GLENNApril 04, 2017

We Have More Important Issues Than Who Dines With Mike Pence

The debate over Mike Pence and his personal policy of not eating dinner alone with a member of the opposite sex has created quite a stir in America.

"Because, you know, we don't have anything important going on, right? I mean, this is the most important thing we could argue about," Glenn scoffed on radio.

It turns out Mike Pence didn't create the policy. Billy Graham did --- back in the 1940s. The renowned evangelist followed the same standard in his own life and ministry as part of a four-pronged moral approach to uphold the highest standard of Biblical morality and integrity.

Enjoy the complimentary clip or read the transcript for details.

GLENN: All right. The debate over Mike Pence and his personal policy of not eating dinner alone with a member of the opposite sex has created quite a stir in America because, you know, we don't have anything important going on, right? I mean, this is the most important thing we could argue about. Let's keep things into perspective. The thing we have to argue about is Mike Pence.

Mike Pence is not the guy who created the policy. It was crafted back in the 1940s. And it's known as the Billy Graham rule. Named after Billy Graham, the evangelist who followed the same standard in his own life and ministry. Graham is said to have drafted the rule in 1948, as part of a four-pronged moral approach to ministry. It was important to uphold the highest standard of Biblical morality and integrity, according to Billy Graham in 1948. The rules of the Billy Graham rule in his book Just As I Am.

We all knew of evangelists who had fallen into immorality while separated from their families by travel. We pledged among ourselves to avoid any situation that would even have the appearance of compromise and suspicion. From that day on, I did not travel, meet, or eat alone with any woman other than my wife.

Let's just start on that one. Why is that one so bad? Listen to this.

What did he say? We all know of evangelists who had fallen into immorality while separated from their families by travel.

STU: So trying to take a step to solve that problem.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: Not only that, wanting to -- we pledged among ourselves to avoid any situation that would even have the appearance of compromise or suspicion.

We all know that because of what happened in the '80s and '90s with Jim Baker and all of that stuff, that evangelists started to look like scumbags. All of them were dirtbags. Back in the '90s, it felt like every single guy who was a priest or a pastor was a dirtbag.

STU: Yeah, the documentary Fletch really covered that thing pretty well.

GLENN: No, that's not really a documentary.

So what is he doing? Now, he's saying this in 1948, when apparently they were having problems with it too. And he said, let's just to avoid all appearance.

Well, that's to restore the honor and integrity of the people of the cloth. Is there anything wrong with that?

STU: I mean, I can tell you obviously the left has lots of problems with this.

GLENN: Of course they do.

STU: And, you know, you can make an argument. Right? And his standard is actually tougher than the Pence standard. Because it was not even meet or eat. The Graham standard was not even meet.

GLENN: Yeah, meet or eat alone with any woman other than my wife.

STU: Uh-huh. I mean, that's even more strict than what Pence was saying.

PAT: And there's this snarky about how insulting that is -- an insulting view of men and a limiting role for women. We're either there to entice or domesticate. That's not the point.

GLENN: No, it's the appearance.

PAT: It's to avoid the appearance. Avoid the temptation. Avoid any of those things.

GLENN: And it's also to avoid the situation that someone can say something happened in a meeting that didn't happen.

PAT: Right. Right.

STU: Yeah, there's certainly an understandable thing to protect yourself from. We've seen obviously many high profile people have been in situations where they've been accused of things, which they say. I mean, who knows what the truth is? But they say they didn't do. Certainly some of those stories are true.

GLENN: Take it this way.

Did Roger Ailes go after these women at Fox?

PAT: I don't know.

STU: We don't know. It seems --

GLENN: Well, it seems what?

STU: We don't know. There's a lot of people accusing him of doing that. And the company made him millions and millions of dollars.

GLENN: Okay. Next level. Is there a possible that he did do some of these and he didn't do others?

STU: Yes. Of course.

GLENN: So if he had this standard, would that have happened?

PAT: No, because he wouldn't have been alone with them.

STU: I mean, it could have happened. But there would have been less evidence. Less people would have probably believed it. You know, we have no idea. Like I have no personal knowledge of him ever having a personal meeting with either one of these women.

GLENN: No, neither do I.

STU: So they could obviously say that happened anyway. But you're right. If he was known for having a lot of these private meetings, it would be more believable in the company that these things occurred. Sure.

GLENN: Right.

STU: You know, I think there's a line there. First of all, with the idea of doing it for appearance's sake, which is, you know -- it's not -- that's on you.

JEFFY: Right.

STU: If you have an inaccurate belief of what's happening in my life and you decide to judge it that way, that's not on me. Now, I have to deal with the consequences if everyone believes some lie, right?

But it's not my fault -- it's not my responsibility to craft what your opinion is of me. It is not -- that is on you. If you decide to believe something that is not true for whatever reason, because you think I'm having dinner with somebody, that's really not my fault. So I can understand that being, you know, an argument. And I'm -- from the left side, I make this as a little bit of a devil's advocate point, the left is saying, look, we all know -- and this is true -- that if you're a guy and you get a chance to be alone with a boss and make your case, you have a good chance -- a chance of improving. Also, by the way, blowing your career up. Sometimes -- I mean, those meetings happen too. Where you have this nice big meeting and you come up with this great idea. And they're like, that's the dumbest idea in the world.

But that moment is important, especially as you're coming up in a company. If you're able to impress a boss in a one-on-one situation, that could be big for your career. And what women are arguing are, wait a minute. Guys can do that with you, but I can't.

PAT: You don't have to go to dinner to do that. You can do that at the office.

STU: Although that can't happen, with Billy Graham's rule. You wouldn't be able to do it at the office.

JEFFY: Yeah.

STU: But Pence's rule, he did just say it was dinner. However, business gets done in this country over dinner and drinks all the time. That's very common. So if the guy can go out with you -- now, it's one thing if you say, I'm never meeting with anyone one on one. But if you say, I'm going to meet with guys one on one, and I'm not going to meet with women one on one.

GLENN: No, I think that's wrong.

STU: They can say --

GLENN: Yeah, I think you can't say, as a -- as a boss, "Hey, you know what, Phil, we've got some work to do. Let's just go grab a beer. Let's do this after dinner." And not do that with women. I don't think -- I think that sets an unfair balance because there is bonding. Hey, you know what, let's just go play a round of golf. Just the two of us. Let's play a round of golf.

STU: Sure.

GLENN: If you won't play golf with everybody, then you shouldn't play golf with anyone.

STU: That's interesting. Because I don't think that's the -- I don't think that's the Pence standard or what most people were defending the Pence standard were arguing.

GLENN: But I can see how that's perceived as unfair.

JEFFY: Right.

GLENN: Look, you're going to go out and bond with somebody.

STU: Uh-huh.

GLENN: And you're not giving me the chance to bond with you. And when it comes to executive level positions, it really is about who you can bond with and who you can trust.

Now, I don't need to play a round of golf. I don't need to have a private dinner with somebody.

PAT: Uh-huh.

GLENN: I mean, is there a guy that you know of that has hired more women as executives than me?

STU: No. Many. And you obviously have met with all of them.

GLENN: Yes.

STU: At one time or another. Especially when you're hiring someone to a big position that you trust, you want to have a one-on-one conversation to get to know them.

But, for instance, I would never travel -- for instance, my assistant, Misheal, I wouldn't travel alone with Misheal, just the two of us going out for -- hey, I got to go to San Francisco. Misheal, just the two of us go --

STU: Right.

PAT: Nor would you invite a woman out to dinner, just the two of you? I can't imagine that. Would you do that?

GLENN: No. Well, I don't do that with anybody anyway because my wife is --

PAT: Yeah. There's nothing wrong with taking your wife on this trip with you, with another woman, and giving her a promotion then.

STU: But you're saying to the woman, we have to have a chaperone. I can't have a moment with you.

You know, there are moments in one on one where -- yes, there are moments where one on one also creates sex, which is obviously the point here.

PAT: Yeah.

STU: However, there are a lot of moments where one on one might create a real trust in a business relationship. And the fact that you have somebody else at the dinner --

PAT: You can do that at the office. You can always do that at the office. You don't have to do that at dinner. I would never do it. I wouldn't do it.

GLENN: I started watching a movie. We have Mark Duplass on today, who is great. He's an independent filmmaker. But he also --

STU: You'd probably know him from The League, if you ever watch The League on FX. He's like the main character on that show.

GLENN: Okay. So he's brilliant. He did a movie called Blue Jay. Now, he's just done a three-movie deal with Netflix, where I don't even think they asked him -- I don't even think they asked him for the movies. They're just like, here's money. Go make three movies.

He's really brilliant. Watched his movie Blue Jay, started watching it last night. And it's brilliant. Really brilliant. And it's about two people that were teenage, you know, love story. And have just loved each other -- they're in their '40s now and they still love each other. But hadn't seen each other for 25 years. And there's some tension between them. Something happened. And that's what broke them up. And so it chronicles their 24 hours together of meeting again. And the whole time you're thinking, "Okay. All right. She's married. He's not. This isn't good." You want to come back to the house? You're thinking, don't do that.

And she is really, really strong. She's like -- he tries to kiss her. And she says no. Blah, blah. And it's really -- it's -- but at the end, because there is something between them, they do -- they do start to fool around. Now, she stops, but they do start to fool around. Who couldn't see that coming?

Now, I'm not saying that every man and woman have that attraction to each other. I mean, ladies, I know --

STU: Obviously. With you, they do.

GLENN: With me, they do. It's not a question.

STU: Your physique. There's so many different reasons.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh. The abs.

STU: The abs -- even if they don't see your face, they're going to see your abs.

GLENN: Seriously, you can see my abs through my shirt. And I don't mean to --

STU: No. You don't mean to do that. It just happens.

GLENN: It's just, they're so big, they're pushing out and kind of stretching the buttons. Anyway --

STU: Yes, it's weird. That's -- I didn't know that was an ab. But it's one ab.

GLENN: I have one ab. I have one big ab.

STU: Yeah, one giant ab. That's interesting.

GLENN: And a bellybutton in the middle of it.

So, you know, not everybody has that. But that is part of life. That there is the attraction.

STU: Of course. Of course.

GLENN: Especially when you're going down the same path. You're on the same kind of career course. You know, et cetera, et cetera. That stuff does happen.

STU: And you should obviously be careful with that.

GLENN: Yes.

STU: Especially with a person in that area. But, I mean, like having dinner with some business associate one on one, you know, talking about an important business deal, I mean, that should -- like, I -- just you guys. I mean, you guys are not doing it.

And I think the criticism of this idea is ridiculous. Right? It's a typical stupid, blown-up in the media left-wing story. So I'm not giving it any credence. But if you went out with a female executive for dinner, nothing is going to happen. Because you don't want it to happen. It's about you making the choice and her making the choice, whoever she is.

Right. She's disgusted. So she's out. But even if you wanted to be in, you would still stop yourself because that's what your gig is.

GLENN: Right. Right.

STU: You take your marriage seriously.

GLENN: If somehow or another she fell and her eyes started to see something that looked appetizing in me, she still would be out.

STU: Right. But that's on you.

GLENN: But -- yeah. But here's the thing. The appearance. The appearance.

STU: But that's on me. You're doing it for other eyes.

GLENN: No, it's on society.

STU: Now, you as a celebrity, I understand that. Right? Because people might take pictures of you. Who is this person Glenn Beck is with? I get that at some level. But for the average person, I don't think --

GLENN: No. Wait. I take this back to -- because this is not just about women. I take this back to drinks. I'm an alcoholic. I never go to a cocktail party and ask for a glass of water. I ask for a bottle of water. If they don't have a bottle of water, I won't have water. I don't want a glass with ice in it and clear liquid. I want a bottle of water.

Now, what's the problem with that

STU: There's no problem with that. However, two things. A, you are a celebrity. And if someone saw you with a clear glass of liquid, they might accuse you. And probably would. You would be on Breitbart in about ten minutes.

JEFFY: Oh, in a heartbeat.

GLENN: Tell me the difference between a celebrity -- where someone is going to take a picture of me and put it out there and blah, blah, and me as just an average Joe.

STU: Because nobody cares.

GLENN: Who is -- no, that's not true. You've never been around gossipy people in church. You've never been around gossipy people in the office.

STU: The ramifications are a completely different scale. You know, people --

GLENN: But so is your life on a different scale. It's still your life.

STU: Yes. What was it? A million retweets when someone saw you in a scarf.

GLENN: Okay. Yeah.

STU: Woke Glenn Beck. And all of a sudden, you were like then number one trending thing on Twitter because you wore a stupid scarf one day or an ascot. Whatever the heck it was.

GLENN: It wasn't an ascot.

STU: I only say ascot because I know you hate it.

(chuckling)

RADIO

The ONE “forever war” Glenn Beck supports

This Fourth of July, Glenn Beck reveals the only “forever war” he supports. It’s the war Americans have been fighting since our nation’s founding, and we must continue the fight…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Two hundred forty-nine years ago, I think it is tomorrow. Right? Is tomorrow the second, or is it the first?

What day is it today?

So it was 200 -- 249 years ago, tomorrow, that somebody sat alone, in a -- in a one-room hotel room.

And scratched out the words, when in the course of human events. Those are the first six words of a document that is so dangerous!

Still today, so revolutionary.

It was whispered in those candle lit rooms by men who knew. Knew. That if I signed this document, that's a death warrant.

I'm dead!

I'm dead.

But in the course of human events, shh.

Jefferson wrote them!

33 years old. Adams would later say, you do well to revere Jefferson. But he didn't write alone. Basically, I was there too.

And so was Ben Franklin. The ideas were forged in the minds of men like Franklin, who is old enough to know better. And Adams, who was stubborn enough, not to care. And they weren't perfect men. But I love this about the left. They try to make you think.

That you think are perfect. I don't think they were perfect! I mean, Ben Franklin used to walk around naked in his house a lot. That shows, I mean, for as smart as that guy was. It shows, maybe he had a lack of mirrors. But they weren't perfect!

They owned slaves. They argued. They compromised.

How does that make them different than us?
I mean, we should be able to relate to them!

What is it that we tolerate right now?
What is it that we compromise on?

What is it -- what are our failures that future generations are going to go, these people just didn't get it? Perhaps what we should notice is that they, unlike most of us. They were willing to gamble their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

For something that had never, ever been done before. Something entirely new!

The idea that rights don't come from a government, or from a king, or from a parliament.

They don't come from the majority voting. Everyone has certain rights.

You know, for all these people who are, you know -- going in Macy's, and burning down towns. And then stealing clothing. And they're like, because I've been oppressed!

And you can't -- I've got rights, you know.
Yeah. Yeah.

You know who the first people were, to articulate those rights?

You know the only country that actually has stood for those rights?

And we're imperfect!

That idea came from the Founders, that you say you hate.

But the actual rights come from God, which you dismiss!

Think of this. Just ponder this for a second.

That all men are created equal! That their rights are given to them, by a creator.

It's not a political assertion. It's a genius. That's eternal truth!

That's theological dynamite, lobbed straight in to the thrones of Europe.

All over the world, it's still dynamite.

They knew what they were doing.

And I don't mean like, they knew what they were doing.

They had it. No. They knew that the British crown had the largest military force in the world. And these guys, they were farmers. They were printers. They were lawyers. They were a ragtag collection of intellectual and idealists, facing down an empire, where they said, the sun never set on the British empire. Meaning, the colonialism was everywhere!

You could not escape England. And yet, they declared it. We're leaving, without apology!

And they said that when a government becomes destructive of the ends of liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness, it's not only the right of the people, it's their duty to throw it off!

Wow. And you know what is amazing? That's not rebellion.

That's -- that's not revolution. That's -- that's responsibility.

That -- that kind of language today, that would have you flagged, shadow banned. Labeled an extremist. In most countries, disappeared!

But that is the foundation of what we call America. The American experiment. And it's that. The American experiment.

And it's just that, an experiment. We didn't know if we could get it right. And we haven't gotten it right. But isn't it worth experimenting?

Isn't it worth trying to get that concept right?

When you fail on that concept, you're like, eh. That's a stupid idea.

That's not a stupid idea. That's the greatest idea of all time.

Why are so many people willing to just quit?

The experiment is self-rule. It's not perfect.

Never has been. Slavery. Jim Crow. Internment camps. Assassinations.

My God! Forgive us, for what we have done.

But at the same time, what nation has done more to correct its own errors?

What people have shed more blood, not for conquest, but for freedom.

Twice in the last century, we crossed oceans. Not to claim territory. But to liberate that territory!

Our sons and daughters fought and bled on foreign soil to push the darkness back, to fight against Naziism and fascism and Communism. And here we are. Here we are today.

After 249 years tomorrow of that experiment, standing at the lip of the very abyss, those men feared.

A godless chaos, rising in the east and a cold atheistic utopia, clawing at the foundations of the Western world. Islamism and Communism, two ideologies that have killed tens of millions of people. Now dressed all in new robes, selling old lies.

And we can't even teach a child where their rights come from. We have replaced Jefferson and Adams with TikTok influencers and bureaucratic groupthink.

We're raising generations to not even know the truth about their own identity.

But to question their identity. And they could be, oh, you're a funny, funny colored unicorn today. What do you want to be tomorrow?

We don't teach them anything about truth, or their inheritance, most importantly. Their inheritance. What good are hot dogs and fireworks, if the soul of the nation is up for auction? What is the meaning in Fourth of July, if we have forgotten the why? If we don't even call it Independence Day anymore. Most people don't even know who we fought against for independence.

They think we fought for its independence! Most people think we fought the South!

And yet, we'll light the sparklers, or blow our fingers off, because we're just that stupid.

This Independence Day weekend, would you do me and yourself and your country a favor, and read the words out loud. Speak the words out loud.

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands, which have connected them with one another.

And to assume among the powers of earth, the separate, but equal station, to which the laws of nature.

And nature's God entitle them.

A decent respect to the opinions of mankind, requires that they should declare the causes, which impair them to the separation.

What are they saying?

Look, we want to be decent people.

We want to be decent people.

And we have to separate them.

But we believe it's only right that we tell you why we have to separate. And it's not because of all the bad things you've done. We'll get to those later. It's because we're different. And you don't understand. You have been telling us all of these things, we no longer believe in. We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal, and they're endowed by their creator with certain inalienable. Unchangeable rights.

And just among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

That to secure these rights, government are his instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

My gosh. Read those words. And let your children hear what thinking and courage sounds like.

That to secure these rights, I'm telling you, the king, who thinks that your government was given to you, by God.

And you are the ruler.

And you will tell everybody what to think, what to do. What to buy. What to sell. What to tax. What not to tax. Who gets land. Who doesn't get land.

No, no, no. Government are his instituted among men, deriving their powers, their just powers, from the people. And that government is only there, established by those men to protect the rights that God has given each of those men.

Let them feel the chill, that runs down the spine, when Jefferson writes, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the government, or from the governed. Let them hear the words, of -- of responsibility. What responsibility sounds like, with courage and freedom. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these rights, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.

And to institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their a lot of and happiness.

In other words, you have the right, you have the responsibility to stop tyrants. And if the government has gone bad, to throw that government off.

But reconstitute a government, that will do a better job at protecting those rights. Not to form a communist government.

Not to do anything else. But you want a new government?

Fine! Let's find the way to make men more free. This is not a metaphor. This is a declaration of war on tyranny in all of its forms.

I mean, I said, yesterday, freedom isn't free.

It was paid for by somebody's blood. But you have to remember, they paid for their freedom, not for our freedom, necessarily.

We -- there comes a time, we have to pay for our freedom. And God forbid, that it comes down to blood.

But at least shake off the apathy. We -- we must renew this promise of this experiment of America.

We need to fight for it as well. An out-of-control government that seeks to rope us into forever wars, over and over again. We're all against forever wars. I'm against it.

I hate them.

But there is one forever war, that is required in a free society. A different kind of forever war.

A war against ourselves, a war against human nature in each of us. Because of human nature, we get fat. We get lazy.

We get tolerant of abuses. Let your children hear you speak these words. And when you speak them, ponder them yourself.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments long established, should not be changed for light and transient causes.

And accordingly, all experience has shown, that mankind is more disposed to suffer while the evils are sufferable than to right themselves, by abolishing the forms in which they're accustomed.

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a sign to reduce them under absolute despotism.

It's their right. It's their duty. To throw off such government. And provide new guards for such future security.

In one paragraph, we make the point twice. And they tell us, look, we've studied people.

We know you're going to get fat and lazy and apathetic. And you won't want to do stuff for transient causes. Because this is really not good.

But when push comes to shove. And everything is moving towards absolute despotism. Absolute tyranny. Then you must stand up.

I ask you to ponder this. This particular part, when a long train of abuses and usurpations. Prudence will indeed dictate that governments long established should not be exchanged for light and transient causes.

And accordingly, all experience has shown, that mankind is more disposed to suffer while the evils suffer, than to right themselves.

Aren't we exactly the same people, that their experience was talking about?

Aren't we the people that are more disposed to suffer, than to right ourselves? Because we're too comfortable. Or we're too afraid, just to stand up and simply say no to lies.

No!

There is a difference between men and women.

No! Communism is to be feared. It's killed over 100 million people, in the last 100 years.

No!

Muslims aren't bad. Islamism is!

It's evil. No!

You can peacefully protest, any time, any place. And I will fight to the death for your right to do that.

But when you start burn cities down to the ground, no!

We're just a few days away. And we have marked our 249th birthday. Maybe. Just maybe, this year, can we stop asking what America was, and start deciding what America will be?

Where it just slips quietly into history. In the dark of apathy and ignorance.

Because the only thing more dangerous than tyranny is the people who have forgotten what it took to break its chains.

THE GLENN BECK PODCAST

We need REAL jobs in America — Trump should do THIS now!

It is clear we need to create more productive, high-paying jobs for American citizens. But that doesn't mean bringing back the same exact jobs of the past in massive numbers. It means creating and supporting jobs of the present and future that will better the lives of Americans. Glenn Beck and Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts break down exactly what this entails and how President Trump can make it a reality.

Watch Glenn Beck's FULL Interview with Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts HERE

RADIO

The most INCREDIBLE World War II story you’ve NEVER HEARD

One of the biggest American World War II cemeteries in Europe is in a small town in the Netherlands, where thousands of Dutch people continue the tradition to this day of “adopting” a fallen US soldier and checking in on his family. “The Monuments Man” author Robert Edsel joins Glenn Beck to tell this incredible story, which he documents in his new book, “Remember Us.”

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: Robert, welcome back to the program. How are you, sir?

ROBERT: Great to talk to you!

GLENN: It's great to talk to you.

Can you remind me? You were on with us, after Monuments Men. And you talked about this great service that is still going on, where people that -- they were still looking for paintings and pieces of art, that had been taken by the Nazis.

And if I remember right, didn't somebody in our -- our own audience reach out to you, and say, I think we found one of those paintings?

ROBERT: Yes, sir. Absolutely.

The Glenn Beck audience. And Glenn Beck, you yourself deserve a lot of credit.

Because I hadn't walked out of your studio last time. You know, in Dallas at Las Colinas.

Headed back to our office at Monuments Men and Women Foundation office, before someone in my office contacted me and said, we've already had a lead, as a result of your interview with Glenn. And it turned out someone whose aunt had been given two paintings during World War II.

She had worked for the government overseeing Germany, and these two paintings were missing.

We were able to identify who the rightful owner was, and get them back.

So it's a great thing that you performed. And, you know, it's a magnificent conclusion, though obviously a very difficult part of history.

GLENN: What was it like to give that back to the family?

ROBERT: It was a deeply moving experience. We -- the foundation found and returned more than 30 works of art, from paintings to documents, ancient books. Tapestries, to museums. Individual collectors, and so on.

And, you know, when we see, oftentimes, the people just stand there, and they cry.

They don't even know what to say. Because they may have worked 50 or 60 years, trying to find some work of art that's been missing. And they haven't had leads. And to -- to see us standing there, with something that belongs to them.

Not asking for anything in return. Don't charge anybody for doing it. Because we feel like everybody who went through World War II already paid enough.

Words -- words just fail. It's just pure gratitude.

GLENN: I can't wait for you to tell this new story.

Tell me the story of the care takers. The care takers of --

ROBERT: Well, it's a story that found me, just as Monuments did.

I have written about -- in the Monuments Men, I told the story of two Monuments Officers who were killed in combat, one British soldier and one American, Walter Huchthausen. And Huchthausen was killed. He once did a last casualty at war. He was killed in the last month of World War II, and is buried in the American benevolence, American cemetery, in Margraten in the Netherlands. I knew that story, and I had made mention of a young girl who was harbored in September '45, asking for the address of his mother, wanting to write her and tell her, that she walked 5 miles, several times a week, from her house to the American military cemetery. It was called then. To put flowers on his grave. Because her family knew them. And they were grief-stricken to know that they were killed.

And I knew that story too. I mentioned that. And then in 2015, the nephew of Huchthausen wrote me and included a photograph of this elderly lady with this crown of white hair. And he said, here's a photo with Frida, and I couldn't place who this was.

I had no idea who it was. And I realized, my God, this is that 19-year-old girl that is still alive. So I flew to England. She married a British soldier after the war. And I went to meet with her. She started showing me photographs of when the American -- Americans liberated her area of the Netherlands.

And all these American soldiers that they knew.

And she said, you know about the American military cemetery.

She said, have you been there?

And I said yes. And she said, so you know about the great adoption program?

And I said, what? She said, the great adoption program.

I said, I have no idea what you're talking about. So I started doing some research on this. And learned, at the end of World War II, our largest World War II cemetery in Europe, was not Normandy. It was the Netherlands American cemetery, where 17,800 boys and a few women buried at this cemetery by May 1946.

And by that time, every single grave had a Dutch person, a local person, who volunteered to be an adaptor of that brave.

Go out there on the first death date of the soldier, Veterans Day, Memorial Day.

And if they had the contact information for the next of kin, send them a photograph of the grave.
And a letter.

Because they realized, it was okay to adopt the bodies of dead boys.

But where the real need was, was to reach across the ocean, into the American homes and try to assuage the grief of the families.

And they knew some of these boys. And I found it the most heartwarming, uplifting, and certainly unique conclusion to a World War II story that I think has been written.

GLENN: So are they still some of them still doing this?

ROBERT: Not some. In fact, there were about -- in 1940, 748.

American families were given the choice to have their loved ones sent home, or to be left overseas in a military cemetery.

The Army had no idea, how many -- how many families would want their boys sent home, and as a consequence, they couldn't tell how many cemeteries they would need.

We thought almost everybody would want to have the families sent home. But it turned out not to be the case. So about 61 percent came home. About 39 percent stayed in Europe, which was about the numbers from World War I.

Although, the numbers in this area, in the Netherlands were higher.

The -- the graves that are there now.

There are 10,000 boys there. And four women.

8300 graves. 1700 names on the walls of the missing.

Every one of them has an adaptor for 80 years.

All those graves have been adopted, without interruption.

There's a waiting list of almost a thousand people in the Netherlands, to become a doctor. This is a -- not just a --

GLENN: This is --

JASON: A privilege. Because they take their kids out to the cemetery. They turn the cemetery into a classroom. And you go out there. And, yes, there's a somber element. They're instilling in their kids, you're able to think, and say what you want to. Because of the freedom that was given to you, by this American girl or boy. And we don't do that in our country anymore.

GLENN: So this is one of the most incredible stories that I've -- I've ever heard.

And I'm shocked that the world doesn't know this!

Is -- have you -- is there anything like this, anywhere else in the world?

JASON: No. We couldn't even find a comp of any nature.

There are -- that is not to say, the people in Normandy area, don't care about Normandy and other cemeteries. They do, of course. As do the Belgians in other cemeteries.

But there's no place that created an organic great adoption program, during the war, in January 1945!

These people in this area of the Netherlands were so grateful, having been neutral in World War I.

And having not lost their freedom for 100 years!

And they didn't like it!

And when the Americans liberated them in September 44. I'll never forget this woman Freda. This elderly woman I met, looked at me, the first time I interviewed her. I knew her for eight years. The last eight years of her life.

I delivered a eulogy two summers ago. She looked at me, there were the eyes of the 19-year-old. And she said, when I saw that first tank over the hill and I realized, we were saved.

I looked at my dad, and I said, Papi, these American boys come all the way across the ocean to say this. And there were tears in her eyes.

Because they didn't -- they couldn't imagine how we could have moved that equipment across -- across the ocean.

And why we would have cared so much.

So there isn't anything like it.

But January 45, these people in this little town of Margraten.

A mile from the cemetery, organized a meeting of the town leaders. The town who got 1200 people.

And they were trying to find an answer to the question: How do you thank your liberators, when they're no longer alive to thank? And they came up with this idea of this great adoption program, and it's a story that I tell, following the lives of about 12 different American combat soldiers.

Bomber recipients.

Tankers.

Because we don't know that story.

We don't what knows to an American story, when they're killed on the field of battle.

Because it's depressing.

We move on to the next scene in a movie.

Well, I want people to know, you started your program with freedom is not free.

It's ugly.

Let's talk about that. Let's talk about what the cost is.

Let's talk about the stripping line that the body goes through, and the removal of dog tags, one being put in the mouth, if there's still a head. And the other being nailed to the cross, because they don't have time to stencil the names on yet.

Let's talk about that, and let people know, it's not just a Marvel movie. Or a gang war.

This is real. This is painful. And, of course, at the end of the war, when we Americans declare victory, and move on with our lives, there's millions of family members in the United States, whose lives will never be the same.

So it is -- it's still happening today. It's still happening today.

GLENN: The name -- the name of the book is Remember Us.

And take us -- I mean, because that's really kind of the -- the -- the beauty of it.

Take us through the rest of the book, just briefly.

It starts with what?

ROBERT: Well, I follow -- I began what a nice life was in the Netherlands. Until May 10, 1940.

And the Netherlands does not get much attention from World War II, and yet everybody has heard of Battle of the Bulge. And Battle -- those are all within 50 miles of what we're talking about.

They happened around there. Of course, World War II, in western Europe, begins right here in this area. Because the German tanks roll across the border.

So I cover the life of these 12 different Americans. I interviewed all their family members. Some make it through the war. Some don't.

You read the book, you realize who makes it, who doesn't. But their lives converge around this area of the Netherlands. And when post-world War II stories end, with the war being over, remember us kicks into a transcendent moment when the Dutch come up with this idea of this great adoption program. The Americans refuse to provide the names and addresses of the next of kin.

So they're foiled with trying to achieve their ultimate objective. Which is to try to contact all the American families.

And frustrated, there was -- one of the key figures of the book.

A woman who is the mother of 12 children.

Who takes it upon herself. She's a woman of action.

She writes president Truman. And pleads for him to get involved.

When that doesn't work. She gets on the first airplane, she's ever flown on. She leaves her kids behind.

She flies to New York. Lands in LaGuardia Field.

She goes to Washington, and meets the members of Congress. Including a young guy from Texas, named Lyndon Johnson.

Who says, young lady, you need to go to Texas. Because there are so many military bases there.

She flies to our hometown. And lands in Lovefield.

In June of 1946. And is met by two family members. And for five weeks, she lives with American families, that lost somebody during a war.

And to each of them she says, leave your boys with us. When the election comes.

We will watch over them, like our own forever.

And they have done that. Now, today, these 10,000 Dutch doctors only have contact information for 20 percent of the American families.

They couldn't ever get the others.

GLENN: You're kidding me. Where is the list? Do you have a list?

ROBERT: Yeah. The Monuments Men and Women Foundation entered into a joint venture with the Dutch Foundation for Adopting Graves.

Not charging anybody for this. And we have created a website called foreverpromise.org.

And on that website is a list of all 10,000 men and women, more women that are buried at the cemetery, or whose names are on the walls missing.

And it's a searchable database. We're asking people to go and see. Do you have someone you know, or a relative, who is buried there.

And if so, we have a short questionnaire. What's your relationship? Are you aware of this great adoption program? Are you in contact with your adopter? Would you like to be? Would you allow us to share your contact information?

I connected a lady from Richmond, Texas. Saturday night. To her -- to this young Tammy, that's the adopter of her brother.

She's 93 years old.

She was in tears. At the thought when she leaves this world, there will be someone there to watch over her brother.

And that's what we're all about is this connecting.

GLENN: Rob, I have to tell you.

You've really done something with your life. I mean, I know you don't need me to say it.
But what a great job you have. And what a great service you have done for so many years.

Thank you so much.

Please, look this up.

The forever promise project.

You can find it at foreverpromise.org. Foreverpromise.org. Robert Edsel is the author's name. The book is Remember Us. It's a perfect read for this week.

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