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Now let's get started. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis, and we have a great conversation lined up for you guys today. Happy Memorial Day to everybody listening.
Happy Memorial Day. We're here in the Clearview Today studio on this Memorial Day with Dr. Abbadon Shah, our host, who is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show. Dr. Shah, it's going to be a great week. Welcome to the studio.
Absolutely. And today we have a very special guest. I'm going to let you guys introduce him. And then I will share about how we met. And I've known about him and known about the organization he's with, but I'm really excited about today's show.
More than I'm typically excited. Absolutely. Great conversation. John, you want to introduce our guest?
Yes, absolutely. So today we are sitting down with Mr. Andy Roberson right here of Henderson, North Carolina, part of the American Legion. That is the largest veterans group in America. That is 1.6 million members.
And one of those members is here with us today of our local chapter here in Henderson, North Carolina. Andy, welcome to the show. Andy, Andrew, how do you prefer to... Andy. Andy's good?
Sounds good. Welcome to the show. We're so glad you're here. So honored to have you on the show today. Well, I'm honored to be here and I hope we can get something going about the American Legion about veterans and Memorial Day. Amen.
Absolutely. Dr. Shah, do you want to share how we got to this point? How you guys met? I think this might be the quickest that you've ever gone from meeting someone to having them on the show. I think you hold the record for that.
That's the world record. Well, so Sandra Wilkerson, who is the head of our local chamber, she wanted to make a presentation to the American Legion Post 60, which is downtown Henderson. And she said, would you like to make that post? I know how much you care about the military and would you care to do that? I said, I would be honored to. And I said, I'll be there if you want somebody else to do it. I said, I'd be honored to do it. And she said, I would love for you to do it. And I said, that's quite amazing. So I came there and I talked to a couple of gentlemen I know over there. And then after the presentation, I had a chance to meet Mr. Roberson here and, and we sort of hit it off and he talked much about the show about Clearview today and how much he enjoys it and how much he looks forward to it. And I, and I thought about it, you know, we have Memorial Day coming up.
What if we have you on the show kind of tell your story and, and, and you care a lot about veterans. We talked about that and I do too. We have two in our family. That's right.
Our oldest daughter is married to an army and our second one is married to a Marine. That's right. So they get along okay though.
We are, most of us do, but we left a rat each other. That's right. That is the, that's the, uh, that's the impression that I got for those two. A little healthy ribbing.
Yeah. I don't know that anybody really ribs the Marines though. I think the Marines are the ones that do most of the ribbing.
I don't think the army stays on the Marines. Oh really? Good to hear somebody's giving it back to them. Well, today's verse of the day is very fitting. It comes from John chapter 15 and verse 13. We all know these words. We love these words. These are Jesus's words. Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. Wow. The perfect Memorial day verse.
Absolutely. And you know, I said something which was kind of spontaneous. I didn't plan on saying that, but I said as I was making the presentation that we are in a sense standing on sacred ground. Now those veterans are not buried there, but those crosses, y'all do such a great job in putting those out there, um, represent all the ones who from our community, gave their lives in one of the wars.
And, um, would you mind telling us a little bit about that? Well, I don't, I really don't know how the idea came up with the crosses, but uh, we had a Memorial down at the underpass with, you know, I remember that. Yes.
And they removed them. And, but, uh, we just wanted to honor the ones that have passed from Memorial day. And one of the main things we try to make people understand is Memorial day is not the veterans. That's right. That's right.
Two separate things. And, uh, so we want to honor the ones that gave their life, that fought and, and, uh, you know, that's our purpose was putting the crosses out to let people know. And I wish more people would come by and see them and read the names. It's, it's real humble to stand there and just read the names of the people that have passed.
Right. And my thing is, even at Washington at Arlington Hall, to stand there and thinking about what they went through, how some of them died, some of them died instantly, some of them suffered. Some of them on the battlefield for a couple of days with no treatments, knowing they were going to die, you know, all that, you know, that's, uh, that's kinda where my heart is. Humbling is a great way to put that. I mean, there's a, there's a weight to it when you think about what was lost, when you think about how those men and women suffered and gave their lives so that we could be here today doing this.
I mean, that's, that's powerful. One of the most humbling experiences I ever had was with Dr. Shy actually in 2017, we went to Arlington, we filmed, we went and we were doing a filming project in DC and it was one day we had a permit for one day. So we had to go as to as many places as we could.
And I remember it was going on the end of the day and Dr. Shy said, I want to go to Arlington. And you know, I was young, so I wasn't going to say it, but I was like, man, it's, it's getting late, man. It's getting like, our permit's going to expire on the other side of the mall. But I was like, okay, let's go to Arlington.
And man, I'm so, so glad we did because the weight and it's not a weight, like a heaviness, not like a burdensome weight, but there's a, there's a gravity to that place. If that makes sense in Arlington cemetery. Yeah. Who temporarily forget each of those crosses represent a life. That's right.
Somebody's father, son, brother, uncle, grandfather. I mean, it represents a life. And you know, even, you know, women who gave their lives.
So it's, it's, you stand there and you see, you have to stop. I think sometimes we just kind of rushing through because we got to get to the next destination, but I wish you could just spend a day and just, and just walk around there and, and just take it in and then go by the tomb of the unknown soldier there too. So that's all inspiring. Have you ever been to Arlington? Yes, sir. Actually my first trip there, I got, got to ride a motorcycle through there with run for the wall because they let the rookies when you first ride, go your first year on run for the wall. They allow us to ride through with motorcycles once a year.
And it's the only people that ever get to do it. Wow. That's an honor. That is an honor. Do you want to talk for a little bit about your time? I know you're a veteran as well.
Talk for a little bit about your time in the service and why this is so important to you. Oh, well, I told him before, I hate to talk about my, my service myself. Let's put it this way. You're talking for a lot of others who may not be able to talk. That's true.
Yeah. Well, I guess one of the things is that, uh, you know, I was wounded a couple times, spent several months in the hospital and, uh, I could have been on one of those, under one of those crosses very close, you know, so I guess it took me a long time to get, get to where I accepted the fact that, and, uh, I got involved with a lot of military groups and military or the Purple Heart was one of them. Uh, and being involved and finding out, I didn't realize what I needed and, you know, as far as dealing with my history in the military, but, uh, that, that just kind of came, became a passion to me after I realized what I was getting after I received help and how many I know out there that did, does not receive the help they need. A lot of veterans, Iraq and Afghanistan too, uh, they need help and they don't realize it.
So my goal was to start trying to find people that I could help. How old were you when you were wounded? 20.
20 years old. And you were wounded in Vietnam, I'm guessing treated in the hospital in Vietnam in a military hospital then? I was wounded twice actually, the first time in the hospital in, uh, in July with the Marikal division for about 10 days. The next time I was wounded, I was in the hospital in, uh, the 91st evac and I was sent to Japan for a couple of weeks and then I was sent to Portsmouth Naval Hospital for about three months.
Sent to Japan during the Vietnam war? Yes sir. Okay. Okay. Yeah.
Wow. So, um, coming out of that experience, how long did it take you, how long did it take you from being wounded and going to all these different places until the war was actually over and you were brought back home? I was wounded in 1970 and then I came home in 71 to the Naval Hospital. So once you were wounded, did you see combat again? The first time I did, I went back out. The second time, they sent me home because my time was going to run out, my tour.
Right. You know, with injuries I couldn't, wouldn't have had time to go back, really wouldn't. A couple of months would have been about it. What did, what did life look like after you came home in, like post-Vietnam war? Well.
Like for you specifically, I mean. For me, it was over. Once I got out of the military, Vietnam military service was behind me and I didn't, I didn't have anything to do with anybody in the military, basically.
And my friends too, I had a lot of friends went and we, we just didn't deal with it. Yeah. We just put it behind us.
Right. You know, went on with life, you know, trying to make a living and families. Dr. Shaw, in your counseling, do you, do you see that kind of response a lot? Well, I'm not a counselor. I kind of specify that. I, I'll sit and talk with you.
How about that? A lot of veterans have come to me over the years and it's not like they, they have issues to deal with, but it just struggles, you know, they're, they, they've either seen things of, or they have struggled with something readjusting back into civilian life. That's been the biggest one is to how you go from living in that environment to all of a sudden, now you're around and, and PTSD kicks in when you least expect, you think, man, I'm good. And then all of a sudden, what is this? Where is this anxiety coming from?
Why is my heartbeat, you know, going out of control and feeling helpless and feeling frustrated and they want to connect. And I think maybe Mr. Roberts and I can talk about this or he, cause we talked about this yesterday, maybe he can talk about it now, trying to get more veterans to come together and talk. I think there's so much that they understand that an average person, even like me, who's not been in military service, cannot. Am I right on that? Yes, sir. Yes, that's right. I've always said like people that served in the military, you know, it's a different, it's a bond, it's something there.
But if you look at it, people love motorcycles. Right. It's a bond. People that love horses, it's a bond. Right.
And, but the military is a large organization. Of course. And it's a lot of them out there that need that connection, but they don't have a lot of friends. And they'll talk about things that they wouldn't talk to normally.
Right. You know, to somebody like, maybe come to you. Well, when they come to me, it's more, I'm kind of an authority figure. So they feel like, hey, I can, I can talk to you and I know you're going to keep my confidence and you're not going to talk out of both sides of your mouth. You're going to tell me like it is.
They want to hear it like it is. But I also feel there's, there is a gap there where I cannot connect with them as to, oh, I remember when we were here, there, or when I see my two son-in-laws talk, everything is abbreviated. Right. There's a shorthand. I have to ask is like, so what does that mean?
So what does that mean? And they were like, oh, that means this and this, but they both know it. And one is army, another is a Marine. But they both know it. Yeah. So that's where I always felt like, man, if they only had a brotherhood that you get, get other guys in the church or in the community to connect, man, that would be a missing link.
Right. And I think that's a beautiful, uh, you know, place to kind of find that middle ground of offering the pastoral perspective, be able to talk with somebody and go to somebody who is an authority figure, but also have that sense of connection that people can literally speak the same language and have that shared experience. What do you guys find would be the benefit of that middle ground of offering, you know, an approach that encompasses both pastoral approach and also a peer to peer connection. One of the things, uh, you mentioned yesterday, I would love to, uh, radio audience, whether it's in the Henderson Vance community or the large, I mean, we, we go all over the world.
This, this show will be heard all over the world. What would you, you shared a little bit about, uh, someplace in our own state of North Carolina where they're doing something that's really, you thought was beneficial. Yeah. I found it on Facebook and I was aiming to look it up again. This Marine opened a restaurant, him and his wife, and he carried some of his military stuff with him, put it on the walls and people started coming in and other veterans talking to him and he decided to get part of his restaurant, uh, as a meeting place for veterans.
They just want to come in and have lunch, sit around and talk. And then he let them start bringing in somebody to cut out memorabilia and stuff. And, and it turned into a major thing for his restaurant and it got so big in his area. He decided to get a, open another restaurant in another town and do the same thing.
And I wish I could find it. I probably could if he put enough in, but, uh, it's really helped a lot of veterans. He was talking about how a lot of veterans didn't want to go, go out to eat, didn't want to be with people.
They just wanted to be alone. They want to have a meal, but this opened them up to help. And then, and talking to them and talking to another veteran, it helps. It gets kind of tough sometimes.
And that's what I didn't realize. I was telling them for about 40 years that I should've been doing that the whole time and they just didn't do it. And it put a passion on my heart to find other veterans that I knew it would help them to be in that group.
And it would be great to be able to do that too. Uh, even just not have a meeting place. A lot of people still veterans too, they don't want to meet. They don't want to be in an organization where they got to do things. So how does that work with the American Legion? Is the American Legion attempting to, to, uh, combat in a certain sense, that mindset? Well, I've talked to the commander of Hartwell, right?
He's the commander. We've talked about it a few times and it's a young lady. She has a breakfast the first Saturday or every month at the Legion.
Uh, and I'm, I shouldn't be talking about, I don't, I can't remember my name and I haven't been able to go. I'm always tied up on Saturday. It seems like, but she started it.
Just come in and have a cup of coffee, have some donuts, have a biscuit, you know, and sit and talk. And it's not really got off the ground, but I think it's because people think they got to join the American Legion. Well, that's exactly what I was. That was my followup question is the American Legion. Hey, we're veterans trying to help other veterans or are we trying to get veterans to join the Legion?
Probably both. The main thing is help. You know, that's, you know, we tell them you can come to a meeting if you want to join us fine. Uh, you know, we'd love to have you, but if you come to a meeting, you'll find out we're here to help you no matter what, what you need, whether you join, it doesn't make any difference to us as far as helping you.
That's right. Dr. Shawn, your experience, have you seen veterans who have taken advantage of some of these initiatives maybe from the American Legion or otherwise and benefited from that sense of connection and sense of belonging? Oh yeah, I've, I've seen that happen in our Clearview church. You know, we, we have a small group that we're going to be starting dedicated towards just veterans coming together and uh, we're in the process of doing that because they have a life, you know, they have work and they have children. And so it's kind of hard sometimes just like your Saturday, Saturdays are taken up, but we're trying to get that going. But I see how they connect just in the audience.
I can see how quickly they gravitate towards each other and they talk. So they need spiritual guidance. You cannot go without that. I mean, you've got to have, have God in your life. You've got to have Christ in your life. But when you have others that you can talk with, that talking it out is underestimated.
That's true. Just sitting there and talking about the struggles you went through or something small, you thought it's not a big deal. Uh, but it may, maybe something that's been hurting your, your thinking and your ability to get back in society, especially the younger ones.
I think you said something about the Iraq and Afghanistan. Yeah. It's, it's, it's an issue. It's an issue. It's tough to get them involved, but we know, we understand they are trying to make a living.
They have kids, they have been involved in sports and hopefully church and, uh, but they just don't have the time to people like our age or my age that's retired and to do that. But anyway, we can get them in anything we can draw them in and no matter where they served, when they served in it, just, just to be able to say something about the service, you can see where it makes a difference. You know, a lot of, I actually ran into a guy on that run for the wall and he was thanking me for my service and his wife said, well, he served in, in the fifties. You know, he said, I didn't serve during any conflicts.
It was after Korea before Vietnam. So I'm not a real, uh, army person. I said, what are you talking about? You served, what would have happened to this country if we hadn't had a military, had the military the whole time, you know, and she said, he actually, two guys talked to him because he had an army hat on and he threw his army hat away, wouldn't wear it. And I said, uh, I said, ma'am, if I give you the money, will you go find him an army hat? I said, if I had one, I would give it to you.
And he teared up and he, and he said, after I talked to him, he said, I'm gonna get me another hat. I said, don't let nobody tell you nothing. You know, where would this country be without the military? I don't, National Guard, Army Reserves, Marine Reserves, everybody. So people speaking ignorantly to someone who defended their right to speak that's right.
That's right. You were talking to us a little bit before we started recording about one of the coolest ministries and one of the coolest, uh, events that I had never heard of was the run for the wall. Do you want to just, and you've mentioned it a couple of times. Do you want to just tell our audience what run for the wall is? Run for the wall is an organization that, uh, it was started in 1982. The guy had a passion for the POW, MIAs, you know, it was a lot of them then. So he started to bring an awareness. He wanted to bring awareness to it. And, uh, I need to look him up to look up run for the wall. It'll tell you all about who started it.
I've actually met him, but I'm not thinking, if you can, especially when you have cameras pointed at you, your memory shuts down. But, uh, he wanted to bring awareness for the POW, MIAs. So him as a few people decided to ride from LA to DC and be in DC on Memorial day, uh, all on motorcycles, all on motorcycle. And it's turned into a major event that, uh, like I was telling the three, three legs come across the United States, one in the southern route, the midway route in the central route. And it's, uh, anywhere from three 50 to 500 motorcycles on route. Probably more on that, uh, you know, when it's all ends up because people can ride a couple of days, you go through their state, they can hook up a couple of days, but, uh, that's where it started. And it turned into a big event.
That's incredible. Come across and they end up, like I said, in Washington, DC and do the Memorial day. Uh, and they started a rolling, rolling thunder started a thing in, uh, on Memorial day.
It's like 400,000 motorcycles. How long does it take to get from LA to DC? It's 10 days. They leave on Wednesday.
They get there on Friday. Here's the, here's the big question is Dr. Shaw, are you, are you ready to dust off your motorcycle? Right. Because I know back in the day you had one, right? Yeah, I did. No, I'm not ready for that.
Ready for the 10 day trek. There needs to be more respect for motorcycles in America. Sometimes some people, they just don't don't show it. They try to get around the guy.
I'm like, like show him some respect, whatever it is. Yeah. And especially when they're riding in those huge caravans, you never know, man, it could be an event just like that. They're out right now. Aren't they? Yes, sir. Traveling today. Incredible.
We ran through rain, tornadoes. It's nonstop. Wow. They don't stop for anything. That's incredible.
It's just, but it's, uh, it's amazing how they got it organized. It's when we leave LA, I was telling them, if somebody is feeding us, American Legion, VFW, uh, churches, we stop for lunch and meal is free. You stop for dinner at night and meals are free. People have actually paid for all the gas from LA to DC for hundreds of motorcycles, trucks, pickup trucks and stuff that we use on the truck. I did it five years and, uh, and then COVID kind of put a stop to it and then wear a tail on me. Did you ride a motorcycle or you drove? No, I drove the truck. I've got a motorcycle.
I've been trying to sell it, but it was just too much for me to come across there. I understand why 10 days of nonstop. Yeah. Well, I mean, imagine seeing the country now we've done cross country, uh, with our children when they were young back in 2009, we took a trip from here all the way to Arizona. We should've kept going. We didn't have time and man, it's a beautiful country. That sounds like something I would love to do at least once in my life.
Maybe once as they have done it. Come across on the, yeah, with all the motorcycles and stuff. I can hook you up.
If you don't want to ride a bike, you can drive one of the chase trucks. We call it. Oh yeah.
That's pretty cool. Um, so with, six minutes left in the show, um, there's, you know, there's people listening all over the East coast right now. And then once this goes on prey.com, I mean, they'll be listening globally. No pressure at all. Yeah. Shall we can start with you and then Andy, we could, we could go to you. What encouragement would you give people, right? It's Memorial day where we're taking the time. We're being intentional about taking this time to remember those who have fallen. What encouragement do you have for people?
A couple of things I would say. Don't forget that freedom is not free. I know it's become like a cliche now, but it is really true. For one, someone like me, I said yesterday at the Legion, uh, I came from overseas and so I feel a sense of gratitude because somebody else paid for me to be here. Right. Um, I came and, and so I always, every time I see someone in a military uniform, always thank them or if they have a hat on, a veteran's hat, I always thank them.
But on Memorial day, uh, take a moment, take a moment and talk about those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. That's right. Right. Uh, secondly, uh, what, uh, Ms. Roberson was talking about possibly doing a breakfast here where we can get our veterans together.
David, our, our, our engineer just found that picture. I don't know if this is the one or not. We're not quite sure, but um, this is in control, Montgomery County. I don't know if this is the one that you were referring to, but, uh, this, there's something they do over here in downtown control where they're feeding the Marines. Yeah. Yeah. So anyways, uh, I would love for something like that to, to be started here in our community. Yeah, of course we have places, we have restaurants. Um, and if you're interested in maybe contact us, we'll contact you or contact you directly or contact, uh, American Legion post 60.
Yes, that's right. Let them know. Yeah.
Anything you can do, it would be great. And like I said, it could be a lunch, you know, you just have, if we had a restaurant with a section just where veterans could go in, they know this is going to be up my corner, put stuff, let them sit and talk. And yeah, but, uh, and there's some around here would probably be able to do it.
And it's just hard. Like the breakfast at the Legion, sometimes it's only five or six people that on Saturday morning. And so a restaurant would be a little different, I think. Right. And people need, veterans do need that. You know, I see them every day. You know, I go to a restaurant here and, uh, in the mornings, especially, and I've met a lot of veterans that we've got members from being there and we've got some came and just decided they didn't want to join. Right.
But they love to talk to you when they see you and talk about the service and stuff. Of course. You know, if something like that could be done, it would, I would really like it.
Yeah, of course. We'll definitely talk more about it and, and get something like that going. There's a, there's a good change happening in our country right now where, uh, recruiting has gone up, which is a, which is to me, it's wonderful to see that men and women are joining the armed forces and willing to, uh, go and stand for our country. So I'm, I'm very excited about that. And so, uh, if we can help our veterans in the community, that would be another plus.
Yes. It will, it will bring a sense of unity in our community. Support those who have stood beside us and give them opportunities to facilitate that connection, just like we talked about and, uh, you know, foster that sense of community and brotherhood. And if you're listening to this right now, even if you're not in our local chapter of the American Legion, wherever you are, we're going to, we're going to put a link to the American Legion in the comments and the show notes of this video. So you guys can donate, you can support, you can do however you want because there's people out there I think who are going to hear this and feel led to give, feel led to support, even feel led to pray. So we're going to provide that link for you guys so you can do that and thank you for your support.
That's right. Mr. Robertson, thank you so much for being on the show today and thank you for your service at the top of the show. Thank you very much guys.
Such a great episode. Make sure you join us tomorrow. Same time, same station. We're going to be diving into another great topic here on the Clear Read Today show. Thanks again to our sponsors for making today's episode possible. Don't forget that you can support us on iTunes by subscribing to the show, or you can always support us financially at cleareadtodayshow.com. John, what are you going to leave the listeners with today? Definitely want to connect you guys with pray.com.
That is the app that all of our exclusive content is on. You can follow Dr. Shah and all of his work on pray.com exclusively. Make sure to follow. I think we're about to cross 5,000 followers. Want to get that number up as much as we possibly can. Thank you to all of you guys who are giving and donating to the show on pray.com. You can also do that at clearviewbc.org forward slash give. It's because of your gifts and your contributions that we're able to make this show and provide all of this wisdom and all of this encouragement to the people who need to hear the voice of Jesus Christ.
That's right. We love you guys. We'll see you tomorrow on Clearview Today. This episode of Clearview Today is brought to you by Le Bleu Ultra Pure Water. When you drink Le Bleu, you're only getting two ingredients, hydrogen and oxygen. Le Bleu is the leading choice for hydration with a patented process that removes impurities and ensures the highest level of purity possible. Unlike other bottled waters, Le Bleu's ultra pure filtration system provides water that is free from contaminants and infused with only the essentials your body needs. So whether you're at home on the go or working hard, Le Bleu Ultra Pure Water offers a refreshing, crisp taste with every sip. It's going to give you the hydration you need without the worry. So make the smart choice today and experience the difference of Le Bleu Ultra Pure Water. You can find out more and order online at Le Bleu. That's L-E-B-L-E-U.com and make sure when you check out, you tell them the Clearview Today show sent you. You can use promo code T-O-D-A-Y at checkout to get 10% off your next order. It's going to save you money and it's going to support all of us here at the Clearview Today show. So stay hydrated, stay healthy, and without further ado, let's start the show.
