In this Veterans Day special of The Jenny Beth Show, Jenny Beth Martin honors America’s heroes and covers two major breaking stories from Washington — the Senate’s move to reopen the federal government after weeks of Democrat obstruction, and President Trump’s pardons of 2020 Republican electors targeted by political prosecutions. Jenny Beth is joined by three remarkable guests who embody service and sacrifice: Congressman Brian Mast (U.S. Army veteran and Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee), Congresswoman Sheri Biggs (U.S. Air National Guard officer and author of the FIGHTER Act), and veteran advocate Emery McClendon (U.S. Air Force veteran and Tea Party Patriots leader). Together, they discuss what Veterans Day means, the challenges facing veterans under the shutdown, and how every American can honor those who defend our freedom.
This Veterans Day special of The Jenny Beth Show pays tribute to the men and women who have worn our nation’s uniform — those who stand as the defenders of liberty at home and abroad.
Host Jenny Beth Martin opens with two breaking stories out of Washington:
Then, Jenny Beth turns to three distinguished guests whose lives reflect the true meaning of service and sacrifice:
Through these conversations, The Jenny Beth Show reminds us that freedom is never free — and challenges every American to thank a veteran, listen to their stories, and carry forward the values they fought to protect.
Watch and share this special Veterans Day tribute:
The Jenny Beth Show – Honoring America’s Veterans: Service, Sacrifice, and Standing for Freedom
Guests:
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) – U.S. Army Veteran, Chairman, House Foreign Affairs Committee @RepBrianMast
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) – U.S. Air National Guard Officer, Author of the FIGHTER Act @RepSheriBiggs
Emery McClendon – U.S. Air Force Veteran, Tea Party Patriots Action Leader @kb9ibw
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Watch new episodes of The Jenny Beth Show on X, YouTube, Rumble, and Facebook.
Learn more at TeaPartyPatriots.org.
Narrator (00:14):
Welcome to the Jenny Beth Show.
Jenny Beth Martin (00:18):
Veterans Day began his Armistice Day in 1919. Marking the end of the great war. Tomorrow we honor every man and woman who has worn our nation's uniform from that day to this one, defending freedom at home and abroad. And today marks another historic milestone, the 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps, founded on November 10th, 1775. For two and a half centuries Marines have embodied honor, courage, and commitment standing on the front lines of liberty from the revolution to the present day. I'm Jenny Beth Martin and this is the Jenny Best Show. Before we turn to our Veterans Day conversations, we are going to talk about two breaking stories that are happening right now in Washington and across America. Late last night, the United States Senate finally voted to begin the process of reopening the federal government after Democrats voted 15 separate times to keep it closed. After weeks of pressure from conservatives both inside Congress and from grassroots Americans across the country, Democrats are finally beginning to cave.
(01:27):
As Senator Ted Cruz explained on his podcast verdict last night, this deal is a Republican victory. It will end the Schumer shutdown, and it does so without Democrats getting a single policy concession. Eight Senate Democrats broke rank with their leadership to vote in favor of advancing the measure. Now it must pass through final procedural votes and it could pass as early as tomorrow, allowing all federal offices including the VA, to reopen by midweek. Though it is more likely to be fully reopened towards the end of the week, this is proof that persistence works and that standing firm on principle can move mountains in Washington. Also breaking today, president Trump has issued a round of presidential pardons for Republican electors and political figures who were indicted by state and local Democrat prosecutors for questioning the 2020 election results. Among those covered are Trump campaign officials and Republican electors in Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, and Wisconsin, including several of my own friends from Georgia and from around the country.
(02:33):
One of them, Mike Roman, was indicted in four states for simply helping coordinate the lawful alternate elector process, which is explicitly allowed by federal law. The legal analysis confirms what constitutional scholars have said from day one. States like Arizona and Wisconsin never had the authority to prosecute these cases because they fall under federal jurisdiction. These pardons are a major advancement toward justice, and while charges remain technically pending, hopefully these charges are on their last leg. This is an important step towards restoring faith and our legal system and protecting citizens from political persecution. Now as we head into Veterans Day, we remember the men and women who made it possible for us to have this freedom, the very freedom that we fight to preserve every day in the courts and Congress and in our communities. Today, mark's the start of our two part Veterans Day special. We're joined by three incredible guests, Congressman Brian Mast and Sherry Beggs, and veteran Emory McClendon.
(03:42):
Tomorrow we'll continue with a very special conversation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins. Now if you're watching on X YouTube rumble, Facebook, go ahead and hit like subscribe and share. So more Americans hear these stories and we get better reach with our show. Now let's begin. Our first guest today is Congressman Brian Mass, a US Army veteran who lost both legs while serving in Afghanistan. He's now chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and continues to fight for veterans and for Americans standing in the world. Welcome to the show, Congressman Mass. Thank you so much for joining me.
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (04:25):
Glad to join you.
Jenny Beth Martin (04:26):
So what does Veterans Day mean to you personally as someone who has sacrificed so much for this country?
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (04:34):
For me, every single day is Veterans Day. I am thinking about my brothers and sisters just because of the things. You hear a song or you drive past something and you have a memory that makes you think about a veteran that you serve with or maybe somebody that you lost. It can make you think of a number of different things. So for me, it's every day that way. But to have America as a whole recognize, hey, we're going to look at the army, the navy, the Marines, the Air Force, the Coast Guard, and now the Space Force, those that served from World War II to Korea to Vietnam, Panama, Kosovo, Bosnia, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, global war on terror in Syria during wartime, during peace time, those that had that commitment to just be a part of the fabric of that flag behind me, hold that stitching of that flag behind me together and be willing to say, I will give it all if need be. That is worth recognizing those people that had that commitment. And it's one of my favorite days that America takes time out on November 11 to say, you veterans, you that carried a rifle in defense of this place, we love you, we appreciate you and we're recognizing you.
Jenny Beth Martin (05:37):
I love that spirit and I love the veterans as well, and I appreciate so much the sacrifice that you and others like you have been willing to make so that I can do the things that I love to do in this country.
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (05:49):
Scott, should I just pause on that for a second? Please Just sit it. I mean, people say sacrifice and I know there's no offense mean it, you mean it in a perfectly honest and sincere way, and I take it in every way, shape or form like that. But I say it very seriously. This country gave me far more than it ever took from me. There's not one day that I would trade two legs in a finger for one of my friends, for one of my friends that I had the opportunity to protect their life. That is what veterans are all about. Yes, we serve this country because of what we believe in about those 50 stars and those 13 red and white stripes, but we believe in our brothers and sisters to our left and right that we stand alongside shoulder to shoulder with on the battlefield, and there's nothing that we wouldn't do for each other. And I'd say it one more time, country gave me far more than anything it ever costs me.
Jenny Beth Martin (06:41):
I absolutely love that what you just said is so profound and so important, and I hope people understand this and what you're expressing is what I've heard from so many other veterans around the country in my work, they don't see their work as a sacrifice. And sometimes we talk about some who've gone through tremendous physical loss as you have, and we will talk about how they're heroes and they always go, no, I'm not a hero. I'm just an ordinary person doing what I love for the country. So I appreciate that so very much.
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (07:18):
I'm glad they paid me, but I would've done it for free.
Jenny Beth Martin (07:21):
Amazing. Just absolutely amazing. Brian. Now after you were injured, your father said something deeply powerful. Would you share that story and tell people what your father said to you and what it means to you today?
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (07:35):
Yeah, I've shared it many times. My father, I always tell people, my dad and I, we loved each other. He just passed about a year ago, but we were not those two guys that went around saying that we loved each other, just wasn't the way that he and I interacted. I tell my young boys and my daughter, I tell 'em I love 'em every day, but for dad and I, it's just not how we interacted. And so when I was injured, I'm laying in Walter Reed, I'm just barely cognizant coming out of being unconscious for about a week. I got tubes coming out of my throat and where I'd lost my limbs in my arms and everywhere else, and the beep, beep beep that's going on in a hospital room, that kind of thing, that was the scenario that was playing out. And my father, he comes to my bedside and told me how much he loved me, how proud he was of me, how glad he was that I was okay.
(08:18):
And then not long after that, it went back to tough love and he says, Brian, you can't let this keep you down. You got to find a way to pull yourself up to get yourself out there to get back to work. If your job's defending your country, then don't let the best defense you give your country be something that's in your past. If your job is setting a good example for your kids, don't let the best example you set for your kids be in your past because your kids are always looking at you. I like to think that he didn't have to tell me that I'm glad that he did. I carry it with me every single day because he did take the time to say it to me. And I always tell people, I always tell fathers, it was a demonstration to me that my father at that time being in his late eighties, he was never too old to influence me and I was never too old to be influenced by him.
Jenny Beth Martin (09:03):
That is such an amazing story and I have a feeling that when your father was giving you that tough love, it was not the easiest thing for him to be able to do. He probably just wanted to wrap you up and hold you and not ever let go of you, but he was telling you what you needed to know and to hear so that you would go on and be able to accomplish the things like you're accomplishing. Right now in Congress,
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (09:24):
The toughest conversations are the most important ones. If we just go around having the easy conversations, not pinpointing the difficult things, the things that we have to work through and get over, whether as individuals or as a nation, then we're just operating under an illusion of strength instead of actually getting to the down and dirty of dealing with our weaknesses and getting to the point that we've overcome them all so that we don't have any weaknesses and we need to do that as people and as a country,
Jenny Beth Martin (09:52):
You are exactly right. And as you say that, it makes me think of the things that Charlie Kirk was trying to do on college campuses, having those tough conversations and talking to our fellow Americans. It's amazing how we oftentimes just want to gloss over the easy, not talk about what's right in front of us. So we really need to be addressing ignore the elephant in the room and sometimes the most important thing is to do as you just said, talk about it, confront what's in front of you and figure out a plan to go forward.
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (10:31):
And Charlie, he was a friend of mine as well, and he was an expert in that in saying, okay, tell me what you think. Great. I want to know what you think, but more importantly, tell me why you think that. Because that's where the real conversation is. That's where we can learn something from one another. What's your vantage point that you come to this opinion from? What's the experience that you've had that you've come to this from, or what are the source information of facts that you come to this from whatever it might be, tell me why it is that you actually think it and I think that's the point that we all need to be at. More importantly as Americans, as we're having going through difficult discussions about things. I fully believe that President Trump, myself, the Republican Party, that we are on the right side of everything that we are doing in government right now, but it's incumbent upon us to go out there and say, this is the why, for why we're doing this. And I think that's how we gain allies.
Jenny Beth Martin (11:22):
I think you're exactly right now talking about the why you've introduced bills to improve veterans access to care and congressional services. What is the biggest reform that is still needed to help take care of veterans and why do we need it and how are we going to get it done?
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (11:38):
Well, I heard you say you're going to have Doug Collins on one of my former congressional colleagues now, secretary of the va, great friend of mine, great secretary of the va. I'm so proud to see him in that position. He's doing everything that he can to make sure that our people that put on a uniform defense of this country get the best possible care that everybody else in the world goes out there and says, man, I need to go into service just so afterwards I can get my care from the va. That's the level that he wants the VA at, and I appreciate his hard and there's things to work through because it's a government agency and government agencies are not notorious for their efficiency, their streamlined this or everything else that they provide. It's just the fact of the matter and the Trump administration is working to change that.
(12:21):
What's some of the places that they can do that with the Department of Veterans Affairs? I think one of the easiest places to look is what goes on with the pensions and claims issues or the backlog with pensions and claims issues. There are veterans that have been waiting several years to hear about a upping in what is their percentage of disability claim as one example, or whether they're going to be rated for something for things that they inhaled when they were in serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, the nasty chemicals that are a part of all of the ordinance and weapons systems that we use. There are people that have been waiting the years to find out whether something's going to be considered presumptive for their exposure to ancient orange during Vietnam or in Laos or in Cambodia or other places throughout Southwest Asia during that time.
(13:07):
And so getting through all of those, coming up with ways to get through them quicker, like putting together a board of former military personnel that came from the Medical Corps or former doctors or things like that to just help expedite and work through those claims so that people don't die while they're waiting for those claims. That's an easy one to talk about, right? Because it's really personal to people's lives, making sure that anytime somebody goes into the Department of Veterans Affairs that they're given the highest level of respect because of their commitment to this country and the highest level of service because of their commitment to this country. And that goes to all of the individuals that are working there. Most of the people that are working at the VA do provide that, but you still have to work through people that they're human beings, they have bad days and you got to work through their human difficulties as well. So those are some of the obvious ones.
Jenny Beth Martin (13:55):
Well, I hope that you are able to get legislation passed that helps improve that care. And you're right, Doug Cullins wants to make the care the best that it possibly can be, and the conversation tomorrow is going to be a really good one for people to hear about the work that he's doing at the va. One more thing, another thing about the VA that we're facing right now, Democrats, they have shut down the government. It's resulted in 37,000 VA employees being furloughed and some services have been delayed to veterans. What are you hearing about the reopening process and what do you want people to know about what will be happening next?
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (14:35):
Yeah, so real time. I am in Florida right now speaking to you. I just got back to Florida about two hours ago. I was up in Washington DC working on this and other things over the weekend, the shutdown and other things over the weekend. And while I was up there, I was having a number of conversations about this, and I'll give you a little bit of what I consider, not a tale of two cities, but a tale of two ways to look at this government shutdown. So one, thank God that in my belief we're going to be coming out of this by Wednesday evening, maybe Thursday morning, something like that. We're waiting on the vote to everything to fully come over from the Senate of which senators have the ability to really hold things up for a long time, but we think we will have this vote late Wednesday in the House of Representatives, get the government open.
(15:21):
Now what we're opening the plan by which we're opening this government with, it's something that the Senate put forward four or five weeks ago. We could have been out. They're taking the same deal that was put forward four or five weeks ago. And despite the fact that we're opening the government, it's because there are about eight senators, eight Democrat senators that are going to vote with Republicans to open it. If you turned on the news right now, you would see Democrats like Hakeem Jeffries and Nancy Pelosi and the House of Representatives, they're eating each other alive because they still don't want to open the government. They don't want those VA employees to go back to work. They want the military to be endangered of getting their pay. They want air traffic controllers to be walking off the job and there'd be significantly more threats in air traffic controlling it.
(16:10):
And those of us that are traveling throughout the skies, they want that pain. And they've said no less that they see that pain as leverage. And they are so pissed off that they weren't able to use what they perceived as leverage to get something because in the end, they did not get a thing to reopen the government other than what we had told them to do four or five, six weeks ago, which is let's just continue funding the appropriations of the past. And the only other thing that we're really changing is instead of this government being funded until November 21st, that's when the bill was supposed to fund the government till now it's going to fund the government until the end of January when we're going to have to deal with all of this again. And some of the other parts of government will be funded for about a year, some of those, some longer term appropriations going on, but in the end, Democrats, they're not getting anything out this and they're so pissed off about that.
Jenny Beth Martin (17:03):
Yeah, they really are and they like to cause pain. And we can look at what is happening right now with the shutdown. They're perfectly willing. They claim that the government solves all problems and you can, if you want confirmation on that, just listen to man's speech when he won the election last week. No problem is too big for the government. No problem is too small for the government to care about yet. If the government solves all the problems, then why would they want the government to be closed? They want the government closed so they can create pain for people so that they can exert and try to amass more political power. And this isn't the first time in the last five years that they've done this. They shut down the government during COVID. They didn't want the government to reopen states across the country had all sorts of, it wasn't just a government, they wanted the whole country closed at that point. Schools were closed, the government was closed, masks all of the onerous things that they did with C, and they're willing to use government to control and manipulate people rather than letting us live in freedom. And they're willing to close the government to create pain so that they can try to get their way even though they're in the minority.
(18:26):
I think they're just hypocritical. Either government solves the problems or it doesn't, and if it doesn't, I don't know. It just makes no sense to me what they're doing. They're very, very, this shutdown going on as long as it has been going on. They're just stamping their feet right now like little toddlers rather than trying to find solutions that will work for America.
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (18:49):
Jenny Beth, you framed it very accurately about the power that they're looking for out of it. They're not worried about the effect that it has on the American people. They're not worried about the anxiety and the literal burdens that it puts on people. We will use the air traffic controllers as that example that they're wondering because they've now missed several pay periods, several paychecks, what's going to happen with their rent, with their car payment, with their mortgage, with their ability to get groceries, with having to put more on their credit card, things like that. They're not thinking about that. They're thinking about if we cause those air traffic controllers paying who are relying on a check from the government because that's who they work for, the people that they will have leverage with the government, but it actually goes beyond that pain as well. And unfortunately there is just a sincere level of stupidity about the things that they want.
(19:37):
Now, you mentioned I chair the foreign Affairs Committee. Some of the things that we cut out of this government are things that the Democrats are literally trying to put back in place because they don't like that we cut these things out that I can't even say that they were about power. They were about being liberal wishlists, things that they were just using the state department for social experimentation. These are real things that I can show you. The documentation for wanting to fund drag shows in Ecuador, literally they did that for $20,000 a piece wanting to fund transgender job fairs in Bangladesh for $800,000. Yes, they did that in a country where the average wage is probably $2 a day. They're funding, not that we should be doing it at any price, but that's what they were doing in Bangladesh, teaching gender inclusivity for ultimate Frisbee for about $300,000. That was a real thing. Teaching gender inclusivity to Filipino coffee baristas, that was a real program. The list goes on and I literally have thousands of things that are that stupid that are just like that. The Democrats are upset that we're not turning these programs back on. That's what they're upset about. They want to continue funding those things and they're pissed off that we won't give them the money to do so.
Jenny Beth Martin (20:51):
Well, you keep holding firm and don't give them the money to do those things. It's ridiculous the things that they want to have that they want to have funded. Alright, let's shift gears just slightly from the government shutdown. You have spoken about standing with Israel and defending freedom worldwide. How does your service shape your approach to America's role across the world?
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (21:14):
I'll tell you how my service and how I look at things being chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and I think this is a good place to talk about something, that the United States of America, especially under the Biden administration, has done a crap job in doing so. We know that we deal with countries all across the globe. All of them are lining up to speak to the United States of America to say, Hey, we want to make a deal. We want to have this relationship so that we can have trade between our countries. We want you to come in and get these minerals out of our ground and have a better supply chain because of the things that you produce. You name, I deal with the Prime Minister, the trade minister, the foreign minister, the defense minister, the King, queen, crown Prince, ambassador, you name. I'm meeting with all of them on a daily basis and this is all what they're coming forward saying that they want with the United States America.
(21:58):
But what America has done a terrible job of doing in the past is say just number one, what does America need from a country or region? We haven't been asking that question in the past. Should we be involved in you? Do we need something there? Do we need stability? Do we need a mineral out of the ground? Do we need an ally? What is it that we need from you? And if it's nothing, then we shouldn't be involved there very clearly. Number two, what is it that you want from us? And we've done a terrible job in asking that because if we're giving a country L-G-B-T-Q-I, transgender job fairs and transgender operas and musicals and plays and drag shows, then I promise you there's not one of those countries that was asking us for that. Again, it was just liberal wishlist, things that were being foisted on these countries.
(22:44):
So we weren't asking what does a country want from us? And then we weren't asking this third question, which is, if we are able to meet what you're looking for, does the United States of America get what it needs or do we not? Because if America doesn't get what it needs, then we had the wrong conversation and it's not benefiting the American people. So that's the vantage point that my service brings me to as I deal with all of these countries across the globe is in the end what we're doing. Is it getting the American people something that they need or is it not? Because if it's not, we have no business doing it whatsoever. That's the vantage point.
Jenny Beth Martin (23:22):
That's a very good perspective and I like the way that you're thinking of how and what and how much we should be providing services and money to other countries. I'm glad that you have that test. Alright, Congressman, last question. In 30 seconds, what should every American say to a veteran on Veteran's Day tomorrow?
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (23:46):
Just look 'em in the eye, number one and say, thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you ma'am for serving our country. And then maybe spark up a conversation with them. Can you tell me where you served? What did you do? What was your job in the military? Do you think I should serve? If somebody hasn't served yet and they're still young enough to do so, what would you tell somebody that's thinking about service? What's the best branch? Just ask them about their service. Have a genuine and genuine interest. Find out about their history and learn something great about your history because in the end, the service of a veteran, it's the history of your country as well.
Jenny Beth Martin (24:20):
I love that. It's great advice. Congressman Mass, thank you so much for your service and your leadership and thanks for joining me today.
Rep. Brian Mast (FL-21) (24:27):
Thank you.
Jenny Beth Martin (24:29):
Now let's turn to another leader serving in Congress. I recorded this interview earlier this morning. Congressman Sherry Biggs is a US Air Force veteran, a nurse and a champion for our service members. She has authored the Fighter Act legislation to expand healthcare and career services for veterans and their families. Thank you so much for joining me today, Congresswoman Biggs.
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (24:52):
Thank you for having me.
Jenny Beth Martin (24:54):
So how did your time in the Air Force shape the way you serve today and Congress?
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (25:00):
Well, actually I am still serving in the Air National Guard. I went in as an AVAC nurse and now currently serve at Joint Force Headquarters as a deputy A three. But prior to that, I cared for veterans in the long-term care setting, not only as a nurse, but I was also a licensed administrator. And just hearing their stories and seeing that cohesiveness and their love for our country, it really sparked something inside me and kind of directed me into a path as a career in the military. Wow. And then how
Jenny Beth Martin (25:41):
Long have you been in the military?
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (25:44):
So I think now about 15 years. And it's something that challenges me. I always feel like I need to learn more, do more, and things are always changing. So to me it makes sense to be serving in Congress. I was doing a lot of work in the nonprofit setting before I decided to even run for Congress, taking care of veterans and seeing their struggles not only with healthcare needs but with mental health and there's a spiritual piece to that as well. So I'm happy and honored to have been able to care for a lot of veterans. I've learned and gotten a lot more out of it probably than I put in because it's been such a blessing to me.
Jenny Beth Martin (26:31):
So what are some of the struggles that you have seen that veterans have encountered?
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (26:38):
Well, just like yesterday I was with a group at a Veterans Day parade. These were Vietnam veterans and I think there are a lot of scars that we see, we don't see that they're dealing with emotionally instead of just physical scars. There are those things that we don't view and that's probably the biggest struggle coming home from Vietnam, not receiving the welcome. I think we've come a long way in teaching our children and making sure that the citizens see the service and sacrifice that these veterans make. I like to think that we've come a long way, but there's still more work to be done in this area, but just to thank these men and women for what they've done.
Jenny Beth Martin (27:31):
Yeah, absolutely. When I was growing up, I had a few of my friends whose fathers were veterans in the Vietnam War, and I remember one girl, her dad really, really struggled when he got home and my dad told me that a lot of the problem was because of what you just were saying, that we weren't welcoming them back and we weren't letting them know that we appreciated the sacrifice that they made and the things they were willing to do to protect freedom for us here in America. And I'm glad that we treat the people who have been in the Gulf Wars differently than that, but it's really tough to know that our country did not welcome them back the way they should have been.
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (28:23):
Absolutely. And even now, I think there's a lot more that we could do. Our suicide rate is a lot higher. I mean one is too many, but I think we have a long way to go, but now at least we're talking about it and see the need and I believe that Secretary Collins will do a great job in making sure that we put those measures in place to help our veterans, both those serving currently and those from the past.
Jenny Beth Martin (28:54):
Absolutely. I think you will do a wonderful job with it as well. Now you've introduced the Fighter Act. What is this act exactly and how will it make a difference for veterans?
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (29:08):
There are a lot of measures that we've done. I mean there are things like taxing military members while they're receiving active duty pay. I think there are some things that we could do from that perspective that would be helpful. Also, making sure that our veterans have life insurance that is affordable and there are many things we could talk all day about the things I would like to see right now with our military being deployed and not receiving pay because of the shutdown. That makes no sense to me. I was with a group in South Carolina, 150 members, men and women were being deployed. They were about to leave knowing that they weren't going to receive a check, leaving their families and probably wondering how they were going to put food on the table while they were gone. That piece is very frustrating to me. We have to do a better job of taking care of our members. We absolutely do.
Jenny Beth Martin (30:12):
It makes me so angry when I see that the politicians on Capitol Hill will use our veterans and our active duty service members as pawns in their political games. I think when people are voluntarily willing to sacrifice their life for this country, that our politicians should treat them better. And it's disgusting that every time we have a shutdown, Congress is never willing to just go ahead and say, we're going to pay the troops and we'll deal with everything else, but the troops are getting paid no matter what. I don't know why that is so hard. It should not be. It shouldn't be hard at all.
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (30:53):
When you think about the sacrifices that they're making leaving their family go into foreign lands and putting their life at risk, leaving everyone behind, I think we could do a better job. We have to do a better job. And that's one reason I refuse my pay during this shutdown because I don't feel like it's right as a member of Congress that I should accept my pay when I expect our military to go off and serve and not receive payment and not be able to assist their family during this time.
Jenny Beth Martin (31:30):
You're exactly, exactly right. And I appreciate the fact that you were willing to say no to your pay during this shutdown. Now speaking of the shutdown, the VA clinics have been short-staffed and some of the VA services have been delayed because of the shutdown. So what is happening with it? We saw the Senate finally start moving last night. What's happening now with the shutdown and when should people expect the government to be fully reopened?
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (32:00):
Well, it would be purely speculation if I tried to give you a date, but we are seeing movement and hopefully today the votes will go in the right way and I anticipate that we will be getting back to work the middle or end of this week. We'll see how that works out, but that's my goal. I hope we'll be back at work this week. We have been trying my district office in Anderson, South Carolina and my office NDC has been open and fully staffed. We've been trying to make sure that our constituents needs are met, but hopefully this week will be the end of the shutdown.
Jenny Beth Martin (32:42):
I hope so. And I appreciate the fact that you and your staff have been there taking care of the people, your constituents who are affected by the shutdown, and I know there are many of those people across the country who have been affected by it. When we look at women who serve in the military, it's about 17%. The military is made up of about 17% of women as one of the few female veterans in Congress. What do you want women who are considering military service to know and to think about?
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (33:18):
I always encourage young women that I come in contact with to join the military, especially for those in the medical field. For me, I try to share my experience. It's easy, well, not easy. It is challenging, but it's easier to take care of patients in a hospital setting where you have a controlled environment. But for me, working on the back of a aircraft, trying to take care of patients and get them to a higher echelon of care, that was always challenging and it was something that I never felt 100% comfortable with. Not only do you have to know the medical aspects, but you have to know about the aircraft. You're making sure communication is good and there's a lot of responsibility. So I always felt that it was challenging, but it drove me to be a better nurse, to be a better airman, and I'm just grateful for the opportunity.
(34:20):
So I think there are opportunities for young people and if I were probably 20 or 30 years younger, I would do even more in the military. I think there are so many skill sets and so much training and the education piece and the people that you get to meet and the travel and you learn to be independent, you learn to count on yourself. So I think there are a lot of advantages to joining the military as a female. I don't really look at my physician as being male or female. I just take it as an opportunity to learn and grow. And I think it's a great career path. It
Jenny Beth Martin (35:06):
Sounds pretty amazing. I can't believe the way that you just described taking care of patients on the back of airplanes and having to understand the aircraft and also all the medicine that goes with it. That would be quite a challenge, I'm sure.
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (35:22):
Well, it was a great opportunity. It has been wonderful for me. Well,
Jenny Beth Martin (35:27):
I am so thankful that you did that and that there's so many people across the entire military service who are willing to take care of the active duty members who need that kind of care quickly. There are 18 million veterans, about 18 million veterans today in America. How do you think Americans can honor these veterans and what more can we do than just saying thank you for your
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (35:54):
Service? One word comes to mind and that's respect. I was telling someone yesterday, my grandfather was a World War II veteran and I never heard any stories. I never had a conversation with him about his time in service and now he's passed away. But I made a special trip to interview two of my uncles to make sure that we had their experiences in the military on record and on a video recording to archive. I think now there's so many historians that are putting together history projects for our veterans. I would encourage anyone to please tell your story and if you have a loved one that has served, take the time to sit down and listen to their experiences because that's a piece of history. That's something we can't get back and it helps direct our future as well. So it's very important. I wish we were teaching more about that in the school systems, but hopefully
Jenny Beth Martin (37:02):
I love that idea and it's something very simple that every person who has a veteran family member can do. Just go talk to them, video it, grab your phone. Mine's here somewhere. Just grab your phone and set it up to record so that we are documenting those stories so we can learn from our history.
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (37:23):
Absolutely. And you could check out our website or call our office and we can help get you connected because that is very important for our future.
Jenny Beth Martin (37:33):
I absolutely love that idea. Okay. Then my last question for you is this very quickly in about 30 seconds or so, what is your message to every veteran who's watching right now?
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (37:47):
Well, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank the men and women who have worn the uniform. Thank you for your service and thank you for your sacrifice, but also thank you to the family members because it's a team effort and it's very hard for a member to deploy if they don't have the support at home. So thank you so much and God bless you and God bless your family and God bless America.
Jenny Beth Martin (38:15):
Congressman Biggs, thank you. Thank you for your service, your active duty service, the service that you still provide as a member of the military for being a member of our medical community. And then also that wasn't enough service for you. You stepped up and you're serving your constituents and serving all of us in Congress. Thank you very much for that, and I wish you a very happy Veteran's Day tomorrow.
Rep. Sheri Biggs (SC-3) (38:39):
Well, thank you so much and thank you for passing along the message.
Jenny Beth Martin (38:42):
Thank you. Our final guest today is Emory McClendon, a US Air Force veteran, a tea party, Patriots action leader and a member of Project 20 one's National Advisory Council. He's dedicated his life to defending liberty and empowering veterans through community service and advocacy. Emery, thank you so much for joining me today.
Emery McClendon (39:04):
Thank you, Jenny, for having me on today. It is an honor to be here. It's an honor to be on your show and to hear you talk about such an important subject because this is a day that every American should be proud of that every American should sit down those that have families at their children and let them know exactly what it means to be a veteran. And I am so proud that I had the opportunity to serve, and I have a long line of history with some of my family members to do the same, even though I wasn't able to sit down with them and hear all their stories and some of the things that they went through. But I did serve and they backed me in my service and let me know that this is something that I should be proud to do.
Jenny Beth Martin (39:47):
Emery, your father was in World War ii and I just watched a video of you as I was preparing for our interview, and you said that he had been captured during World War ii. Tell us about what happened and then how did that story shape your view of service and sacrifice for our country?
Emery McClendon (40:09):
Yeah, I never got a chance to actually sit down and talk to my fighter personally with this, but my brother did about, and he told my brother how he had gotten, their unit had gotten lost and they had gotten wandered around in the forest in Germany and that they had been semi captured, but they got away and then they roamed around for weeks at a time trying to find their way back on the other side of the enemy lines. And I just think that that meant so much to me after I found out about it later on in life and inspired me to know that you'd never give up. He described to my brother some of the things that they did said that they even got to the point where they were eating tree bark and brass and everything else in order to stay alive.
(40:51):
He said it was cold, it was misty, lot of snow and rain over in Europe, but he never gave up. The unit never gave up. They decided that they were going to try to make it back on the other side of enemy lines, and he didn't reunited with the other American troops and they did. And because of that, I'm here today as a living person and I was able to follow in his footsteps. He served in the army, I served in the United States Air Force, and he never downed me from going into the service of tried to prevent me from going because of what happened to him. He encouraged me. And I can remember one story, Jenny, when I was getting ready to go to the Philippines and be deployed for 15 months. My father, he didn't get to make it to my basic training graduation, but he wanted to make sure that he came to Scott Air Force Base, which is where I was going to depart from, and then go to Travis Air Force Base, California. He wanted to be there on my last days in the United States. So he drove me back to the St. Louis area, the Scott Air Force base, and he spent the whole day with me and I was able to take him into my barracks, show him where I stayed, where I lived my quarters, and then also show him where I worked out on the base and what I did. And he was so proud.
Jenny Beth Martin (42:04):
I'm so glad that he was proud. And it is so amazing to me to hear about the men and women who served in World War ii. They really were the greatest generation, and it's very important that we talk about their stories and remember what happened to them. So I'm glad that your brother was able to convey that story with you about your dad. And then speaking of stories with veterans you have, well, first let me say this. According to the Honor Flight Network, over 300,000 veterans have flown into Washington DC for honor flight since its inception in 2005 with approximately 22,500 being flown in annually. And you've worked with honor flights to help veterans visit Washington dc Tell us what happens on those flights, what those moments mean to the men and women who have served and what you learn as you're with them and the stories that they tell you.
Emery McClendon (43:07):
I was very honored to be able to go on the Honor flight last October in 24, and I found out about honor flight years and years ago, and I was always afraid to sign up for it. So I finally signed up for it and I waited a number of years and I got the call, you're going to be going on the honor flight coming up in October, and I just didn't know what to think. So I began to do some research and I looked into the program and found out that they do so many wonderful things for our veterans, especially for those who came home. Never got a chance to go to Washington DC and see any of the memorials, to know what Arlington Cemetery looked like, to know what the Korean War veteran statues and the different memorials that they had built, the Air Force Memorial and even the World War II Memorial, which is where a lot of 'em, my era from that era had come home from, were still being flown out on honor flights and then the Vietnam era veterans who were treated so badly when they came home.
(44:12):
I was in that era, even though I didn't serve in Vietnam, I served in the Philippines for 15 months, but it means so much to be able to go. I was from the morning that, well, even before the morning, they take you out to a luncheon and they give you a knife luncheon at a place like Outback Steakhouse or the Texas Roadhouse, and you get a chance to meet other veterans who are going to be going on that flight with you. And those who work for honor flight and those who sponsor honor flight, they tell you some of their stories, you're able to meet them, and then you're prepared for the morning of the flight when you have the breakfast and the big dining hall out at the Indiana Air National Guard here. And we were able to have breakfast together, sit down again once again, and share stories while we were waiting on the airplane to be prepped and to fly out to go to Washington DC And when you're arriving in Washington DC it's just so honorable because the flight attend, the airline workers and even the passengers passing through the terminal stop and salute you and praise you and clap their hands.
(45:13):
They formed a line for us to walk through and they just told us how much they thanked us for our service, and that meant a lot, especially to those who were the Vietnam veterans on the flight because never happened when they came home. And then as we traveled throughout the day and we went to different memorials, to different sites, one of the things that really impressed me, Jenny, was children coming up to us, giving us things, giving us cards, giving us ribbons, and telling us how much they thanked us. And it really surprised me. I didn't expect that there were some classes that were there taking tours. They broke ranks to run over to us to tell us how much they cared about what our veteran do for this country and what it meant for Frito. I was very surprised that the wisdom and the knowledge that they had about some of the different wars that some of the veterans that were on these flights were involved in. And as the day goes on, you get to go see the tumor of the unknown soldiers and everything that happens there and then the other memorials and all along the way people just continually praised and gave us honor, and it just made us feel so good.
Jenny Beth Martin (46:22):
That's absolutely amazing. Now, at first, you said you were afraid to go on one of these at first. Why were you a little fearful at first?
Emery McClendon (46:32):
Well, I was fearful because I didn't know much about the program itself. And then not only that, but when they asked me several times to go, I said, well, where are you on the list? And they said, we still have quite a few World War II veterans and Korean veterans and whole war veterans that we haven't located yet. Well, I said, well go find them and let them go first. I said, I'm still young. At the time that I found out that I was eligible for honor flight, I was only like 66 years old, and I finally went on honor flight. I was 74 years old. In the meantime, I wanted them to reach out and find as many veterans, and I was willing to help them do so to go on the flight so that they could see these great monuments and be able to enjoy this benefit prior to me. I figured I had some time to go and to live on this earth and that if they could go first, some of these veterans were in their nineties and fewer in their hundreds, and I could let them go. So fighting me to be able to go first and not have someone like that go on the flight.
Jenny Beth Martin (47:36):
Wow, that is just amazing. I've seen those flights as they go through DCA, the Ronald Reagan airport in Washington DC and I always thank them for their service. And I have also seen them the World War II memorial during the shutdown back in 2013 with Congressman Michelle Bachman and Louis Gilmer and Steve, Steve King, and I think Mike Lee was with us going and cutting through the ribbon because President Obama shut down even the outdoor memorials. But those fights are amazing and I'm so glad you got to experience it and that you got to see that the Vietnam veterans were getting the honor that they so deserve.
Emery McClendon (48:24):
Yeah, I'm so glad I went also. And then, like I said, I almost kicked myself in the rear end because I said maybe I should have gone earlier. I could have been able to use that experience even earlier to help more veterans go. And also, I learned so much during my time with those veterans on that day. I mean from sun up un down or sun up to sun down. You spent with those guys and you hear some of their stories. We wrote on the airplanes together and some of the things that happened on the aircraft, we were surprised so many times by the staff and by the founders of the organization, by giving us cards. They had what they called mail call, and each one of us received a huge sack like we used to do in the Air Force and in the military where they had mail call and there was just, I think I got over a hundred and something letters from school children, from parents, from teachers, from doctors, from lawyers, from just concerned parents and citizens thanking for our service.
(49:21):
And just to think about that, there's at least 80 to 90 people that go on that flight that are veterans. And each one of us got a large stack of letters and thank you little gifts like lapel pens, flags and things like that. It's just something that will just knock you off your feet and make you so thankful for what you did as a veteran. Even though that is not what motivated me to go, what motivated me to go was I decided that I wanted to do something for my country because I thought that what God and my family wanted me to do, I wanted to follow in the footsteps of my dad. He was an honorable veteran. He went out and default, and he stayed in there until the job was done and I wanted to do the same.
Jenny Beth Martin (50:03):
That is amazing in the mail call that is got to be very, very special. And as you were talking, I looked up very quickly and people around the country can volunteer with the honor flight organization and write letters for those mail calls. It's something simple that we could do to honor the veterans who are going on those very special flights.
Emery McClendon (50:24):
That's absolutely true. And a lot of the schools now have contacted us and they've said, what can we do? Where can we send these letters? And I have gone out and I've reached out to especially black veterans because a lot of the black veterans, they look at honor flight as something that's not for them because they see the flights only have a few and maybe most of 'em don't have any black on the flights and a lot of 'em don't know about it. So I'm reaching out along with honor flight to try to correct that problem, especially here in my county and in my state and all over the nation and set aside picking the flight. I've gotten a hold of chapters around the country and let them know what they can do to get on the fights and get involved. I've told some of my relatives that have served in the military, that have served in World War in the Vietnam War and also in the Desert Storm and Iraqi freedom, get signed up. Go on these trips and tell your friends about it because you'll never regret it. You'll find out it's not just a thing for a certain group of people, but if for everyone, we all fought together when we were in the military, we didn't see each other as black, brown, white. We fought each other as brothers in that green at the time that I was in some set of fatigues that were out there on the front lines.
Jenny Beth Martin (51:38):
We need to be seeing all of our fellow countrymen no matter what as fellow countrymen and not looking at skin color as it is. I'm very glad that you're reaching out to veterans who have served and telling them about this incredible organization and encouraging them to go on these fights and they need to deserve to be honored, and people like me and others across the country want to be able to honor them. So I'm very glad that you are doing that. And if people are listening right now and you have a veteran in your family or veterans, encourage 'em to go and sign up for one of the honor flights, I promise you, like Emory said, you won't regret it and you'll love the experience.
Emery McClendon (52:22):
That's absolutely right and it's easy to sign up. All you got to do is type in honor flight and you can type in honor, flight, your city, honor flight, your state, and you'll find many, many chapters all around the United States and they're willing to reach out to you. And believe me, they will give you all the information that you need. They'll help your family to support you and they will support you. I was very surprised and very honored at how well organized they are and how friendly they are and some of the great lengths that they'll go through to help you to get involved in the program.
Jenny Beth Martin (52:53):
Emory, what is your message to younger generations about the importance of serving in our military and defending our freedom?
Emery McClendon (53:01):
My message to young people would be that if you want to ensure that you can continue to live in a country that guarantees you the right and the ability that you are enjoying today, that your parents enjoyed in the past, that your grandparents enjoyed in the past. If you love the way that life is in America, if you love freedom, if you love liberty, if you love the thought that you can take personal responsibility, that you can work to achieve your greatest dream in this country, that you need to protect that dream, you need to protect the American dream. You need to learn all that you can about your country and what you can do to serve your country, whether it be in the military and other organizations that are title under the government programs, I'll let them know that you can get so much experience if you can't afford to go to college, to go into the military.
(53:51):
They have so many jobs that can prepare you for college or prepare you for a great job such as plumbing, electricians, you name it, nursing, the same jobs, they're out there in the public or in the military. And then the training there is something that you can receive as part of your being in the military and it won't cost you anything. And then when you come out and you can also get government help, so it can help you continue your education and you have that experience, whether it be a two year enlistment, a four year enlistment or six year enlistment, you gain valuable experience that's going to help you to grow up. It helped me grow up. I remember when I was in high school, I didn't know anything about the world. I had a damn view of what the country was like because I didn't know what it was like.
(54:38):
I only had been to a few places in the military. I got a chance to travel around the country and also around the world twice. And believe me, it opened up my eyes when I came home to the United States after seeing how some of the other countries lived. I went to Japan, I went to England, I went to all over the United States, the Philippines, and believe me, when I was in the Philippines, they were under Marcos, Ferdinand, Marcos, who was a dictator. Those people couldn't do anything. They had no freedoms and they were all trying to get to United States. Those people would do some of the things that they would to obtain freedom. We should be able to do the same thing and do it with honor.
Jenny Beth Martin (55:17):
Emery, you said freedom is a virtue that must be reclaimed. And you just spoke about what it was like in the Philippines where people did not have freedom. What does it look like to reclaim freedom today and why do you think that is so important?
Emery McClendon (55:32):
It looks good, I think in today's society because our young people are waking up. They're asking questions, they want to know what's right. They're attending rally, they're attending, well, for instance, the Charlie Kirk situation, he went out on these college campuses and he taught these kids information about freedom they'd never heard before because they were hearing it from the other side, condemning America. So what I see and what my dream is, is to continue to reach out to young people, to continue to reach out and educate even our older people, and then let them know that you need to tell your kids, your grand children, what it means to be an American, what our founding principles are and why they're so important, and how we got to where we are as a nation in America. We didn't get there because it was free. We got there because we fought for it.
(56:20):
First of all, we separated from England and we'd get away with the ties that were binding our necks and holding us down. And we grew as a country and we grew as a country together because we sought after freedom. So I want to love to see this continue in our nation, and I think it will because I think people are waking up. A lot of the mantras that we hear now are God and country, God and country, and a lot of young people are asking questions. They're getting involved in government, they're getting involved in their churches and their school, and they're getting involved with their families teaching each other what it means to be an American and what the virtues of freedom really are.
Jenny Beth Martin (56:57):
Emory in 30 seconds, what does freedom mean to you? This Veteran's Day
Emery McClendon (57:02):
Freedom means to me the right to be able to do what you would want to achieve as a human being and also to help your fellow man. Our job is not to be selfish. Our job is to be able to pull others up along with us if we can, and we have to teach those people that, hey, you have the ability to do so because our government gives us the opportunity to do so.
Jenny Beth Martin (57:25):
Marie, thank you so much for your service. Thank you for continuing to inspire Patriots across America, and thanks so much for joining me today.
Emery McClendon (57:32):
Thank you. It was an honor to be here. God bless you.
Jenny Beth Martin (57:36):
Today we've heard from three American heroes who continue to serve our nation. Their message is clear. Freedom is never free, and it's up to each of us to defend it. This Veteran's Day, take a moment to thank a veteran and to thank them for the values that they defended. And then ask them about their service. Listen to what they say, record their stories. As Congressman big suggested volunteer with honor flight. Write letters for the mail call as Emory was just talking about. And join us tomorrow for our very special Veterans Day episode with Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins. Until then, God bless you. God bless our veterans and God bless the United States of America.
Narrator (58:23):
The Jenny Beth Show is hosted by Jenny Beth Martin. The Jenny Beth Show is a production of Tea Party Patriots action. For more information, visit tea party patriots.org.