RADIOMarch 19, 2025

Stranded Astronauts Splash Down to Massive Cheers

By rescuing stranded astronauts on the ISS, Elon Musk and President Trump have restored something that America lost under Biden: honor. While Biden allegedly refused to let SpaceX return the astronauts because it would look good for Musk, Trump gave Americans a historical moment to remember that brought many to tears when they saw the Dragon spacecraft splash down in the water. Meanwhile, some on the Left are reacting to Elon by burning and vandalizing Teslas. How “tolearant”…

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: There's a couple of things I want to talk about. I want to talk to you about NASA. I don't know if you saw the splashdown yesterday. This happened last night. Go ahead and roll this.
(music)
There it is.

VOICE: And we're going to stand by for splashdown located in the Gulf of America. Opposite of Tallahassee, Florida.

GLENN: That's a movie set.

STU: It looks incredible. It looks like it could be the Truman Show.

GLENN: It does.

VOICE: And splashdown. Current time. Back on earth.
(applauding)

GLENN: I don't know what's wrong with me lately. This is so weird. I don't know what's happening to me.

But I see things like this, and I -- I am like, I'm like, getting weepy again all the time.

You know, like I was.

I'm getting weepy again.

I see things like this. And it just moves me.

STU: I feel the same way at Taco Bell. Right?

GLENN: No. That's a movement. That's different. Because that moves me too. In a completely different way.

I see things like that. It's just, so inspiring what we can do!

And especially, when you look at it, what we were doing.

I mean, the moon shot. We decided to go to the moon. We decide that long ago.

And it is the president's job to make sure that everything is moving in that direction.

You don't want to go to the moon and then go to space. Then stop it.

But if you're going to put people in space. You can't just leave them there. No. No.

STU: No?

GLENN: President Biden just left them there.

I don't want it to look bad for me. Maybe everybody will forget they're in space.

Is that the plan?

And he just -- and here's the big, huge government with the big, huge budgets from big, huge Boeing. They said -- and I said, don't send the rocket up.

Do you remember? Don't send that rocket up. Don't do it. It's not going to work. You know, and if it does, good luck coming home in that thing.

And then it docked. We had some problems with it. And don't get back into that thing. There's no way you're returning to earth in that. Don't do it.

Well, they didn't. So Biden just leaves them. And Elon Musk is like, I can go up and get them at any time.

And President Biden says, no. Because he thinks it will look good for Biden. Or for Musk. Not food for Biden. He's just like, leave them alone.

This president, the reason why I think so many people had a problem with Joe Biden. Even if they liked his policies. Some of them.

Even if they say, well, he was a Democrat. And I'm a Democrat. I think the reason why so many people, you know, just jump ship on Biden, was he violated something that is in all of us.

And that's honor. You know, the basic honor. I mean, not like. You know what, I'm a boy.

I mean just like the bare minimum honor of Americans.

We don't leave people behind.

He did it in Afghanistan. And he did it in space. And when you see that, you're like, oh, my gosh. That's not us. What is that?

And I think that's why Biden rubbed so many Democrats the wrong way. They may not be able to vocalize it. But I think that's one of the reasons.

He had no honor in him, at all. I think.

STU: Zero. Zero.

And luckily, the American people were able to success that out, a little bit.

GLENN: Yeah.

STU: I do relate to how you feel about watching something like that.

It's fascinating that the entire -- half of the country has at least turned on Elon Musk.

A guy who is doing all these incredible things.

GLENN: He is. You know what it is?

It's the same thing that happened to Nikola Tesla!

Okay. The power structure turned on Nikola Tesla.

The greatest mind of the 20th century.

Makes Edison look like a rookie. Makes him look like me.

Okay.

And the country turned on him, because of the establishment!

And we're doing the same thing with Elon Musk. What is wrong with us?

STU: Yeah. It's funny. You hear that thing that happened around a lot, on the election. Where Democrats were complaining about why they lost.

They said, what we need is a left-wing Joe Rogan. And as many pointed out, you had one, his name was Joe Rogan. He was supporting Bernie freaking Sanders in 2016.

GLENN: Right. We need somebody -- we need somebody like Elon Musk.

STU: They blew it. Right.

GLENN: You had him! His name was Elon Musk!

STU: You had him. You had a left-wing Elon Musk.

And what was fascinating, Glenn. And this is something we could absolutely prove.

I don't have to speculate on this. When he was left-wing Elon Musk, when he was a guy who was out there, talking about how we're all going to die from climate change.

Which, by the way, he still believes. We were still able to -- to look on in amazement, at the things he was achieving, including Tesla, in its very early stages, which we featured on the CNN Headline News show, a zillion years ago.

GLENN: Right. We actually -- at least conservatives. Let me speak for us.

At least we, the whole time were like, I don't believe in the climate change stuff. That's crazy. But look at what he's doing. Look at how he's doing.

Look at how he is making all of this public. He's not trademarking or patenting anything. He's saying, it should be open for everybody. Take my ideas and build on them. We love that for him.

You know how crazy it is? I still think there's a chance he turns into the Antichrist. Okay?

So I like -- really like him. Might be the Antichrist. We should keep -- remain aware of that. But I like him.

These guys treat him like the Antichrist. And they don't even believe in the Antichrist.

STU: That's true.

GLENN: That's crazy. It's nuts.

STU: And it doesn't make any sense. And now they're going dealership to dealership, and lighting his -- his, you know, Tesla on fire.

Right?

This is --

GLENN: That is economic, domestic terrorism. That's what it is.

And Pam Bondi. I'm glad -- yeah. She called it out.

And I'm glad. And I want to see these people prosecuted.

That's economic terrorism. Period.

I don't like the mainstream media. You should arrest me, if I ever just even say, you know what we should do. We should all gather torches.

And we should burn those places to the ground.

No. No. That's terrorism. No!

STU: But it's also, you know, the way the left acts every single time they don't get what they want. Might remind you of George Floyd.

GLENN: Every time. Yeah.

STU: When they were upset about George Floyd. What did they do? Burn down cities. What about Alf and Elf? Not Alf the lovable, huggable alien creature from the --

GLENN: I was going to say. Alf and Elf, what did they do wrong? I mean, who needs a hug?

STU: And not Will Ferrell. I'm talking about the Animal Liberation Front and the Environmental Liberation Front.

GLENN: Horrible.

STU: Terrorist organizations that went around and burned down dealerships of SUVs. Because -- because the environment is so important. Interesting way to approach it.

GLENN: By the way, do you know why SUVs exist?

STU: I do, yes.

GLENN: I just -- I was talking to a liberal friend. Eh.

And --

STU: As close as you could be. Sure.

GLENN: And they were like, these big SUVs. Uh-huh. Do you know why SUVs exist?

Because you didn't like station wagons. You didn't like big, huge sedans. And so you were like, you know, the EPA. They should start regulating those things. And you put that regulation in. You know what wasn't covered? Trucks. So they're like, we'll just build it on the platform of a truck, and call it an SUV. That put the station wagons and the big sedans out. And now you have a bigger vehicle.

That's how stupid you are. As somebody who believes in big government.

No.

Government cannot regulate everything.

It only makes things worse.

STU: Yeah. And we should also add in, when they did those fuel mileage standards. There's two ways to approach it, to hit the standards. One was to convert, a bunch of bigger sedans and stations wagons into SUVs. So you had bigger vehicles on the road.

The other way was to take your cars and make them lighter and smaller. So when those two things collide, guess what happens to people?

Literally, it killed thousands and thousands and thousands of people in car accidents.

GLENN: Who was it? Who was the politician that I saw yesterday. They got rid of their -- huge, lefty. Okay?

Green thing. Got rid of their Tesla, and was proud to be driving like an Excursion. I want two of these things! Like, wow.

That's good. That's good. By the way, before we move on, I've got to just go back to the space thing. Because did you see what one of the astronauts did before they got back to earth? Do we have this audio? Listen to this. Listen to this.

VOICE: What is your life lesson or takeaway from these nine months in space?

VOICE: Well, in answer to your question, I can tell you, honestly, my feeling on all of this goes back to my faith.

It's -- it's bound in my Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

He is working out his plan, his purposes, for his glory, throughout awful humanity. And how that plays into our lives is significant and important.

And however that plays out. And I am content. Because I understand that.

I understand that he's at work. In all things. Some things are for the good. Go to he's been chapter 11.

Some things look to be not so good. But it's all working out for his good.

For those that will believe. And that's the answer.

So thanks for asking.

GLENN: That's a scientist, in space! And I didn't see that headline anywhere.

STU: No.

GLENN: And I would like to say, I think that's what happens when you fly on a Boeing. You're like, all right. Jesus, you're there, right?

I mean, I've got to have some perspective. Okay. So if I burn up on reentry, it's going to be good, right?

I mean, that's what he was saying. You know what, my faith. It just tells me, you know, Boeing could kill me.

But I guess it's all going to work out to be the best.

That's pretty much what he was saying there, I think.

STU: That's true. That's true.

I think too, Glenn. Tell me if this has happened with you. As you get older, that sentiment becomes much, much more true.

GLENN: Yes. Perspective.

STU: Things seem so out of control sometimes.

And then when you really put yourself in the mindset, which he was just describing that it's like, yeah. You know what, it's not in my hands. And things happen for these reasons, that I believe in. And they're important. And I can't control all of them.

And I'll do the best I can and get through all of this. It makes life a heck of a lot easier.

I mean, just pragmatically. Outside the faith elements of it. It makes your life better. It just does! Because you don't freak out about every little thing.

I can't tell you how many times. I sit there in church. They're talking about these important concepts.

And, you know, thoughts into your mind of the chaos of the world. And when you think about it that way. You're just like, eh. The chaos of the world. Who cares about the chaos of the world?

GLENN: Well, I care about it.

STU: I care about it, in a totally different way.

GLENN: In a way that it will be interesting to see how it plays out. Yeah. That is.

STU: We talk about that phrase all the time. It's so important to get through your life.

GLENN: But it's so hard to do. I have to tell you, my daughter she just had her real adult career decision to make.

She's in this -- this production. And she has been working on it for months and months and months. With the cast. And she was also just cast in a -- in a movie.

A hallmark movie for Christmas.

STU: Oh, cool.

And so they conflicted. And she didn't know how she was going to work this out.

And some -- I'm going to this place where I used to be in, which is a horrible place where I cannot sleep ever. So I was up at on two o'clock in the morning. And she gets up to get a drink of water. And I said, you okay, honey?

And she said, yeah. And she sat down. And we just started talking.

And she said, it's so hard, Dad.

I just -- I mean, I just -- I mean, what is the right decision?

How do I do this?

And I don't want to do this. Because I'm letting some people down, either way.

And everything.

And, man, it takes so much for a man, at least for me, to just shut up.

Because I was like -- everything in me was like, here's what you do, honey. And that's the worst thing you can do. And so I'm just sitting there going, uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

And all the time, I'm thinking, you know what -- and this is what I finally said after she talked. But I was like, just do the right thing. Just do the next right thing. Everything works out. But it's hard, especially when you're young.

Because you think, I have to micromanage. I have to make the right decision, because if I don't, it will play off this way. It will play off this way. You don't know how it will play out.

Just do the right thing.

Whatever it is, just do the next right thing.

And it will work out. And shockingly, not the way you intended. But better than what you thought could be your best outcome.

And I just think that takes a lot of years of trying to force your way, I'm going to make sure it happens this way!

And always failing. I think it just takes a lot of time.

I hope. You happen to be listening. And you haven't gotten this yet. Really, trust Stu. Don't force your way. It doesn't work out. It's never a happen if ending.

STU: You can't control everything. Nor are you supposed to.

GLENN: Right. You're supposed to surrender to the next right thing.

Not to surrender to, oh, he's the -- the Antichrist, whatever. No. Not surrender on those things.

Surrender to the next right thing, and let the consequences happen. Because you'll find, over time, oh, my gosh.

I can't believe how that worked out in -- in my favor or in life's favor for me, and that's what the astronaut was saying.

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

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.