BLOGAugust 03, 2017

Navy SEAL’s Mom Shares Her Secret to Raising Strong Sons

The best thing you can do while raising your son is to allow him to grow up to be a man, according to this Navy SEAL’s mom.

Karen Vaughn joined Glenn on radio Thursday to talk about her book, 'World Changer: A Mother’s Story: The Unbreakable Spirit of US Navy SEAL Aaron Vaughn,' and her family’s experience raising strong, resilient kids on a farm.

A small-town boy from Tennessee, Aaron Vaughn was one of 30 Americans who died aboard Extortion 17. The tragedy in August 2011 marked the greatest single loss of Navy SEAL lives. After their son’s death, Aaron Vaughn’s parents decided they would continue his legacy of protecting the American way of life.

In her book, Karen Vaughn wanted to share her family’s story with the hope that it would help other parents trying to raise kids who are willing to face their fears. She told a story on Thursday’s show about how 10-year-old Aaron learned from facing down the most intimidating cow on their family farm.

“I stood back and let him do it, and Aaron did,” Vaughn said.

She explained that sometimes not interfering was the best thing she could do as a parent, stepping back when her husband needed to teach their son about manliness.

GLENN: I want to introduce you to Karen Vaughn. She is -- she is a mom of a U.S. Navy SEAL who was part of an operation -- what was it?

KAREN: The helicopter's call sign was Extortion 17.

GLENN: Extortion 17. That's what I thought it was. And I thought, it couldn't be extortion.

KAREN: Yeah.

GLENN: Extortion 17.

If you have anything to do with Navy SEALs, military, you know Extortion 17 as one of the worst days in the history of SEALs. More SEALs were lost in that one day than ever before.

KAREN: Right.

GLENN: You want to talk just a little bit about that.

KAREN: Yeah. It was the single largest life in the history of naval special warfare single largest one-day loss in this entire war actually. And, you know, on that Saturday morning, unfortunately, we found out that our only son, our first-born child was part of that disaster. And it's been a life-altering experience. Those men were brave, fearless American warriors who were rushing into the battle to assist Army rangers who had been in a gunfight for three and a half hours. And their helicopter was shot down just before they touched down, killing every single person on board.

GLENN: So you didn't know -- I mean, there's a reason I have you on. And I'm doing an hour with you tonight on television. And I -- I invite you to watch this. Because there's a reason I had Karen on. There's a lot of people that can tell these remarkable stories of heroism. I mean, the stories of heroism from the guys who survived and didn't survive, they're -- they're just -- they're plentiful. They are plentiful.

And they're stirring, each one.

But the reason why I wanted to have you on, Karen, is because of what you did with that experience. It's very different than just simply telling a story of a great hero.

You chose a different path.

KAREN: I did. You know, after Aaron's death -- it's going to make me emotional to say this. Because you're kind of a rock star in our family. You were to Aaron, and I want you to know that. He absolutely loved everything you did. And we did too and have listened to you from day one.

GLENN: Thank you.

KAREN: But, you know, what I realized after Aaron died was, he gave his life for me, fighting a battle kinetically to protect and preserve the American way of life. Not a government. Not a piece of land. But a way of life.

And my husband and I have dedicated our lives to fighting culturally, as you do, to protect the same. We feel like it's the at least we can do to spread the message across this country that America is worth fighting for. It's worth dying for. And that it's up to all of us inside the boundaries of this nation to protect and preserve in -- in the interior of this nation, what so many are giving their lives for, to protect and preserve from the exterior of the nation. So it just became a calling on my life.

GLENN: So it's amazing to me, Karen -- I'll speak to millennials -- and they don't -- you know, it's hard for people my age to really come to grips with, they didn't know America prior to 9/11.

KAREN: Right.

GLENN: So they don't -- they don't know her real promise.

KAREN: Right.

GLENN: And so many rights are starting to just slip away. And, you know, I talk to people our age, and I'll say, "The western way of life is in real jeopardy. It's about to slide under into tyranny of some form."

And people our age understand it.

KAREN: Right.

GLENN: Millennials don't really understand it.

KAREN: Right.

GLENN: Your son -- you know, the book is called world changer. And what you started to do was right a book for his children so they knew dad.

KAREN: Right.

GLENN: But then you realized, wait a minute. This is actually a parenting book. Tell me about that.

KAREN: It was an interesting thing. Because as you said, I knew -- his babies were only two years old. Not quite two years old, Reagan was, if that tells you anything about my son's politics. And Chamberlain who was only 9 weeks old when Aaron left this earth.

GLENN: That's funny.

KAREN: You understand, right?

GLENN: Yeah.

KAREN: So -- so, you know, I wanted them to be able to pick up stories of their father's childhood in every stage that they would go through. You know, their dad is not here to tell them what it was like when he was ten or what it was like when he was 14 or when he learned to drive. So I wanted to be able to know their dad's story. And that's how it started.

GLENN: Gosh, how hard was just that, going through the scrapbook of your mind?

KAREN: Oh, my -- yeah, that's it. And it was a gut-wrenching experience. It took a long time because I continuously had to put it down because I was just emotionally overdone.

GLENN: Oh, I bet.

KAREN: Well, then just out of the blue, a friend of mine asked me to speak to a mom's group down in south Florida, not far from my home. And she said, I want you to teach people how to raise a world changer like your son. And I was like, wow, I don't think I did that. I thought God did that. You know, because Aaron was a devout believer. He loved Jesus. You know, his whole life revolved around his faith in God.

And so I just always saw it was something God did. And then when I started just evaluating basic principles of parenting and started talking to moms about this, I realized this culture did not have those foundational tools that, Glenn, you and I had growing up or raising our families. And all of a sudden, I was like, wow, I did do something -- it didn't seem fantastic to me or extraordinary to me. But in today's culture, they're extraordinary tools.

GLENN: It is. It is.

KAREN: And so I just sort of thought, wow, I'll go back through these stories, and I will weave the teaching principles into every single story. And that's what I did.

And my oldest daughter and I wrote 18 tiny chapters in the back of the study guide where moms could sit down together in groups or even dads and go through principles of how to raise strong formidable kids who don't need safe spaces on college campuses. Kids that are willing to run in the direction of whatever it is God calls them to do with their life, instead of running away from it in fear or cowardice. Just kids who can take what life deals them.

You know, and it was quite a project, working with one of my children, to write a book about parenting.

GLENN: I bet. I bet. I bet.

KAREN: It was kind of funny, you know. And we had to go away and, you know, butted our minds together and just said, what did I do right? You know, my husband and I. Not me. But Billy and I. What did we do right, Tara? What did we do wrong? And so we put all those principles in the back and just loved it.

GLENN: What was the biggest thing that you get to now and say, had no idea, but, wow, were we lucky we did this and people should do this?

KAREN: The first thing that comes to my mind is as a mom, wow, was I lucky that I caved to the concept that my husband wanted to raise a man. It's that simple.

You know, in our society, I believe one of the biggest breakdowns in our homes right now is this role reversal and this constant striving of women to believe that they have to be everything that a -- I know this sounds -- this is such a broad thing. And I know it needs to be a little more narrow than this, but there's a lot to talk about here in our culture, you know, where we are constantly telling men, you have to be more like women. You have to be more like women to fit into this society. And, you know, I was married to a rugged farm boy who had no intention of conforming our son to my -- you know, and I say in the book, I tried to fight that every way I knew -- I was a 19-year-old mom, Glenn, when Aaron was born. And so I tried to fight it every way I could. I entered him in the Troy Tiny Tot Beauty Review. And he won it.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

KAREN: But he never forgave me for it, you know.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

KAREN: While Billy was constantly busy teaching Aaron that he could overcome unimaginable obstacles, obstacles that seemed too huge for him. He would have him out there helping him cut trees on our farm, helping him give birth to calves. You know -- you know, things like that.

And I tell a story about White Cow, this cow who literally terrorized our children on our cattle farm in Tennessee. And this cow -- Aaron was terrified of this cow. He wouldn't walk out the pasture with it. And Billy one day, instead of letting Aaron cower in fear to this cow, he said, I'm going to tell you what, you're going to stand at the fence right now. And when White Cow -- I'm going to herd the cows in. And when White Cow confronts you, if she charges you son, you've got to punch her in the nose. I'm sitting there thinking -- Aaron weighed like 60 pounds soaking wet. You know, he's about ten years old, I think. And I was like, you're going to do, what? But he let Aaron do it. I stood back and let him do it. And Aaron did.

White Cow sure enough charged Aaron that day. And he rared back in a nerve-defying -- like a nerve-racking defiance and just punched that heifer in the nose. Well, you know what he learned that day -- and White Cow, you know, she snorted and snarled at him and took a step back like she couldn't believe what happened, but then in submission she went in the pen. And Aaron learned that day that there was no challenge too great for him. And this is what drove him to become not only a Navy SEAL, but all the way to the pinnacle at Seal Team 6. Those are the things. And I say the greatest principle I can teach any mom is let your husband raise a man. It's hard not to interfere. But let him raise a man.

GLENN: I was always afraid to have a son. Because I didn't have a dad that did any of the typical dad stuff. And had a hard relationship with my dad for a long time.

And so I was terrified of raising a son.

KAREN: Yeah.

GLENN: And I have three girls.

KAREN: Yeah.

GLENN: And I do not know how to raise girls. I am horrible at raising girls. I don't know how many times my wife will look at me like, what the hell is wrong with you? What are you saying?

I'm like, what? What? Yes, the skirt makes her look fat.

No. What are you doing, you imbecile

But I see it with my wife with my son. Men speak the language of a boy. Women speak the language of a girl. And if you don't honor that language and honor that there is a difference there --

KAREN: Right.

GLENN: -- I mean, your kids will be lost.

KAREN: You're right.

GLENN: They'll just be lost.

KAREN: You're right.

GLENN: What was the thing that you found out that you did wrong?

KAREN: That's a hard question. No one has ever asked me to evaluate that side, Glenn.

Wow. You know, gosh, I'm not like I'm flawless. But if I tried to single out one thing -- I don't know. Maybe it was that -- maybe it was that I resisted things for so long. You know, that I tried so hard to resist. Speaking specifically about Aaron, not with our daughters, but maybe I tried to resist so much that forging that a man has to do with his son, if a boy is going to turn out right. You know, I did resist it for a long time.

And like I said, I'm thankful that I caved. But that's the first thing that comes to my mind, is I really did try to resist that. And if I could just speak to women out there who are raising boys, stop resisting. Let your -- let your husband have that role in his -- in his son's life. And let him be to him what he needs to be, you know, and stop trying to turn both of them into women.

(laughing)

GLENN: As you see the world and where we're headed and where we're headed I think with war, where we're headed culturally, where Europe and everything is headed and the lack of leadership, how do you feel about your son's sacrifice?

KAREN: That's hard. It's really hard. I -- you know, we have -- we have a -- I'm not trying to plug our organization. We have an organization where we mentor kids whose fathers have died during this war.

Not long ago, we had about 30 kids sitting in front of my husband, as he was, you know, closing out the camp and their moms, the widows were behind them. And my father said -- my husband said to those little kids, he said, I want you to know your fathers didn't die for a government -- like I said earlier. He didn't die to seize anybody's land. They died for an American way of life -- or, for a way of life, the American way of life. And, Glenn, we are watching that slip through our fingers.

And I feel like every day I have an obligation to honor the sacrifice that not only Aaron has made for me, but so many others throughout history. And I feel a compelling desire to -- to reach into the homes right now and say we got to shake this loose and shake this up and understand what we've given up. Where we are today. And where we need to go into the future, whether before it's too late. And you will never convince me it's too late because that means Aaron died for nothing. And you will never convince me of that. He died for the American way of life. And I'll fight. I'll fight to reinstill those values in American culture with my last breath.

GLENN: It will not be men who save the earth. It will not be women who save the earth. But I am convinced that it will be mothers and fathers that save us from ourselves.

One last question: What's -- what is the -- what is the thing your son taught you?

KAREN: That's easy. How to be strong. Aaron's death didn't make me weak. It made me strong. It really did. Because I started employing the principles in my life that he employed in his. Aaron never took a break. He never said I'm too tired to go fight the fight. He never said that.

And so you know my life has taken this crazy turn in the past -- we're coming up this Sunday as the sixth year anniversary of his death. And I've lived a very different life than I lived before Aaron died.

And many times along the way, I've thought, you know, I'm too tired. I'm too old. I'm too weak. I'm too frail. I'm too this. I'm too that. And every time, it's just his voice whispering in my ear -- Aaron was an encourager. You can do this, Mom. Just keep walking.

GLENN: I want to let you know that I believe there is something on the horizon that is very important that I just feel is coming and that is a movement of moms unlike we have seen before. And I wanted Karen to be on TV tonight to spend an hour with you and with moms. And talk about changing the world just by raising good children. If you're struggling and you would like some help or you want to know how to spread, join tonight at TheBlaze.com/TV at 5 o'clock. The name of the book is World Changer: A Mother's Story. The unbreakable spirit of U.S. Navy SEAL Aaron Carson Vaughn, by Karen Vaughn, his mom. Thanks, Karen. Appreciate it.

KAREN: Thank you.

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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