FLASHBACK: Opening day at the Michael Murphy Navy SEAL Museum

Thanks so much for being here, everybody. It's the Brian Kilmeade Show. It's Monday, it's Labor Day, and so glad you're here. And you brought your radio with you to the beach, or if it's overcast, not, or if you're just working around the garage, in the shed, whatever.

Backyard, barbecue. Thanks so much for listening to the show. If you're listening to the first time, go to Brian Kilmeade, briankilmeadeshow.com. Order the podcast.

This way you can work around your schedule and hope you can listen to us all through the fall. So this hour, very military-oriented. I went to the Michael Murphy Navy Seal Museum. I had a chance to talk to some great people, including Michael Sowers. Michael Sowers actually started the Murph Challenge. He was one of our finest Navy Seals ever. He's chronicled in Lone Survivor. You're going to hear a little bit later from Marcus Luttrell and Taylor Kitsch, as well as Chris Wiley.

Chris Wiley's the executive director of the Murph Museum. So now let's listen to my interview with Michael Sowers. Great to be here. You navigated the skies, which is your first challenge, right? Because you were able to come from California last night?

Yeah, and that's no easy feat right now. Like anybody trying to travel right now, I had a flight cancelled and then booked on another flight, and then I think we stopped in, like, Kansas City, and then we're like, hold on, don't get off the plane. We're going to send this plane all the way to New York. So, yeah, a little bit of a rank and roll, but happy to be here.

What a beautiful day it is today in New York. See, for a Navy Seal that's trained to be resourceful, even sometimes you're out of options when it comes to commercial flights. Oh, it's just crazy now. And once we got to the hotel, it was so funny because I texted Marcus because he was supposed to be there already. Marcus is like, I'm not even here yet. And then once those guys got to the airport, it took him like three hours to get to the hotel. So, wow.

But it was a good little reunion once we all got there. In the Seal community, what does this mean today? I mean, it is amazing just to see this come to fruition when Dan first brought it up to me. His dad, Dan Murphy. Dan Murphy brought it up to me a couple years ago about his inspiration and his vision of what he was going to put here in Long Island. I won't say I thought he was a little crazy, but I was like, it was such a big feat.

I mean, there's only one other in the country. Exactly. You know, when Dan goes for something, he goes large. So when he showed us the blueprint and the layout and a virtual mock up, I mean, it was amazing. But of course, we helped support the Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation through the Merck Challenge, which we run. And he was like, well, Mike, we need to sell a little more t shirts this year because we need to get some more money for this.

But we were totally on board. I mean, for us, you know, this is just the culmination of, for me, getting out of the teams and then creating a company and being able to give back and support our brothers and support the community, being able to be a small part of growing this museum and raising funds. I mean, anyone who comes to New York City to go see the 9-11 Memorial and go see the Statue of Liberty, I think you need to put this on your list as well. I mean, it's only about an hour outside the city, but you need to come out here and see it.

I mean, it's a great little town, too. I don't know if you had a chance to see it because you got here last night. First off, your company, Forge. Tell me about it. I started Forge actually in 2007. I was deployed to Ramadi, Iraq.

Marcus Latrell, Morgan Latrell, his brother, was in my platoon. And I didn't plan on starting a clothing company. I had 13 years in the Navy already.

And honestly, I was going to stay in and retire. And our last deployment in Ramadi, we got in a pretty catastrophic incident. Some of the guys in our platoon were injured very badly. And when we got back stateside, a couple of us just got together and were like, hey, let's make a t-shirt, a tribute t-shirt for one of our fallen guys, sorry, one of our injured guys.

And we wanted to raise some money so he could get some specific medical care. So we just started selling shirts around the team, and it just started picking up steam and picking up steam. And then a couple of the guys, I think it was around Christmas time, were like, hey, you need to make more shirts.

You need to make more shirts. So we were literally just slinging them out of the trunk of our car, and then it started growing and growing and growing. And it really got to the point where I had to make a decision. I either had to chase this forged entrepreneur dream or I had to let it go. And at that point, I said, you know what, I'll give it two years. I'll get out of the military.

I'll try it out. If I can't make it work, I'll come crying back and knocking on the door, let me back in the teams. And fortunately enough, it did work out.

And just with every shirt that we sell, we donate a portion of the proceeds back to military nonprofit organizations. How are you doing now? You doing well? Yeah, we're doing well. I mean, we deal with the same thing everybody's dealing with right now with supply chain issues and inflation. I mean, everything is tough.

Just simple little things like just getting shirts and enough size runs and size colors and hats and the things that used to just come natural, used to just call your supplier or vendor and be able to get, it's been tough, but no complaints out of me. I know you guys will find a way. So we have a few more minutes with Michael Sowers. Now, let's talk about the Murph challenge. It's basically like cross-training. Murph was an incredible athlete in unbelievable shape. How does the Murph challenge help keep his memory alive and build places like this? The amazing part of it is I like to tell people, you know, and it's like, hey, I did the Murph on Memorial Day or what is the Murph? And you get a lot of people out there that just try to run it for the time. But the most important thing is you got to remember the Murph challenge is more than just a workout.

The Murph challenge is a tradition that helps push us, humbles us and allows us the ability to dedicate a little bit of pain and sweat in honor of Lieutenant Michael Murphy and all the brave men and women that really that paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. So what you would do is get sponsors for you to do it. Is that how you raise the money? So if I wanted to do it, I'd get people to sponsor me to do this.

No, actually, it's very easy. The easiest way to do it is just to go to the Murph challenge dot com. And its registration is still open.

We run it until the end of July. So you can go to the Murph challenge dot com. You can register on there and you sign up. So when I pay the fee, that's my donation. Yeah, you pay the fee. That's your donation.

If you do have a gym or organization, you can also sign up as an official host. So if you sign up as an official host, you get a banner and a flag and your organization is listed on the Murph challenge website. And that way, if you want to host an event, say if you want to do it on Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Operation Red Wing Memorial like today. Which was the name of the operation of the unit they were in. Exactly. When it went down. One mile run. One mile run. One hundred pull ups.

Exactly. Have to be in a row? No. You can do it in a row, I can tell. If you want to.

If you really. See, the great thing about the Murph challenge is. I don't know anyone that can do a hundred straight pull ups. Do you know a lot of people that can do that?

There's not a lot. Especially if you do it strict with a twenty pound vest. I'm nearly impossible.

Maybe Dave Goggins could pull it off. There's not many guys on the planet that could do that. Three hundred squats? Yeah, two hundred push ups.

Don't forget two hundred push ups. Okay, alright. So that's important. So would you talk about the armored run too? Is that part of this? Yeah, and I'd like to tell.

Because you used to run with full equipment. Yeah, and obviously when you have Navy Seals and professional athletes doing it. It can be a little intimidating for your average person. So what we like to tell them is, you know, don't worry about doing it with the vest. If it's your first year you do it, alright. Get it done.

Just get it done. And if you go to themurfchallenge.com, we have a training workout program on there. I don't expect your average person to just sign up and be able to knock it out the next day. So we have a specific training program on there. People from every fitness level, there's scaled options on there as well.

Michael Sowers is with us, former Navy Seal, who's helped put the Murphy Seal Museum together, which opens up shortly. Why did you join? For me, really, I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. I was an athlete in high school. Good athlete?

What did you play? I wrestled and played football. I was Allstate my senior year in wrestling.

In Pennsylvania, that is a mecca. I had some scholarships to go to college and wrestle. But with me, I just really wasn't into school anymore. I was more into living an adventurous life. One of my brother's buddies actually went to Buds, and he came home for Christmas break.

I think I was about 15 years old. He was at our house, and he was telling me, I'm in this Buds training. I said, what's that? He's like, Navy Seals. I said, like that movie with Charlie Sheen? He's like, yeah, exactly like that. I said, man, what's it like?

He's like, man, we're kind of like a wrestling team, but we run around with machine guns, and we blow stuff up. I was like, wow, that sounds really cool. I had a couple uncles in my family that were in Vietnam, so it had a lot of military background in my family. But after really researching, I mean, you're talking like early 90s then, too. There was no Internet. I think I had one VCR tape.

It was like the elite option or something like that. But I watched it, and I was sold. I would skydive and scuba dive, blow stuff up, shoot guns. Like I said, I was from a small town in Pennsylvania. I was like, where do I got to go to do this?

Well, you go to Coronado, California. I was like, sign me up right now. I couldn't get there fast enough. But when you did it, did you say, what was I thinking? Because it does seem so tough. If you watch the beginning of Lone Survivor, you get a real clue of what it's like. Oh, yeah.

Did you ever think to yourself, I'm not going to make this? Oh, yeah, the first day. Like I said, I was an All-State wrestler from Pennsylvania as well, too. And I like to tell people, I was an instructor for a long time as well. I worked on the recruiting side of the house. And I would like to tell the kids sometimes, like, it's intimidating. I mean, we had professional athletes in our class. You had guys who played in the NFL, guys who, you know, major league baseball players.

Some of them made it, and some of them didn't. It's so hard that you have to be so committed. It's got to be, the only reason you, like, your reason for being there has to be the right reason. If you're just like, hey, this guy's like, yeah, you know, I'll try it out. I want to challenge you in my life. You're not going to last long. It really takes that commitment.

It doesn't matter how good of a natural athlete you are. You are pushed to your limits. And I mean every single day. And that's really what makes the SEAL brotherhood what it is. It's going, you know, through all of those arduous situations and evolutions with the guys next to you. You can't really compare that to any other job. Afghanistan and Iraq?

Yes, both. What do you think about how we left Afghanistan? I mean, honestly, it's tough for a lot of guys. I mean, even before that, I was in the Battle of Ramadi. Marcus and Morgan were in there as well. I mean, even when we first pulled out of Ramadi and, you know, we saw, you know, that get retaken again. And then, you know, as we left Afghanistan. Then they went back and took it back, right?

Exactly. That was pretty hard for us because we did lose a lot of guys in Ramadi. And really when we pulled out of Afghanistan, just the way it went down, just not being organized.

You know, we are the greatest superpower in the world. And you fought brilliantly. You adapted to the battlefield. You learned the skills.

You got the equipment. This should be a success story. Exactly. Exactly. And I hope people view it that way. You can't control who the leader is.

You can only control the fights you're allowed to do. Exactly. And, you know, I think the real success story was the actual veterans and even the – So they got everybody out. They got everybody together and used that network. And I think that's what really – that showed who America is. That showed who America is. We're not – you know what? If we can't rely on the government to do it, guess what? We're going to get our own people together and we're going to make this situation happen. And we're going to get our friends out of there. The people that fought beside us and helped us out, we're not going to leave them over there. We're going to go get them. Great to meet you.

So glad you did what you do and you continue to give back to the country and this community. It's going to be an exciting day and you made it and the gods were on your side. The flying gods. Because one of the big stories today was all the cancellation flights.

I think it hit a new time. Hi. Mike Sowers, retired Navy SEAL, CEO of Forged, who started the MRF Challenge. Go sign up for today.

And your admission fee becomes the donation. Chris Wiley is next, Executive Director of the Murphy Museum. Don't move.

We're in West Saville, New York, on Long Island. WRCN listeners understand that. We're very close to them. But we're on a national story because only for the second time in this country we have a Navy SEAL Museum. It's named after Michael Murphy. A man that is the Executive Director of the Michael Murphy Navy SEAL Museum is with me right now.

A former Navy SEAL himself, Chris Wiley. Chris, welcome. Oh, thank you, Brian. Thanks for being on television with us today. That was a very unique experience. Well, yeah, you were natural for it. You're somebody here who has been here every step of the way. Five thousand square feet.

It cost millions of dollars to put together. Your feeling when the opening is just moments away. I'm excited. At the same time, I don't think it's set in yet. You know, we've been working, you know, the whole board and the staff here has been working diligently to get to this moment. And so right now, hopefully later this afternoon, it'll actually sink in and I'll be able to, you know, breathe and enjoy it. But I'm just so happy that we got here.

On One Nation, Saturday night at 8 o'clock, we're going to have the tour that you gave me of this museum. But what was your hope starting Monday? How many people do you expect to come through those doors? What do you hope they get out of it? Well, I just hope they get a full understanding of the commitment, the sacrifice that, you know, the naval special warfare community gives every day.

And, you know, the education that this building is going to give them and provide them and provide the community, you know, it's something that I look forward to experiencing when I can see the young kids come, older people, everybody come in and see this because every time I've put a few family members or people through it, they're either in tears or astonished with the breadth of what SEALs and UDTs and the SWCC people have performed and done. Why is there only two? I mean, to surprise you, there's only two Navy SEAL museums? I mean, you told me there's only 18,000 in the history of our country to become Navy SEALs.

That is correct. From 1942 to present day, that's a rounded off number of about 18,000 people. But I believe that it just, there wasn't an education, there wasn't a lot of talk about SEALs in the past.

You know, it now became people writing books, there's a lot more media coverage, there's a lot more interest. Since the bin Laden raid, too. Yes, so since all of this, I believe the demand or the interest has been there for the need to have more museums and more education on the SEAL program. We need more SEALs.

You know, it's an elite group. You're not going to just be able to replenish, you know, a SEAL community if we have another Operation Red Wings or Extortion 17 where you have a great loss of lives. This was built off Operation Red Wings. Lone Survival was the movie and the book, but Michael Murphy was on that unit and famously stood with a satellite phone that would reveal his location. He had to go to a high point to get a signal out to try to get his guys out. And to do that, he had to call back to base. And when he exposed himself, it cost him his life.

That's correct. He gave the ultimate sacrifice trying to save his men. There are a few other stories here with Medal of Honor recipients that are from the different eras of the SEALs from Vietnam forward. And all of their stories are absolutely phenomenal. But Michael's just resonates in the community, in the hearts of the, you know, just people in general. It's just one of those stories that everybody remembers.

And the movie was made out of it, so it made it much easier, you know, for the word to get out on his heroic, you know, feat. If people want to give, because this is really driven by private donations. That's correct. Where do you go? You can go to the MurphyNavySealMuseum.org and you can donate there. You can call. We will facilitate getting donations. And we're also looking for people that if you had a SEAL or a UDT member in your family, we're also looking for photographs from back in the 1940s and 50s and 60s. Right.

So we're still trying to gather photographs of people that, you know, they don't have it in the archive. That's very fascinating. You also have a cadet program.

That's correct. The Michael Murphy Sea Cadet Program. Fantastic.

Welcome back, everyone. We're at the Navy Seal Museum opening. It's the Michael Murphy Navy Museum, Seal Museum, and it's only the second one in this country.

It's 5,000 square feet over my right shoulder. They're going to have the opening ceremonies, cut the ribbons. It'll be official, open to the public in West Dayville, Long Island. Now it's another reason, another place to stop before you get to the Hamptons or Montauk. And no one has to tell that to Taylor Kitsch, actor and who played Lieutenant Michael Murphy in Lone Survivor, or Marcus Luttrell, who came all the way from another state to a place he didn't know existed, Long Island.

The retired Navy Seal served in Afghanistan, author of Lone Survivor, multiple best sellers. Welcome, guys. Appreciate you being here.

Absolutely. Thanks for having us. Now, I'm going to ask from cooperation.

You have to work. Well, I gave you one microphone. You did.

And you and Taylor have to get along for just this moment on the radio, okay? You didn't say anything? That's right. He didn't say anything about that. He was just talking about the microphone. But you have to share it.

That's what you brought in, right? Right. It's like, this is Brian Kilmeade. He'll have two microphones. All right, so- You're taking a microphone away from an actor, so that's- How do you feel about that, too? Exactly. Not great.

My ego is actually hurting quite a bit. We're going to have to remedy that. In the introduction, you said something about another state. It's Texas. It has a name. Right.

A great state. But I didn't know if you picked up- That's the only part I caught. How do you feel about that, Taylor? I agree. I've lost total control of this interview, and he's bigger than me, and I really don't know how to get it back. That's what happens as soon as he handed me the microphone. I know. So, Taylor, what do you feel about it? So, Marcus, you have your own podcast, too, where I was on it with your brother, Morgan.

I appreciate that. You're our one and only guest, man. It was great. Was I your only guest? Are you kidding? We were shut down.

You were all we needed. But your twin brother is on the precipice of going to Congress. He won the nomination.

Huge field, too, by the way. Can you believe that? Yeah. So, it's Kevin Brady's seat.

He's retired. Yes, sir. And you're both mentored by another great politician, Governor Rick Perry. Yes, sir. So, who's also Secretary of Energy around with me yesterday and gives his regards. Great man. Great man. So, I talked to you on television a short while ago. We have a little bit more time now. First off, Taylor played Michael.

How did he do? Great. I actually... I don't know if we've made this public or not, but when it came time to picking the actors for the parts, I actually had a say in that, except for the one who was to play me. I didn't have any say in that.

I didn't get a chance. Because Mark Wahlberg? My thought was, if I pick somebody to play me, it better be walk like Denzel. You know what I'm talking about?

Right. And then... and my friends know me. I mean, when someone says, hey, if you're going to be in a movie, you would know who you want to play you immediately. But if it's real, they're like, no, I need you to really pick somebody.

Then you put some thought into it. So, it came... Pete and I were talking, and I was like, man, you pick who plays me because I... if I did that, I don't think it would do it justice. But when it came time to picking Mike and Ax, that was on... I had a big handle in that, and he was the choice. Right.

Absolutely. Mark Wahlberg playing you. What do you think? You've known him in a way. I don't know him.

And Taylor, you're probably friends with him. What was he like doing a part like that? I heard he likes to get to learn what it takes to be that person, whether it's a fighter or... Oh, they all do. They took this serious.

I mean, once they got in, they realized there wasn't any getting out of it, then it was serious business. With Mark, he's great. I mean, we have a fantastic relationship. I say he's the city version of me, and it was when we first met up. I didn't get a chance to meet him right away. Taylor and I actually were together a long time, and a few of the guys.

I mean, every single day. And then when Mark came into the picture, we kind of circled up the wagons, brought him in. Everyone started training again, and it truly made for a family environment. Well, they're part of us now. Right.

We didn't cut them any slack. I mean, they had to go through the ringers, and because of that, they earned the respect and the place among us, and then finished in the mission, and now they're family. Taylor, you've got a movie coming out on Friday, right? Yeah, a show on Amazon.

A show on Amazon. So, I mean, you could be anywhere. I mean, why was it important for you to be here today? I mean, I've been lucky to do a lot of jobs, play a lot of real-life guys, but this one, this experience has given me back more than anything I've done in my career.

In what way? Well, Mark is sitting right here. He's a brother of mine. The whole community, like he said, I think the most flattering thing, especially when you have a responsibility like this, you serve that story and these guys, it's to have them thank you, and to have Dan and Maureen and John Murphy be there for you and thank you for that is honestly everything. That's why you get to, you know, take swings like this and be a part of this, and this is a torch I'm more than happy to carry, and be a part of these guys' lives.

I mean, the whole community to be taken in by those guys, it's a pretty fascinating family. And, I mean, I think, you know, on a day like today, on so many levels, it's heavy and you carry that and you feel that, and there's a lot of love out here, but we're also laughing, catching up, and there is a true, like, at ease. I mean, within 10 seconds of seeing each other again, it's like we're just in it again, and that's the beauty of it. Right, and it was so cool that, Marcus, you stayed in it. You didn't play yourself, but you stayed in the movie, so you're on the set, so you're training these guys, and you felt it, but was it traumatic going through it again? I mean, I was traumatized. I didn't live through it.

I'm watching that and I know how it ends, and I'm still affected by it. How about you, seeing it on the screen? That's a great question. That's a great question, and it was almost intense therapy, because I had to break down every piece of it, and they would ask me questions that I hadn't thought about. Like, why were you doing this, this, and what was he doing with this? And I was like, man, I hadn't thought about that. And when he says we're family now, that's right, because we're together on the holidays, and I'll call him if I have a problem. Like, man, you ain't gonna believe it.

I gotta go. I mean, that's how you know that you created that bond, and we did that on the set, mainly because the roller coaster ride they had to go over with the emotions and the death. I mean, we pulled them right into that. I was on set, and there was a bunch of seals on set, and then they'd have to deal with the family members, and then the people on the outside, because everyone in America had something to do with getting me off that mountain and pulling the guys back. You just did. That's why I carry myself the way I do at all times, because I'm gonna run into somebody who had something to do with bringing me back.

And not only that, when it came to them, I was like, every time someone types in our name, your face is gonna come up. This is who you are. You're just doing other stuff now. You're out of the movie.

That's fine. But I always reel them back in. Like, if I see them out there, they popped in my head, I'll call them up, keep them in check. That's my job. Are you worried about him becoming too successful? I'm proud of him for that, right? Are you worried about him becoming too successful?

I'm like, I want him to become real, real successful and try to ignore me a little bit, then I'll reach in there. That's not gonna happen. That's not gonna happen, right? Right.

I'm gonna have to talk to my scheduler. But it worked out so well in a dynamic, because we had them before filming, during and after. And then we perpetuated it by staying in touch. And our families, everyone was starting something new, it felt like. So it kind of, everyone grew together in that mold.

And because of it, we're, life's better. Now, did you tell Marcus you're Canadian? Or are you afraid of him right now?

No, it is truly the spirit of these guys, obviously. But I want to go back to the family thing. You know, I went through a really intense family experience, and quite literally, he is top three that I'll call. And I think we all have maybe, if we're lucky enough to have three people in our life that you can lean on that are unquestionably there. It was a moment that you'll never forget. And you call him, and he's quite literally just, he's like, get to the ranch, let's go. You know, this is just, it's not even a question. And no matter what he's dealing with, you know, I didn't know at the time or whatever, you know, it's just open door. And I think that's just, you just never forget those moments, and that's how that is so cultivated, that relationship and forged, you know. It's just, there isn't a question about it.

Taylor Kitchett's with his famous actor who played Michael Murphy in the movie, and then Marcus Luttrell, who they based the movie off his book, Lone Survivor. Marcus, the one thing that's pretty clear, I've had a chance to meet you since the book came out those years ago, you have physically had to rehab a lot. You would just disappear for a few months, right, to work on your back. How are you doing now physically? Well, it's become a routine. So it's, I still have to do that.

I still have to go down and live in the hospital for a few weeks, a few months to get my body right for the year. And I've just accepted it. Like a lot of people will fight some of the things that happen to them, and then so you'll always be fighting it. And I accepted kind of like what my routine had to be. And because of it, I've dialed it in, I hold to it. If any part of my day throws me off of my routine and pulls me out of it, I have enough to get through that. And then I'll push myself back into where I need to be to keep going. And just like Taylor said, when you go through life's experiences, it teaches you good or bad, you take something from it.

Usually a design that's going to help somebody else when they call. So in any given moment, if I'm having a day, I'll call him up and whatever he tells me is the answer, even if he doesn't know it, to what I needed to hear it. That's how the good Lord works, right? And so when you have people like that in your life, and we threw them into the deep, and if I pull them straight in the fire, I mean, I didn't give them any slack at all.

I'm like, hey, bro, boom, here we go. And then I don't ever let you go. I mean, I won't ever let you go. It doesn't have anything to do with you. It has to do with me. Right. That's loyalty to stick to in this. It's not you, it's me. I say the same thing.

So Taylor, you grew up in Canada, you live in Montana, and you lived in Austin. Well, we need people to come by this museum, this Lieutenant Michael Murphy Navy Seal Museum. Can you tell people why it's important to put it on the Cooperstown for Seals, the Canton for Seals? It really is. And it's funny, as much as I think I knew, even about the Seal community and what they go through, and being with these guys and clocking in with them and being a part of that community now, it's just very humbling.

And it's done beautifully as well. And there's just, you know, this is day one, and there's already an incredible energy here. I know. You got about a thousand people at my right shoulder.

I'm looking at Dan Murphy over there through the window, the families. Give it an hour. The other thing is, I want you both to answer this, there's a difference now since 9-11. Navy Seals are no longer anonymous.

You don't have to be a member in the Navy. Now, between Zero Dark Thirty, the takedown of In Latin in real life, the movie that followed, your story, people know in Navy Seals. I understand in the community, there's a little bit of a disagreement if the fame's good or not. How do you feel about everyone knowing about the Seals? Sure. You definitely got it. You all made it hard for us to do undercover work. Right. I was brought up that way too.

A quiet professional. If you boys are in, keep your mouth shut. We made it hard for you. So suck it up. I don't care, new guy. That's what I tell my operators.

Yeah, life's tough for us. But there's two parts to that. Obviously, the old warriors telling their stories is what brings the new warriors to the table. So you have to have that.

It's been around since the warriors started fighting. Okay. The clandestine operations. No matter what you think you know about our community, you don't know nothing. You only know what we let you see. And for the reason why you come visit this museum, I'll tell you. Because I've already hid things here in this museum that lead to treasures.

There are little hidden Easter eggs and gems throughout this museum that if you know what you're looking at, will send you on a journey and on an adventure to find bigger and better things. Are you finding this out for the first time, Taylor? We did that on purpose. Oh. We did that on purpose.

Seals are notorious for that. And there's so many things in here that are hidden for the general public to find, to find other things. Okay. I'll give you that little bit. And then I'll leave you at that. But that's one of the reasons you want to come up here.

Not only just to see this wonderful town and the people in it. But what kind of our fraternity created? Well, I mean, I just literally met the guy who put the age back in here. And his brother, he lost his brother in Iraq in 05. And it's like, it's just this community and these people. It's a special spot, man. And it really is. And today's just a day to celebrate, memorialize, and be together, you know? Right. Taylor Kitch is here.

Marcus O'Trellier here. A hundred percent true. I understand that. But they think there's attention to it. But I can't tell you how many people say I joined the military because I saw a movie or I met somebody. And I just read today that the Army is lowering their standards to now you no longer have to have a high school education. That's how depleted they are in recruiting. Are you worried about that, Marcus?

I'm not saying so much to the Army, but overall the military recruiting is down. A sign of the times, right? We're in a transitional period in our country. We're all going through something. If you wanted to make us a family, how would you do that? How would you make everyone in America feel the same?

Find commonality. That's right. And what did they do to us? They got us sick. We all got sick together.

You don't get battle weakened, you get battle hardened. So our generation after two wars for 20 years, that's what you did to us. After that, the ending sucked on our favorite movie, Afghanistan, right? It was kind of terrible. And then what happened? Then you got us sick.

We all got sick together. You don't think that's created something? You mean the division in our country. That's right.

That's how you bring us together. I mean, it does that automatically. And there are peaks and valleys, the lulls. When the retention goes down and recruiting goes down, don't worry.

Something will happen to push that back up. We have a natural way of correcting ourselves. And Americans are great.

Self-correcting countries. That's right. You can get them mad, you can get them happy. Do not piss them off. We don't like that at all.

You can do a lot of things. Don't do that to us. And the worst thing that can happen is if everyone stops caring. If everyone stops really giving a damn about what goes on here, then we'll be in trouble. But you know what else is in trouble? The world. Because the world needs us to be strong. Well, that's a deeper conversation.

You're absolutely right on that. So as we're going through our transitional thing, let's do it. Don't come in here messing with us.

You definitely don't want to come in here and poke the bear while we're going through some stuff. Right. Taylor, Marcus, thanks so much. Great to see you. It's so great that you came down to be here.

And Marcus, always great to see you. I asked you to come. You were supposed to come tonight.

I asked you to come early, and you did. So I appreciate it. Thanks for having us. All right. Thanks, guys.

Appreciate it. We'll be back in a moment. Brian Kilmeade show. We'll be back in a moment. And how about December 2nd in Newark, New Jersey? Brian Kilmeade will talk about America Great from the start also with Fox Nation.

I will be streaming one of them, and there will be special marketing opportunities for you to sign up. Quick thing, as you know, this year my biggest challenge personally has been raising up my dog, Willow. I have two other dogs. They're six years old. They don't like to do a lot of running around. One's got bad knees.

One's deaf and does what the other one does. So when Willow comes in, this Olympic athlete, and wants to do things, you've got to look out. So the biggest story, the biggest tragedy that almost happened to me over the weekend was I'm walking Apollo, 130 pounds.

No problem. He walks right by my heel. Willow doesn't. So they keep crossing each other while I'm walking them, and so you've got to switch hands.

Long story short, I switch hands. The leash drops. She turns around, sees the leash on the ground, and what do you think she does? Runs 100 miles an hour straight ahead on a crowded, busy road. I cannot, in a full sprint, no human being, not Herschel Walker or Carl Lewis, could catch this dog. My only hope is the leash. Car is coming.

People watching. Embarrassing that Apollo will not run with me. I put my foot forward because I have years of soccer. After two or three tries, able to stop Willow. Disaster saved. Prevented.