Blog
LatestArticlesVideos
Radio
LivePodcastSerialsStations
TV
Podcasts
The Glenn Beck ProgramThe Glenn Beck PodcastThe Beck Story
Fine Art
Real Estate
More
AboutCharityBooksSponsorsShopContact
SEARCH
Live Radio

©2024 MERCURY RADIO ARTS.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY

Live

Glenn's Show Prep

Fellow soldier on Bowe Bergdahl: "I just don’t think he cared for America anymore."

June 02, 2014
Wilson

Writer

The release of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from Afghanistan over the weekend has generated a lot of controversy. Many are questioning President Obama's decision to negotiate with terrorists and exchange four prisoners for Bergdahl. Other soldiers are claiming that Bergdahl was a deserter whose selfish actions cost others their lives. In order to help shed some light on the subject, Glenn was joined SPC Josh Fuller, who served with Bergdahl in Alaska and was close with people who knew him during his service in Afghanistan. Fuller tells the story of a man who was a bit of an oddball, a soldier who left his post and whose actions put the lives of others at risk.

Glenn: I want to go now to the soldier that I talked to on the radio this morning. He’s not the only one that is questioning the motives for Sergeant Bergdahl’s release. Joshua Fuller, he met and served with Sergeant Bergdahl while the two trained in Alaska.

So how did you know him at all?

SPC Fuller: We were both in the same brigade back in Alaska. I was stationed in the 509th, and he was stationed in the 501st, and so we were both stationed in Alaska together.

Glenn: Okay, and then you went to Afghanistan together, but you were close but not –

SPC Fuller: Yes, sir. So we were in two sister battalions, two airborne sister battalions, and he was stationed at an outpost a couple clicks away from where I was at. And I was stationed at another one.

Glenn: And one of your best friends was his roommate or bunk mate?

SPC Fuller: Bunk mate, yes, sir.

Glenn: So tell me what you saw and what your friend saw on what he said.

SPC Fuller: When we were back at Rear D back in Garrison, he seemed a little oddballish and would say stuff like, you know, like what you were talking about earlier, about America was a superpower and shouldn’t be, and we’re trying to bully around the world and stuff like that, just oddball comments like that. I didn’t think too much of it until whenever this stuff happened over there, whenever he ended up leaving and deserting the post.

Glenn: So is it normal? I mean, you didn’t think much of that. Is that normal to hear people say things like that?

SPC Fuller: Yes, we’ve got quite a few oddball people. It actually happens quite a bit, but usually like when we’re in war, we’re pretty short staffed, so you can take what you can get. And so a lot of people have, you know, said stuff before. We’ve taken the bolts out of people’s M-4s before because they started to get a little crazy, and then a week or two later we think they’re okay, so we give them their bolt back to put back in their gun.

Glenn: Wow.

SPC Fuller: You get what you can.

Glenn: Okay, so when he left, and he walked out by himself, there are people that say that he asked if he could take his night vision goggles with him, which no, you can’t.

SPC Fuller: Right.

Glenn: The enemy would pay a lot for night vision.

SPC Fuller: Right.

Glenn: Any reason he was out, he left? I mean, can you think of any reason why he left his post?

SPC Fuller: I just don’t think he cared for America anymore. I think his agenda was to help those people, just like what his father was stating about wanting to help the Afghans a little bit more.

Glenn: Okay, help me out on this because I heard his dad. And I want to give his dad the benefit of the doubt. I mean, you went over to protect America, but also you don’t have anything against the Afghanis.

SPC Fuller: Not at all.

Glenn: Right.

SPC Fuller: They were very cool to me.

Glenn: Right, you want to help them too. Why do you interpret what dad said as anti-American?

SPC Fuller: I don’t know, it seemed a little strange. It seemed a little strange to me.

Glenn: Now, he leaves the base, and you guys have to go out and try to find him.

SPC Fuller: Yes, sir.

Glenn: What happened there?

SPC Fuller: When he had left the base, the next day there was already people going out to search for him, different platoons from different companies out of different battalions. They were already going on this thing called dust off, so when somebody either gets captured or goes missing, we start sending out patrols. Helicopters will go out and look for them.

Our platoon was going to be the next one to go out, and that was on July 3. And our bird got scratched to go look for him. Luckily it did, because the next day our outpost was almost overrun by the Taliban on July 4, so luckily we didn’t go. So I didn’t get to go on that mission to go look for him because we were getting overrun.

Glenn: And you say that the Taliban had information that they shouldn’t have had, that you think that he gave them.

SPC Fuller: Yes. To that point, whenever he had left the base, right after he had left, we started getting hit in spots that we didn’t normally get hit in because we’ve got a thing called POO sites, which are point of origin sites, and so we’ll know at some points where we get attacked from so we stay away from those areas. The areas that we trained with to go on certain areas, we started getting attacked on those areas. IEDs were placed strategically on the routes of trucks where we knew we would be going to hit those certain spots, stuff that the Taliban shouldn’t know about. Ambushes, we were getting hit from.

Glenn: Okay, so playing devil’s advocate again, what makes you think that he wasn’t tortured and gave all that information up through torture?

SPC Fuller: He could have, absolutely. He could have went over there with his best intentions, thinking that hey, I’m here to help you, and the Taliban said, you know, yes you will, and they still could have tortured him for that stuff.

Glenn: What’s your gut say? I mean, you drove in. I talked to you this morning. We asked you, “Can you come to the studios?” And you got here right away. And when I first saw you before we went on the air, you said a lot of us are, this has been eating you alive.

SPC Fuller: We got told from a higher up that was in charge of the brigade not to talk about it, but we didn’t –

Glenn: Back then?

SPC Fuller: Yes, sir. In OEF 9 through 10 or Operation Enduring Freedom 9 through 10, we were told to keep it on the quiet, on the DL, and from that point on, they were telling his family that he was a POW, telling the media he was a POW, and that was not the case.

Glenn: How does it make you feel, the president just…I’m not a soldier obviously, but I know enough, and I know people like Marcus Luttrell who have actually been held. And there’s no way Marcus Luttrell would want the president to negotiate for five really bad guys.

SPC Fuller: I wouldn’t allow it, even if it was myself, no way.

Glenn: Thanks a lot, Josh.

SPC Fuller: Yes, sir.

Glenn:  Appreciate it. Thank you.

Civics isn’t optional—America's survival depends on it

JEFF KOWALSKY / Contributor | Getty Images

Every vote, jury duty, and act of engagement is civics in action, not theory. The republic survives only when citizens embrace responsibility.

I slept through high school civics class. I memorized the three branches of government, promptly forgot them, and never thought of that word again. Civics seemed abstract, disconnected from real life. And yet, it is critical to maintaining our republic.

Civics is not a class. It is a responsibility. A set of habits, disciplines, and values that make a country possible. Without it, no country survives.

We assume America will survive automatically, but every generation must learn to carry the weight of freedom.

Civics happens every time you speak freely, worship openly, question your government, serve on a jury, or cast a ballot. It’s not a theory or just another entry in a textbook. It’s action — the acts we perform every day to be a positive force in society.

Many of us recoil at “civic responsibility.” “I pay my taxes. I follow the law. I do my civic duty.” That’s not civics. That’s a scam, in my opinion.

Taking up the torch

The founders knew a republic could never run on autopilot. And yet, that’s exactly what we do now. We assume it will work, then complain when it doesn’t. Meanwhile, the people steering the country are driving it straight into a mountain — and they know it.

Our founders gave us tools: separation of powers, checks and balances, federalism, elections. But they also warned us: It won’t work unless we are educated, engaged, and moral.

Are we educated, engaged, and moral? Most Americans cannot even define a republic, never mind “keep one,” as Benjamin Franklin urged us to do after the Constitutional Convention.

We fought and died for the republic. Gaining it was the easy part. Keeping it is hard. And keeping it is done through civics.

Start small and local

In our homes, civics means teaching our children the Constitution, our history, and that liberty is not license — it is the space to do what is right. In our communities, civics means volunteering, showing up, knowing your sheriff, attending school board meetings, and understanding the laws you live under. When necessary, it means challenging them.

How involved are you in your local community? Most people would admit: not really.

Civics is learned in practice. And it starts small. Be honest in your business dealings. Speak respectfully in disagreement. Vote in every election, not just the presidential ones. Model citizenship for your children. Liberty is passed down by teaching and example.

Samuel Corum / Stringer | Getty Images

We assume America will survive automatically, but every generation must learn to carry the weight of freedom.

Start with yourself. Study the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and state laws. Study, act, serve, question, and teach. Only then can we hope to save the republic. The next election will not fix us. The nation will rise or fall based on how each of us lives civics every day.

Civics isn’t a class. It’s the way we protect freedom, empower our communities, and pass down liberty to the next generation.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

'Rage against the dying of the light': Charlie Kirk lived that mandate

PHILL MAGAKOE / Contributor | Getty Images

Kirk’s tragic death challenges us to rise above fear and anger, to rebuild bridges where others build walls, and to fight for the America he believed in.

I’ve only felt this weight once before. It was 2001, just as my radio show was about to begin. The World Trade Center fell, and I was called to speak immediately. I spent the day and night by my bedside, praying for words that could meet the moment.

Yesterday, I found myself in the same position. September 11, 2025. The assassination of Charlie Kirk. A friend. A warrior for truth.

Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins.

Moments like this make words feel inadequate. Yet sometimes, words from another time speak directly to our own. In 1947, Dylan Thomas, watching his father slip toward death, penned lines that now resonate far beyond his own grief:

Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Thomas was pleading for his father to resist the impending darkness of death. But those words have become a mandate for all of us: Do not surrender. Do not bow to shadows. Even when the battle feels unwinnable.

Charlie Kirk lived that mandate. He knew the cost of speaking unpopular truths. He knew the fury of those who sought to silence him. And yet he pressed on. In his life, he embodied a defiance rooted not in anger, but in principle.

Picking up his torch

Washington, Jefferson, Adams — our history was started by men who raged against an empire, knowing the gallows might await. Lincoln raged against slavery. Martin Luther King Jr. raged against segregation. Every generation faces a call to resist surrender.

It is our turn. Charlie’s violent death feels like a knockout punch. Yet if his life meant anything, it means this: Silence in the face of darkness is not an option.

He did not go gently. He spoke. He challenged. He stood. And now, the mantle falls to us. To me. To you. To every American.

We cannot drift into the shadows. We cannot sit quietly while freedom fades. This is our moment to rage — not with hatred, not with vengeance, but with courage. Rage against lies, against apathy, against the despair that tells us to do nothing. Because there is always something you can do.

Even small acts — defiance, faith, kindness — are light in the darkness. Reaching out to those who mourn. Speaking truth in a world drowning in deceit. These are the flames that hold back the night. Charlie carried that torch. He laid it down yesterday. It is ours to pick up.

The light may dim, but it always does before dawn. Commit today: I will not sleep as freedom fades. I will not retreat as darkness encroaches. I will not be silent as evil forces claim dominion. I have no king but Christ. And I know whom I serve, as did Charlie.

Two turning points, decades apart

On Wednesday, the world changed again. Two tragedies, separated by decades, bound by the same question: Who are we? Is this worth saving? What kind of people will we choose to be?

Imagine a world where more of us choose to be peacemakers. Not passive, not silent, but builders of bridges where others erect walls. Respect and listening transform even the bitterest of foes. Charlie Kirk embodied this principle.

He did not strike the weak; he challenged the powerful. He reached across divides of politics, culture, and faith. He changed hearts. He sparked healing. And healing is what our nation needs.

At the center of all this is one truth: Every person is a child of God, deserving of dignity. Change will not happen in Washington or on social media. It begins at home, where loneliness and isolation threaten our souls. Family is the antidote. Imperfect, yes — but still the strongest source of stability and meaning.

Mark Wilson / Staff | Getty Images

Forgiveness, fidelity, faithfulness, and honor are not dusty words. They are the foundation of civilization. Strong families produce strong citizens. And today, Charlie’s family mourns. They must become our family too. We must stand as guardians of his legacy, shining examples of the courage he lived by.

A time for courage

I knew Charlie. I know how he would want us to respond: Multiply his courage. Out of this tragedy, the tyrant dies, but the martyr’s influence begins. Out of darkness, great and glorious things will sprout — but we must be worthy of them.

Charlie Kirk lived defiantly. He stood in truth. He changed the world. And now, his torch is in our hands. Rage, not in violence, but in unwavering pursuit of truth and goodness. Rage against the dying of the light.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Glenn Beck resurrects the 9-12 Project to support Charlie Kirk's family

Glenn Beck is once again calling on his loyal listeners and viewers to come together and channel the same unity and purpose that defined the historic 9-12 Project. That movement, born in the wake of national challenges, brought millions together to revive core values of faith, hope, and charity.

Glenn created the original 9-12 Project in early 2009 to bring Americans back to where they were in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. In those moments, we weren't Democrats and Republicans, conservative or liberal, Red States or Blue States, we were united as one, as America. The original 9-12 Project aimed to root America back in the founding principles of this country that united us during those darkest of days.

This new initiative draws directly from that legacy, focusing on supporting the family of Charlie Kirk in these dark days following his tragic murder.

The revival of the 9-12 Project aims to secure the long-term well-being of Charlie Kirk's wife and children. All donations will go straight to meeting their immediate and future needs. If the family deems the funds surplus to their requirements, Charlie's wife has the option to redirect them toward the vital work of Turning Point USA.

This campaign is more than just financial support—it's a profound gesture of appreciation for Kirk's tireless dedication to the cause of liberty. It embodies the unbreakable bond of our community, proving that when we stand united, we can make a real difference.
Glenn Beck invites you to join this effort. Show your solidarity by donating today and honoring Charlie Kirk and his family in this meaningful way.

You can learn more about the 9-12 Project and donate HERE

The critical difference: Rights from the Creator, not the state

Bloomberg / Contributor | Getty Images

When politicians claim that rights flow from the state, they pave the way for tyranny.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) recently delivered a lecture that should alarm every American. During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, he argued that believing rights come from a Creator rather than government is the same belief held by Iran’s theocratic regime.

Kaine claimed that the principles underpinning Iran’s dictatorship — the same regime that persecutes Sunnis, Jews, Christians, and other minorities — are also the principles enshrined in our Declaration of Independence.

In America, rights belong to the individual. In Iran, rights serve the state.

That claim exposes either a profound misunderstanding or a reckless indifference to America’s founding. Rights do not come from government. They never did. They come from the Creator, as the Declaration of Independence proclaims without qualification. Jefferson didn’t hedge. Rights are unalienable — built into every human being.

This foundation stands worlds apart from Iran. Its leaders invoke God but grant rights only through clerical interpretation. Freedom of speech, property, religion, and even life itself depend on obedience to the ruling clerics. Step outside their dictates, and those so-called rights vanish.

This is not a trivial difference. It is the essence of liberty versus tyranny. In America, rights belong to the individual. The government’s role is to secure them, not define them. In Iran, rights serve the state. They empower rulers, not the people.

From Muhammad to Marx

The same confusion applies to Marxist regimes. The Soviet Union’s constitutions promised citizens rights — work, health care, education, freedom of speech — but always with fine print. If you spoke out against the party, those rights evaporated. If you practiced religion openly, you were charged with treason. Property and voting were allowed as long as they were filtered and controlled by the state — and could be revoked at any moment. Rights were conditional, granted through obedience.

Kaine seems to be advocating a similar approach — whether consciously or not. By claiming that natural rights are somehow comparable to sharia law, he ignores the critical distinction between inherent rights and conditional privileges. He dismisses the very principle that made America a beacon of freedom.

Jefferson and the founders understood this clearly. “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights,” they wrote. No government, no cleric, no king can revoke them. They exist by virtue of humanity itself. The government exists to protect them, not ration them.

This is not a theological quibble. It is the entire basis of our government. Confuse the source of rights, and tyranny hides behind piety or ideology. The people are disempowered. Clerics, bureaucrats, or politicians become arbiters of what rights citizens may enjoy.

John Greim / Contributor | Getty Images

Gifts from God, not the state

Kaine’s statement reflects either a profound ignorance of this principle or an ideological bias that favors state power over individual liberty. Either way, Americans must recognize the danger. Understanding the origin of rights is not academic — it is the difference between freedom and submission, between the American experiment and theocratic or totalitarian rule.

Rights are not gifts from the state. They are gifts from God, secured by reason, protected by law, and defended by the people. Every American must understand this. Because when rights come from government instead of the Creator, freedom disappears.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.