043">here</a>.

CreatiVets/Gary Sinise

Gary Sinise Donates $1 Million To Turn Abandoned Church Into Creative Space For Wounded Veterans

Gary Sinise

Nashville

News

Veterans

NFL analyst and “Good Morning America” host <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michael-strahan-breaks-silence-after-hes-accused-of-being-disrespectful-during-national-anthem">Michael Strahan</a> apologized and talked about how much he loves the military after he was accused of being “disrespectful” during the playing of the national anthem at a pre-Veteran’s Day broadcast celebration.
In a video he posted on his <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCS74WZxOr2/">Instagram</a>, Strahan said he wanted to address the backlash, saying that not placing his hand over his chest while the anthem played was in no way “protesting” or making some kind of statement.
“The only statement that should be made and that I wanna make is that I love the military,” Strahan said. “I’ve always loved the military, and I will always love the military. I do so many programs to help veterans and soldiers. I grew up on a military base with a father who was a major in the Army.”
“My brother, my sister, my cousins, they all served in the military — I’m a military brat,” he added. “And so the fact of somebody saying that, you know, I’m unpatriotic, couldn’t be any further from the truth. And if you want the truth, I’ll tell you: The truth is that I was caught up in the moment.”
“I’m looking at all these young sailors standing there at attention before the national anthem played, and I’m thinking to myself, ‘How incredible. How incredible to be that young and to know that you wanna do this.’ Strahan continued. “Like, it’s such a commitment, but you’re willing to commit to something that you know gives us our freedoms, plain and simple. I’m just sitting there in amazement.”
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Strahan said by the time he looked back at his cohosts and saw them with their hand over their heart, he had a moment of “somewhat panic.”
“I’m like, ‘Do I be the fool that puts his hand over his heart after or do I just stand here with my hand in front of me respectfully?’ Which, that’s what I did, that’s what happened,” he added.
<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH’S ‘AM I RACIST?’ NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a>
“If that offended any of our military and veterans, I apologize to you because that was never my intent,” Strahan said, as he closed out his video noting again how much love he has for those who serve.
On Sunday, the “Fox NFL Sunday” show was broadcast from the Naval Base in San Diego, and Strahan’s cohosts stood and put their right hands over their hearts while the anthem played. However, viewers noticed that Strahan instead folded his hands in front of him, and that upset many watching, who accused him of being “disrespectful,” the <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/11/11/sports/michael-strahan-facing-fierce-backlash-for-how-he-stood-during-national-anthem/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost">New York Post</a> noted.
On Monday, the former NFL player did not exactly address the backlash and instead posted a message and pictures on his <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCOqk6VR0k7/?img_index=2">Instagram</a> honoring his father Maj. Gene W. Strahan, Sr. — and all those who serve — on Veteran’s Day amid the criticism.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michael-strahan-breaks-silence-after-hes-accused-of-being-disrespectful-during-national-anthem" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michael Strahan Breaks Silence After He’s Accused of Being ‘Disrespectful’ During National Anthem</a>

Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports 2019 – Red Carpet

‘I Love The Military’: Michael Strahan Apologizes For National Anthem Moment

'I Love The Military’: Michael Strahan Apologizes For National Anthem Moment

Celebrities

Good Morning America

U.S.

“Good Morning America” and Fox NFL host Michael Strahan broke his silence after he was accused of being “disrespectful” during the playing of the national anthem at a pre-Veteran’s Day broadcast celebration.
On Monday, the former NFL player posted a message and pictures on his <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DCOqk6VR0k7/?img_index=2">Instagram</a> honoring his father Maj. Gene W. Strahan, Sr. — and all those who serve — on Veteran’s Day amid the criticism.
“Thank you to all veterans and active service members who courageously risk their lives to protect us every day,” Strahan wrote. “Your selfless service is beyond measure. This is my hero, it is also my father, Maj. Gene W. Strahan, Sr.”
“He served for 23 years in the army and was a proud member of the 82nd Airborne Division,” he added. “Just as I honor my father, I keep all of you in my thoughts each and every day as we would not have the safety and freedoms we cherish without you. Thank You.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Michael Strahan facing fierce backlash for how he stood during national anthem <a href="https://t.co/VXVS3IbMLz">https://t.co/VXVS3IbMLz</a> <a href="https://t.co/vLmQ1OTkR6">pic.twitter.com/vLmQ1OTkR6</a>
— New York Post (@nypost) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1855839949385281931?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2024</a></blockquote>
On Sunday, the “Fox NFL Sunday” show was broadcast from the Naval Base in San Diego, and  Strahan’s co-hosts stood and put their right hands over their hearts while the anthem played. However, viewers noticed that Strahan instead folded his hands in front of him, and that upset many watching, the <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/11/11/sports/michael-strahan-facing-fierce-backlash-for-how-he-stood-during-national-anthem/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=nypost">New York Post</a> reported.
“I couldn’t believe what I saw as you stood there with your hands clasped in front of you,” one social media user wrote in the comments. “How disrespectful to all of those men and women who were there and looking at you.”
Another person on X wrote, “What’s wrong with Strahan? @NFLonFOX? Blatant disrespect for the men and women he is surrounded by protecting his rights and freedoms.”
While a third <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/nfl/article-14066595/Fans-demand-Fox-Sports-fire-Michael-Strahan-nfl.html?ns_mchannel=rss&amp;ns_campaign=1490&amp;ito=social-twitter_mailonline">wrote</a>, “&#8217;Why does Michael Strahan not put his hand over his heart during the playing of our National Anthem?”
However, “Fox NFL Sunday” cohost Jay Glazer defended Strahan and <a href="https://x.com/JayGlazer/status/1856049265346584668">wrote</a> that the reaction was not warranted and explained why.
“I’ve just seen the criticism of<a href="https://x.com/michaelstrahan"> @michaelstrahan</a>. Let me tell you this, I don’t know if I have a friend who is more proud of his military roots than Michael, growing up on an army base constantly talking about what he learned from his dad Major Gene Strahan and how his time there shaped him,” Glazer wrote. “I heard it CONSTANTLY, still do!”
“But also, with no fanfare I personally saw him donate thousands of dollars of clothes to veterans, including many homeless veterans as well clothes for veterans to go on job interviews,” he added.
“I know these days people want to be angry fast but maybe first, how is THIS for a novel idea. ASK him if he’s protesting something. When you protest you want people to know, don’t ya? He was NOT, just got caught up in how beautiful the whole moment was during the anthem and didn’t think about it,” the cohost continued. “Ask the dude before forming an angry mob, but also maybe find out all  he’s done for our veterans over the years.”

Michael Strahan Breaks Silence After He’s Accused of Being ‘Disrespectful’ During National Anthem

Michael Strahan Breaks Silence After He's Accused of Being ‘Disrespectful’ During National Anthem

Entertainment

Michael Strahan

For those who have either fought in war, or, as in my case, have had loved ones who have, Veterans Day is not just a date on the calendar. It is a reminder that survivors of the battlefield — the most taxing and traumatic of any environment — have given so much of themselves to defend the liberties we all too often take for granted.
During an election year, Veterans Day takes on special significance. When we step into the voting booth and draw the curtain, we are acting out the answer to a fundamental question so many of those returning home from duty must ask themselves: “What, exactly, did I fight for?” The answer is they fight so their fellow Americans are free to choose their leaders and to decide their own fate. It is cliché, but veterans have, indeed, fought for our most basic freedoms, and to exercise our God-given rights without fear of the midnight pounding on the door.
At times, as in my father’s case, our troops have fought not for our freedom per se, but those of others. Entire nations like South Korea, as well as post-war Western Europe, owe American veterans a debt that can never be fully repaid. Many of the men and women would return home maimed, or psychologically broken. Yet, the sublimity of their sacrifice remains. Unfortunately, so do the wounds, the memories, the terrors.
My Marine dad was a rare breed. Unlike many combat veterans, my father would talk about it. I gave him a sounding board, a release valve for the memories that I now understand were assaulting him for three decades since leaving the horrors of Korea behind. He was wounded by Chinese mortars and almost lost his foot. He would tell stories of how the Chinese attacked in human waves, blowing bugles and clanging gongs; how the enemy once splayed the body of a dead Marine across barbed wire between the lines, daring his men to come get their comrade. Marine tradition is to not leave the dead behind, if at all possible. They did retrieve the body. He would share how the North Koreans taught kids to throw grenades at them, and how they’d have to shoot them down; Or how he once identified a man in his platoon by his head, which the aid station attendees in a moment of macabre caprice had laid on the man’s chest.
No doubt what 2nd Lt. John M. Schaeffer, First Marine Division experienced in Korea were the same feelings, if under different circumstances and topographies, of every veteran on every battlefield. The blood, the shrieks, the pleas for water, the crying out for mothers, and the gore are universal no matter what side the combatants find themselves on. Indeed, Wellington famously <a href="https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/battle-waterloo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, “Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.”
<div id="attachment_827165" style="width: 442px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-827165" class="size-large wp-image-827165" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-432x576.jpeg" alt="2nd Lt. John M. Schaeffer, First Marine Division, with Purple Heart. Credit: Brad Schaeffer" width="432" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-432x576.jpeg 432w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-225x300.jpeg 225w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/11/1Schaeffer-Korea.jpeg 1620w" sizes=" (max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px" />2nd Lt. John M. Schaeffer, First Marine Division, with Purple Heart. Credit: Brad Schaeffer</div>
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), called “shell shock” in the First World War, and “battle fatigue” in the Second, is another consequence of the battlefield. As with any disorder of the mind, studies vary and exact figures are hard to come by as it manifests in so many different ways and to various degrees. <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2891773/#:~:text=The%20point%20prevalence%20of%20combat,returning%20UK%20Iraq%20War%20veterans.">One study</a> by the National Library of Medicine places combat-related PTSD in U.S. combat veterans to range from about 2–17%; and a lifetime prevalence of about 6–31%. These are broad ranges. And the low estimates seem just that. Even if we split the difference in a non-scientific way, almost one-in-five veterans are currently suffering from some form of PTSD. When you consider that <a href="https://www.census.gov/newsroom/facts-for-features/2023/veterans-day.html#:~:text=16.2%20million,population%20age%2018%20and%20over." target="_blank" rel="noopener">16.2 million veterans</a> will be the subject of this month’s annual day of remembrance, then we may have some 3 million-plus veterans in need of counseling or medication/treatment out there.
These are not just statistics. These numbers represent veterans, our champions on the field of conflict, who struggle every day just to live normal lives while not dwelling too much upon all they have seen. But sometimes the horrors of battle can never be unseen. I remember looking at my dad and thinking: Do the ghosts return when you lie in bed at night? Can you compartmentalize it? How do you handle it?
Turns out, he couldn’t. After thirty years, he could no longer drink or talk away the war. The memories were assaulting him like those mass waves of Chinese soldiers long ago. His defenses crumbled. He was not alone. In 1990-2010 the national suicide rate among American males was 19.4 per 100,000, and 4.9 per 100,000 for females. According to the <a href="https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/cooccurring/suicide_ptsd.asp#:~:text=From%201999%2D2010%2C%20the%20suicide,12.8%20per%20100%2C000%20in%20females." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Veterans Affairs</a>, however, in the same time period the ratios for veterans were double for men at 38.3 per 100,000 and almost triple for women at 12.8 per 100,000. Clearly, veterans are a high-risk group, and we must be vigilant and watch for suicidal ideations among those we love who wore the uniform.
Like many mental illnesses, PTSD is insidious. It comes from within. How do you fight an illness in which your thoughts are the illness? People who’ve never suffered the midnight of clinical depression, PTSD, or other mental illnesses, have difficulty grasping that you cannot reason your way back into the happy dawn. You can’t just “snap out of it.” You may tell yourself, “Nothing warrants these terrible thoughts.” You know it’s irrational and it doesn’t matter. That’s what depression is. It’s knowing you shouldn’t feel this way, but feel it anyway.
And that doesn’t even include a depression caused by something you saw or, worse, something you did. Under normal circumstances, far from the chaos and adrenaline of a battlefield, you would never encounter the raw emotion and bloodlust of war. You would be repulsed by your actions. How could I, for example, who was only 16 when my father eventually took his life, possibly relate to a man who fought Chinese troops armed with spades, picks, and even his bare hands as well as bullets and bayonets, in the middle of the night in minus twenty-degree weather under the eerie luminescence of star shells? How can anyone but other veterans truly relate to a combat experience?
It’s tragic, but if my veteran father were alive today, he would have more support, both within his own veterans community and the public at large. And certainly access to more effective medications, without any taboo. But we were just starting to recognize veterans’ emotional as well as physical anguish. Vietnam was barely decades in the past. And as for Korea? It was called “the Forgotten War” for a reason. Forgetting the war and getting on with their lives was what Korea’s veterans were supposed to do. But Dad couldn’t.
And that really is the point. This Veterans Day, let’s take time out of our busy day to pause and reflect and pray for all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who have seen the worst of humanity up close and personal, to spare us the horrors of what they took upon themselves in our stead. As the saying goes, “Free people sleep peaceably in their beds because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” My father was just such a rough man. And, like so many vets today, he did unspeakable violence on our behalf. But that violence comes with a cost that we may not always appreciate or even see, let alone understand.
My thoughts this Veterans Day travel to our warriors returning home from their own combat zones, with their own demons picking away at their souls. How do they get through the black nights, with their spouses sleeping quietly next to them, their children dreaming in their beds, blissfully unaware of the struggle of the mind taking place in the darkness down the hall?
In July 1983, 30 years almost to the day after the last shot of the Korean War was fired, my father became another casualty of that war. Yet from his suffering, I have learned a vital lesson that I hope I can impart to any veteran reading this who may feel like he or she is losing the fight with PTSD: Don’t let the demons win. We’ll help you. Just please choose life.
To the families of veterans, you must be forceful in offering your help, your support, and love. Warriors are a stubborn and proud lot. And to all the veterans now engaged in their final tour of duty, this time in the combat zone of the spirit, I implore you. Choose life. Get help if you need it. It is there for you.
Remember you are not forgotten. We owe our freedom, like the freedoms we all exercised on November 5, to you. And, in return, you are unconditionally loved and appreciated by family, friends, and your nation. So always choose life. It is worth living.
* * *
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or go to <a class="c-link" href="http://speakingofsuicide.com/resources" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources" data-sk="tooltip_parent">SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources</a> for a list of additional resources.
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a fund manager and author of three books. His articles have appeared on the pages of Daily Wire, The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, New York Daily News, National Review, The Hill, The Federalist, The Blaze, Breitbart, Zerohedge and other outlets. His best-selling novel, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Extraordinary-Brad-Schaeffer/dp/1642939420" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Extraordinary</a>, tackles the subject of living with a veteran father with PTSD as told by his autistic teen son.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Happy Veterans Day concept. American flags against a dark stone  background. November 11.

This Veterans Day, Choose Life

Fathers

Korean War

PTSD

Vietnam

World War II

Over the years, the United States has produced many remarkable generals and admirals, but only a few have stood out as world-class strategists and leaders of troops. As Veterans Day approaches on November 11, let’s remember and celebrate them. Here is my list of America’s finest 11 commanders.
This series is about military prowess and those who excelled on the battlefield. The inclusion of any Confederates in this list should not be misconstrued as in any way supporting the cause of the self-described Slave-Holding Confederacy itself for which such men fought. The preservation of the monstrous injustice of slavery in North America and the stated goal of the seceding states had to be destroyed. But this does not diminish the achievements of certain Southern generals on the field of battle, which is solely what this series seeks to examine.
<h2>Thomas J. &#8220;Stonewall&#8221; Jackson, 1824 &#8211; 1863 (Civil War)</h2>
Once again, I risk incurring the wrath of all good Union men and women when I include a Confederate on my list. But how can I not? Like Lee, the West Pointer and Virginia Military Institute (VMI) artillery instructor Thomas Jackson initially opposed secession, but when his home state of Virginia seceded, he opted to serve the Confederacy. His reputation and nickname “Stonewall” was forged on the river of gore at First Bull Run. During the height of the fighting, when the rebel lines began to waver, Jackson’s men held firm. Rebel Gen. Bernard E. Bee exhorted his own men by calling out, “There stands Jackson, like a stone wall!” And thus the legendary sobriquet was born.
<div id="attachment_649355" style="width: 373px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-649355" class="size-large wp-image-649355" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3070274-363x576.jpg" alt="circa 1850: Thomas Jonathan Jackson (1824 - 1863), better known as Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Original Artist: By Desmaisons. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)" width="363" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3070274-363x576.jpg 363w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3070274-189x300.jpg 189w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-3070274.jpg 646w" sizes=" (max-width: 363px) 100vw, 363px" />circa 1850: Thomas Jonathan Jackson (1824 &#8211; 1863), better known as Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Original Artist: By Desmaisons. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)</div>
Although his sterling conduct in the first battle of the war earned him praise from a grateful South, it was Jackson’s brilliant Shenandoah Valley Campaign in the spring of 1862 that demonstrated just how formidable a military man the Bible-thumping, lemon-eating, eccentric Stonewall could be. The valley was a lifeline for the South, a vital corridor of provisions as well as a natural Union invasion route. As such, he was tasked with keeping the area out of Northern control. Husbanding his strength, the stern disciplinarian marched his men up and down the valley at such a grueling pace over such vast distances they were called “Jackson’s Foot Cavalry.” 
To his enemies’ chagrin, his small army would suddenly appear miles away from where his baffled Union adversaries would expect and inflict one punishing defeat after another, only to disappear and pop up again somewhere else. His fetish for secrecy was such that he would keep his officers in the dark as to his plans until the last minute, and often camp his men at roadway intersections to confuse any Yankee spies as to his destination. Throughout the course of some 48 days of the Valley Campaign, Jackson’s contingent rarely numbered 15,000 men, marched over 700 miles, and engaged and defeated three separate Union armies numbering a combined 80,000 enemy troops coming at him from several directions. Bewildered Union commanders believed that Jackson had to have more men, that it couldn’t be the same army striking them here, then there, then over there at all hours of the day and night in over a dozen battles. 
<div id="attachment_649377" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-649377" class="size-large wp-image-649377" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-90018461-864x576.jpg" alt="UNITED STATES - CIRCA 1862: The First Battle of Winchester, fought on May 25, 1862, in and around Frederick County, Virginia, and Winchester, Virginia, was a major victory in Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. &quot;Stonewall&quot; Jackson's Campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-90018461-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-90018461-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-90018461-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-90018461.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />UNITED STATES &#8211; CIRCA 1862: The First Battle of Winchester, fought on May 25, 1862, in and around Frederick County, Virginia, and Winchester, Virginia, was a major victory in Confederate Army Maj. Gen. Thomas J. &#8220;Stonewall&#8221; Jackson&#8217;s Campaign through the Shenandoah Valley during the American Civil War. (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)</div>
His exploits made him arguably the most famous general in the world; the very name Jackson became synonymous with an extremely dangerous phantasm who could be in several places at once and who struck fear in the Union ranks, as well as Washington D.C. Northern mothers would even threaten naughty children with “Jackson will get you if you misbehave.”
Not only did Stonewall demonstrate he understood how to get the most from his men and inflict the most damage with bodies of troops small enough to stay nimble and unpredictable, his campaign had the very real impact of preventing tens of thousands of Union reinforcements from leaving the valley to aid the Union general McClellan currently marching ever closer to Richmond. In June 1862, the wily Jackson then slipped away with his victorious army to join the new rebel commander Robert E. Lee in helping to repel the Yankee invaders from the gates of the capital during the Seven Days battle. His valley army would become Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. The partnership he formed with his commanding officer and the reliable and steady First Corps commander Gen. James Longstreet (who himself just missed making the list) became one of the most storied, and successful, in military history.
<div id="attachment_649357" style="width: 805px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-649357" class="wp-image-649357 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-91243862-795x576.jpg" alt="UNITED STATES - CIRCA 1862: Bull Run battlefield with the disposition of Union and Confederate forces. Union Gen. Pope's command faced that of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson, unaware that Longstreet's command had arrived to reinforce Jackson's position. On the second day of fighting, an assault by Pope's forces was repulsed by Jackson's troops, while Longstreet attacked Pope's unprotected left flank. Pope was defeated, but was able to retreat across Bull Run with the bulk of his force intact. Hand Drawn Map (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)" width="795" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-91243862-795x576.jpg 795w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-91243862-300x217.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-91243862-768x557.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-91243862.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 795px) 100vw, 795px" />UNITED STATES &#8211; CIRCA 1862: Bull Run battlefield with the disposition of Union and Confederate forces. Union Gen. Pope&#8217;s command faced that of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson, unaware that Longstreet&#8217;s command had arrived to reinforce Jackson&#8217;s position. (Photo by Buyenlarge/Getty Images)</div>
Jackson’s star continued to rise when in August 1862 he embarked on yet another series of forced marches up through central and into northern Virginia which landed his troops squarely in the rear of another Union army under the command of the bombastic Gen. John Pope. Once again, his Union adversaries found themselves racing this way and that across the sweltering countryside trying to locate the elusive Stonewall and his 28,000-man contingent. After raiding the federal depot at Manassas junction, he fell back to the old Bull Run battlefield and repelled a series of attacks by Pope while waiting for Longstreet’s corps en route to join him. Once reunited, the full power of the Army of Northern Virginia would face the Yankees at the 2nd Battle of Bull Run. A Union rout ensued and for the second time since June, a defeated enemy streamed back to the safety of Washington D.C.
When in September 1862 Lee took the victorious if weary and malnourished Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland, Jackson did his part. Taking almost two-thirds of Lee’s army on a long three-pronged march, one leg of which covered a grueling sixty miles back through now West Virginia, his men surrounded and captured Harper’s Ferry. He bagged 11,000 Union prisoners and scores of artillery pieces and other supplies. Never one for appearance, when the dejected Union garrison at Harper’s Ferry got a glimpse of the grey ghost who captured them, one Yankee was heard to say: “Boys, he may not look like much, but if we had him we wouldn’t be in this mess.” Then he re-joined Lee and Longstreet in time to fight at the Battle of Antietam. His line held firm through a series of powerful Union attacks, showing his capacity for defensive warfare when needed. After the battle was over, while eating a peach and surveying the scene of carnage that was the bloodiest day in American history, the pious warrior declared “God has been good to us this day.” 
Stonewall’s fierce reputation hit its zenith at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863. With the Army of Northern Virginia caught between a Union pincer movement, outnumbered and outflanked, and missing Longstreet with several divisions on a forage mission, Jackson proposed to Lee that he take his entire corps, almost 30,000 men, on an arduous 12-mile march through the thick Wilderness and around the Union Army to hit them in their exposed flank. This left Lee with just a small force to face the brunt of the Union Army numbering some 100,000 men. It was a very dangerous plan for if discovered the Yankees could destroy the army in pieces. But Lee, trusting his subordinate’s judgment, gave him the nod. 
<div id="attachment_649371" style="width: 704px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-649371" class="size-large wp-image-649371" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-96752925-694x576.jpg" alt="Illustration by William Ludwell Sheppard, captioned 'Lee and Jackson in Council on the Night of May 1,' first published in the four-volume series Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (1887�1888). It depicts Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. 'Stonewall' Jackson at the Battle of Chancellorsville working through plans for the next day's fighting. Chancellorsville, Virginia, USA. 1 May 1863. (photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images)." width="694" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-96752925-694x576.jpg 694w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-96752925-300x249.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-96752925-768x638.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-96752925.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 694px) 100vw, 694px" />Illustration by William Ludwell Sheppard, captioned &#8216;Lee and Jackson in Council on the Night of May 1,&#8217; first published in the four-volume series Battles and Leaders of the Civil War (1887 &#8211; 1888). It depicts Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. &#8216;Stonewall&#8217; Jackson at the Battle of Chancellorsville working through plans for the next day&#8217;s fighting. Chancellorsville, Virginia, USA. 1 May 1863. (photo by Fotosearch/Getty Images).</div>
Late in the afternoon Jackson’s Confederates poured out of the woods and smashed into the Yankees’ exposed right flank, sending the shocked and terrified Union XI Corps racing to the rear. It was an outstanding success. But as darkness fell, Jackson carelessly rode out between the lines with a small entourage to investigate a night attack. When he tried to recross back into his own lines, jittery rebel pickets, believing his group to be Union cavalry, opened fire, severely wounding him in the left arm that would soon be amputated. When hearing the news, Lee lamented, “He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right.” Although he appeared to be recovering after the operation, Stonewall Jackson took a turn for the worse and died of pneumonia a few days later.
<div id="attachment_649373" style="width: 980px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-649373" class="size-large wp-image-649373" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/Death-of-Stonewall-Jackson-970x576.jpeg" alt="The death of Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson. Currier &amp; Ives., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons" width="970" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/Death-of-Stonewall-Jackson-970x576.jpeg 970w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/Death-of-Stonewall-Jackson-300x178.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/Death-of-Stonewall-Jackson-768x456.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/Death-of-Stonewall-Jackson.jpeg 1387w" sizes=" (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px" />The death of Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson. Currier &amp; Ives., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons</div>
There is much speculation in Civil War round tables about what would have happened at Gettysburg two months later had Jackson and not the timid Richard Ewell still been in command of the Second Corps. Some argue Stonewall would not have hesitated to take the commanding hills south of the town on the first day of the fight, denying the Union Army a defensible position and forcing it to retreat. Who knows? But what we can say is this: few generals had such an uncanny feel for battlefields and tactical situations — without the aid of GPS, aerial reconnaissance, or even accurate maps — as did Stonewall Jackson. Unlike Lee, there are no bloody missteps in Jackson’s record, no Malvern Hill, Antietam, or Gettysburg. Which is why I place him higher than his commander. His reputation is well-deserved.
One final thought. His more quirky eccentricities aside, Jackson had a dark, if fascinating, cold-bloodedness to him that belied his Christian values, and could intimidate those who served with him, yet might also be a clue to why he so excelled in waging war. When in December of 1862 he and Gen. Lee surveyed the destruction to Fredericksburg that the marauding Union troops left in their wake upon abandoning the city, Lee asked his deputy commander how they could put an end to this terrible war. “Kill them,” Jackson said. “Kill them all.”
* * *
America’s Top 11 Generals
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-11-curtis-e-lemay" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #11 Curtis E. LeMay</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-10-matthew-ridgway" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #10 Matthew Ridgway</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-9-nathanael-greene" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #9 Nathanael Greene</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-8-george-patton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #8 George Patton</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-7-robert-e-lee">RELATED: #7 Robert E. Lee</a>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/americas-top-11-generals-6-admiral-chester-nimitz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED: #6 Admiral Chester Nimitz</a>
* * *
Brad Schaeffer is a commodities trader, columnist, and author of two acclaimed novels. His newest book, the fact-based <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Life-Pits-Rough-Tumble-Exchange/dp/B0CKPNCMQW/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1331509151681009&amp;hvadid=83219665089301&amp;hvbmt=bp&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=97755&amp;hvnetw=o&amp;hvqmt=p&amp;hvtargid=kwd-83219680392082%3Aloc-190&amp;hydadcr=18892_13467888&amp;keywords=brad+schaeffer&amp;qid=1698162015&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">LIFE IN THE PITS: My Time as a Trader on the Rough-and-Tumble Exchange Floors</a> will be published in December and is currently available for pre-order. You can also find more of Brad’s articles on <a href="https://bradschaeffer.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Substack</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Stonewall_Jackson_in_the_National_Portrait_Gallery_IMG_4519

America’s Top 11 Generals: #5 Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson

America's Top 11 Generals: #5 Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson

American General

Civil War

Readers Pass

Thomas Stonewall Jackson

Veterans Day is a weird day for me, and many other veterans. 
&#8220;Thank you for your service&#8221; still means a lot, but with the high levels of division and distrust in America, coupled with the painful end to the Afghan War, it&#8217;s sometimes hard to make meaning from it all.
Let me explain.
The &#8216;Long War&#8217; took a toll on me. It almost killed me, long after the guns went silent.
I wasn&#8217;t alone. My buddy Brad, a fellow Green Beret whom I served with in Afghanistan, struggled when he came home as well.
We would talk on the phone sometimes and share our frustrations with trying to adjust to the civilian world after combat in Afghanistan.
Depression, guilt, isolation, and lack of purpose put me in a closet holding a pistol.
Somehow, I found my way out. Barely.
A former NFL football player-turned-storyteller took me under his wing. Through his mentorship, I found a way to inform civilians on the cost of war, and ultimately re-connect with them across the vast civilian-military gap that was keeping me in darkness. I found a way to let go &#8230; and know peace.
I found it through storytelling. Warrior Storytelling.
My mentor actually talked me into writing a play about my experience in combat and those I served with. <a href="https://lastoutplay.com/">Last Out: Elegy of a Green Beret</a> was born.
To complete my mid-life crisis, I learned how to act at age 50.
When we performed it for the first time to a Tampa Bay audience of just over 100 civilians and combat veterans, Brad sat proudly in the back row with a big grin on his face. He had driven all the way from Mississippi to see it. At the end of the play, Brad was the first to speak in our talk back. 
&#8220;Scott, that scene when you were on the skype call when your base was attacked, that happened to me exactly like that.&#8221; He began to weep. &#8220;How do you explain something like that to your wife and kids? Gotta run guys &#8230; Daddy&#8217;s got a firefight to go to. Talk to you next week.&#8221;
Our all-veteran cast performed the play for a year in 16 cities with amazing impact. Our approach toward healing, validating, informing, and reconnecting resonated at a community level. We conducted story workshops, PTS interventions, and honored Gold Star Families. All with one major goal. To LET GO and know peace.
Each city we went to was hosted by a community volunteer. Brad was one of our first hosts. Bringing our humble, non-profit production to Brandon, Mississippi, he spent his own money to cover some of our expenses. He drove the team to and from rehearsals in a church van, country music blaring, with a sense of purpose I hadn&#8217;t seen in him since Afghanistan.
Shortly before starting our second tour season, COVID shut us down. We struggled for a year with no performances. The veteran populations suffered mightily, including Brad. There were times when he called me from very dark places. I wanted to do more. So, we raised the money and turned &#8220;Last Out&#8221; into a film that is now on Amazon Prime, VUDU, Apple TV, and Google TV. Brad texted me after he watched the film: &#8220;Please pass along my well wishes to the rest of the team. This new version had me in tears at the end.&#8221; 
Then, in August 2021, Afghanistan collapsed, and the U.S. abruptly abandoned that country leaving our Afghan Allies to be hunted and killed. I stood up a group of veteran volunteers known as &#8220;Task Force Pineapple.&#8221; Brad was one of the first guys to reach out to me after seeing me talk about it on the news. &#8221; Is there a way for me to get to a country close to Afghanistan and be on the ground to help get our people out? If you know of anyone looking for an extra gun to help get people out, I am ready.&#8221;
The Afghan withdrawal left many of our 775,000 Afghan War veterans and their families to wonder&#8230;what was the point of it all? Much like our Vietnam veterans, our warriors and families were hurting badly and seeking answers. Did it matter? Does anyone care? Will we learn lessons? Will we change from those lessons?
Brad wrote me, &#8220;I am sickened by it but not surprised. We never had clear strategic endstate given to us.&#8221;
As I saw the growing mental health toll on our post 9-11 veterans from the botched Afghan withdrawal and the rapidity at which the nation was closing the chapter on the 20-year war, my wife and I decided to put the storytelling craft of &#8220;Last Out&#8221; back together for a 2023 tour to heal, validate, and reconnect around the hard subject of modern war. We selected our cast and dropped into intense rehearsals.
Although the warrior storytelling was taxing on my 54 year-old body, I couldn&#8217;t help but get excited about performing the play in front of my old buddy Brad and his family. I smiled inwardly at the thought of his southern drawl ringing out over the talkback as he would share his experiences from the play and how it related to his lived experience in war. 
It was on Thursday, October 27, 2022, that I learned that day would never come. The demons had caught up with Brad. He couldn&#8217;t hold them off any longer. He was another casualty of war long after the guns had gone silent.
Our team circled up upon learning the news of his passing and held a moment of silence. I committed then and there to take this play on the road in honor of Brad and the thousands of other veterans whose voices are muzzled in our divided nation.
This Veterans Day, I hope Americans will reflect on what we ask of this small percentage of Americans day after day, month after month, year after year. It&#8217;s a heavy cost that these warriors bear proudly.
Warriors like Brad are not victims. They are, in fact, the moral compass of our nation. They bring leadership potential and resilience that is sorely needed in these divided times. But, 20 years of war and endless deployments takes a toll, and when you wash it down with a moral injury of abandonment, &#8220;thank you for your service,&#8221; just doesn&#8217;t cut it anymore.
One of the most powerful paths to healing and reintegration of our veterans is through storytelling. Warrior storytelling.
That&#8217;s where I&#8217;ll be this Veterans Day, and every day for as long as I can. Telling Brad&#8217;s story from the stage. 
Something tells me he&#8217;ll be there on the back row, cheering us on. I hope you will too.
*   *   *
For 24/7, confidential <a href="https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/">crisis support for Veterans</a> and their loved ones, dial 988, then press 1, or text 838255. You don&#8217;t have to be enrolled in VA benefits or health care to connect.
*   *   *
Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) <a href="https://scottmann.com/">Scott Mann</a> is a former U.S. Army Green Beret with tours all over the world including Colombia, Iraq, and multiple tours in Afghanistan. He is a warrior storyteller and the founder of <a href="https://rooftopleadership.com/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://rooftopleadership.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1663685438788000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1wFtjXaBU9jq3vc7JRhVPz">Rooftop Leadership</a> where he shares the rapport-building skills he learned in Special Forces to help today&#8217;s leaders make better human connections in high-stakes, low-trust engagements. Scott is the author of the instant New York Times Best-Seller, <a href="https://operationpineappleexpress.com/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://operationpineappleexpress.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1663685438788000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0Wegb2wUtLX-nBRPckFx--">Operation Pineapple Express</a>, a third-person narrative detailing the harrowing stories of the veterans, volunteers, and Afghan Allies who navigated the US abandonment of Afghanistan in August of 2021. He has since founded <a href="https://operelief.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://operelief.org/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1663685438788000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0hrx_c6j6uhJulTBg4Z4BM">Operation Pineapple Express Relief</a>, a 501c3 to help support the emergency needs of our Afghan Allies such as safe passage out of Afghanistan, plus unforeseen resettlement needs. Scott’s greatest accomplishments are his family; he has three grown sons which now gives him the newfound opportunity to chase Monty, his wife of 27 years, around their Tampa home as often as possible.­­
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

U.S. Soldiers Commemorate 9/11 Anniversary At Bagram Air Field

‘Let Go And Know Peace’: Why My Fellow Veterans Need More Than A Thank You

Afghanistan

A historic preservation group has announced the discovery of the remains of 14 <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/american-history" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Revolutionary War</a> soldiers in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/south-carolina" target="_blank" rel="noopener">South Carolina</a> on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/veterans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Veterans Day</a>.
The South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust (SCBPT) <a href="https://www.scbattlegroundtrust.org/archeologists-historians-unearth-remarkable-discovery-at-camden-battlefield" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> Friday the discovery of the remains of 14 Revolutionary War soldiers who had fallen during the Battle of Camden and had never been buried.
“These young men demonstrated their allegiance in an intense battle for liberty. They are truly America’s first veterans,” Doug Bostick, CEO, South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust, said. “We have a responsibility to honor their sacrifice by ensuring their remains are protected in perpetuity and their stories of bravery are shared.”
The remains, which had been unearthed beginning in September, were found through the joint efforts of SCBPT, the Historic Camden Foundation, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Richland County Coroner’s Office, and the South Carolina Institute for Archeology and Anthropology at the University of South Carolina.
The skeletal remains were found at various locations throughout the battlefield, with some being less than a foot under the ground.
“People visit battlefields like Camden, Cowpens and Kings Mountain every day and don’t often consider that they are walking in unmarked cemeteries. The dead are still there,” said archeologist James Legg. “The work we are doing honors their sacrifice by shedding light on details that are not yet documented in the historical record and by providing them with decent marked graves for the contemplation of battlefield visitors.”
It is believed that 12 of the remains were Patriot Continental soldiers from Maryland and Delaware, while another body was that of a North Carolina loyalist, and the other a British soldier.
The Richland Coroner’s Office will begin inspecting the bodies in the coming months as they hope to find more about each soldier’s age, race, and even where they came from.
“As property owners, we are the caretakers and stewards of not only the resources we can see above ground, but also to the rich history below ground,” said Cary Briggs, the executive director of the Historic Camden Foundation, which owns a large portion of the battlefield.
“When these young men marched into the darkness on that summer night in 1780, they did so out of love for their country despite the consequences that may befall them. Our intent is to lay them to rest with the respect and honor they earned more than two centuries ago,” Briggs added.
The Battle of Camden, which took place on August 16, 1780, was a disaster for the Patriot soldiers who were easily defeated by British-led forces in a battle which nearly <a href="https://www.revolutionarywarjournal.com/the-battle-of-camden-a-humiliating-defeat-for-america-but-for-the-continental-soldiers-their-proudest-moment/">spelled doom</a> for the American cause in the South.
The British forces, which were under the command of General Charles Cornwallis, faced off against the Patriots, who were being commanded by Major General Horatio Gates. The British forces included Royalists from North Carolina, and the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/people/banastre-tarleton.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">infamous</a> “Bloody Ban” Banastre Tarleton.
During the battle, which took place in a pine forest just outside of Camden, about two-thirds of the American forces fled while the rest, mainly men from Delaware and Maryland, remained to fight the British.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-463264" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/GettyImages-517479922-300x205.jpg" alt="A print showing the death of Baron Johann De Kalb during the Battle of Camden, based on an original 19th-century painting by Alonzo Chappel." width="676" height="462" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-517479922-300x205.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-517479922-841x576.jpg 841w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-517479922-768x526.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-517479922.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px" />
Credit: Bettmann / Contributor via Getty Images.“Never did troops show greater courage than those men of Maryland and Delaware,” 19th century historian George Bancroft wrote.
The battle ended in a <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/camden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rout</a> for the Americans who had about 1,900 casualties, whereas the British only sustained 324. Included in the American casualties was Major General <a href="https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/johann-de-kalb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Johann de Kalb</a>, a Prussian who was given a commission in the army by American diplomats in France eager to get support for American independence.
De Kalb was wounded 11 times during the battle, including several stabbings with bayonets, and died from his wounds days after the battle. In the years after the war, the Prussian was <a href="https://www.landmarksdekalbal.org/historical-sketches-dekalb-county-alabama-history/baron-johann-dekalb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">honored</a> with counties and towns named for him throughout the country.
Gate’s failure at Camden let to the rise of Major General Nathanael Greene, sometimes referred to as the “the Savior of the South,” who led the push against the British out of South Carolina in the years before the conclusion of the war in 1783, including the Patriot victory at Cowpens.

Betsy Ross flag, Historic Camden, Camden, South Carolina, USA

‘America’s First Veterans’: Discovery Of Remains Of 14 Revolutionary War Soldiers Announced On Veterans Day

Discovery Of Remains Of 14 Revolutionary War Soldiers Announced On Veterans Day

American History

American Revolution

Archaeology

South Carolina

The crew of the movie &#8220;Top Gun: Maverick,&#8221; singer John Rich, and other celebrities took the time on Friday to thank veterans &#8220;who have served our nation&#8221; and sacrificed so much.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/tom-cruise">Tom Cruise</a> and other cast and crew members of the hit summer blockbuster &#8220;Top Gun: Maverick&#8221; appeared in a video posted on Twitter with a message that read, &#8220;Salute Our Veterans.&#8221; The clip included footage of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tom-cruise-sends-message-to-audience-after-top-gun-maverick-crosses-1-billion-mark">60-year-old actor</a> and other stars of &#8220;Top Gun&#8221; sequel high-fiving and spending time with members of the military.
&#8220;Thank you to all those who have served our nation,&#8221; the &#8220;Top Gun&#8221; official Twitter account tweeted. &#8220;Happy Veterans Day.&#8221;
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Thank you to all those who have served our nation. Happy Veterans Day. <a href="https://t.co/LPLER9Rnwg">pic.twitter.com/LPLER9Rnwg</a>
&mdash; Top Gun (@TopGunMovie) <a href="https://twitter.com/TopGunMovie/status/1591098433959448576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Country music star Joh Rich tweeted, &#8220;A special message for our Veterans today #VeteransDay2022.&#8221;
&#8220;On this Veterans Day, I&#8217;d just like to give a big thank you to all of our service men and women for their sacrifice, for their service, for their dedication to our country,&#8221; Rich said in a video included in the tweet.
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A special message for our Veterans today🇺🇸 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VeteransDay2022?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VeteransDay2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/hdQiulBd6H">pic.twitter.com/hdQiulBd6H</a>
&mdash; John Rich🇺🇸 (@johnrich) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnrich/status/1591041169252818944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;They are the reason we still have freedom in this country,&#8221; Rich added. &#8220;They are the reason we still have a right to pursue happiness, to chase the American dream. They&#8217;re the reason for everything good that we have in this country.&#8221;
Actor Lou Diamond Phillips tweeted that his respect for veterans starts at home with all who have served in his family.
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My deep Respect for Veterans started at home. My father, George, Navy, served two tours in Viet Nam. Thankful that he came home. He exemplified duty, courage and commitment to me. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SupportOurTroops?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SupportOurTroops</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VeteransDay2022?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VeteransDay2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/5E35uWDDnu">https://t.co/5E35uWDDnu</a>
&mdash; Lou Diamond Phillips (@LouDPhillips) <a href="https://twitter.com/LouDPhillips/status/1591105078446161920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;My deep Respect for Veterans started at home,&#8221; Phillips wrote. &#8220;My father, George, Navy, served two tours in [Vietnam]. Thankful that he came home. He exemplified duty, courage and commitment to me. #SupportOurTroops #VeteransDay2022.&#8221;
Those were just some of the music, TV, and movie stars who celebrated those who have fought for this great country. Others can be seen below.
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On <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VeteransDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VeteransDay</a>, we take time to honor the men and women in the armed forces, past and present. Join me in saying thank you to our veterans for all they have sacrificed to serve our nation.<a href="https://t.co/djGKexG8oD">https://t.co/djGKexG8oD</a>
&mdash; Trace Adkins (@TraceAdkins) <a href="https://twitter.com/TraceAdkins/status/1591087469247987712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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PRICES PAID … SACRIFICE MADE … 
thank you VETERANS … we LOVE you… we RESPECT you … we THANK you … 🇺🇸<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VeteransDay2022?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VeteransDay2022</a> <a href="https://t.co/c9MjwB35aB">pic.twitter.com/c9MjwB35aB</a>
&mdash; The Oak Ridge Boys (@oakridgeboys) <a href="https://twitter.com/oakridgeboys/status/1591061732784422912?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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To all our wonderful veterans, we thank you for your sacrifice and service. We are remembering you today whether it be called Veterans Day, Armistice Day or even Poppy Day. ❤️
&mdash; William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) <a href="https://twitter.com/WilliamShatner/status/1591083757125369858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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My father Colby Carter served in the Army Air Corps during WWII. Missing him a little extra today.❤️ Happy Veterans Day 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/43lxJPu4ex">pic.twitter.com/43lxJPu4ex</a>
&mdash; Lynda Carter (@RealLyndaCarter) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealLyndaCarter/status/1591099819673591808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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This <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VeteransDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VeteransDay</a>, we honor those who served. <a href="https://t.co/ABnbIRBtOA">pic.twitter.com/ABnbIRBtOA</a>
&mdash; Marvel Entertainment (@Marvel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Marvel/status/1591068240591085568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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We are the land of the free, because of the brave! Thank God for our Veterans. Happy Veterans Day.
&mdash; Kevin Sorbo (@ksorbs) <a href="https://twitter.com/ksorbs/status/1590995977582039040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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From &#39;Platoon&#39; to &#39;Saving Private Ryan,&#39; here are 10 films to watch in honor of Veterans Day. <a href="https://t.co/Mr6yLvGPrr">https://t.co/Mr6yLvGPrr</a>
&mdash; The Academy (@TheAcademy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAcademy/status/1591121330539089920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chris-pratt">Chris Pratt</a> and the crew of the hit Amazon series &#8220;The Terminal List&#8221; also took time to celebrate those who have sacrificed for our country, as previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/god-bless-you-chris-pratt-and-terminal-list-cast-honor-military-on-veterans-day">reported</a>.
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For your sacrifice, we thank you. Today and every day. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VeteransDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VeteransDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/DzmcpH6Oik">pic.twitter.com/DzmcpH6Oik</a>
&mdash; The Terminal List (@TerminalListPV) <a href="https://twitter.com/TerminalListPV/status/1591083335203291136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 11, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;For your sacrifice, we thank you,&#8221; the official account of &#8220;The Terminal List&#8221; tweeted. &#8220;Today and every day. #VeteransDay.&#8221; At the end of the clip we see Pratt saying &#8220;God Bless You.&#8221;
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chris-pratt-sends-message-to-fans-and-amazon-after-the-terminal-list-soars-to-number-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Pratt Sends Message To Fans And Amazon After &#8216;The Terminal List&#8217; Soars To Number 1</a>

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‘Top Gun’ Crew, John Rich, And Other Celebrities Thank Veterans ‘Who Have Served Our Nation’

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Top Gun

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