sacrifice themselves on the basic principle that we should live free. while the cause is the same everyone has a different reason for serving. maybe they are following in their father s footsteps or felt a calling after the terrorists tore down the twin towers. for me it was a patriotic parade or a series of them in a small town. motherly day and fourth of july parades in a tiny town in southern minnesota where my parents grew up. the whole town lined up on the tree sign side of the main street waiting for the veterans to walk by and when they came older vets and younger vets, crowd clapped and saluted. the reverence that town had for the veterans made me say, wow, those men really did something special. something bigger than this town. something bigger than themselves. these men were willing to put on a uniform and face danger for me, a kid they never met. it was just a handful of veterans, from one town. but every town in america gave men like that. out of sheer patriotism
free while the cause is thelive same. everyone has a different reason for serving free.e ca. maybe they re following in their father s footsteps, orserv they felt a calling after terrorists tore down the twin towersa call. for me, it was a patriotictr parade or a series oiotif them f a small town memorial day and the 4th of july parades in a tiny farm town in southern minnesota where my parents grewm up. the whole town linedinnesota wh on the side of the tree lined main street, waiting for the veterans u to walk by. and when they came, older vets u and younger vets, the crowd clapped and salutes,d. the reverence that town had for the veterans made me say, wow, those men really did something special, somethingme did biggern this town, something bigger than themselves. these men were willing to put on a uniform and facet fo danger for me. a kid they never met. it was just a handful of veterans from one town. but rans from one town. gave men like that. out of sheer patriot
we are the heirs of that first revolution. we are the keepers of the flame of liberty. we hold it high tonight for the world to see. we will safeguard our values. we will teach our children to cherish and adore their country so that they can build its future. we can make the years ahead the best years our nation has ever had. there is new ground to be broken and new action to be taken. america has always been greatest when we dared to be great. together, we are part of one of the greatest stories ever told, the story of america. the ideals of july 4th, 1776, still speak to all humanity, and the revolution declared that day goes on. happy, happy fourth of july america, to all of you out there welcome to our big independence day special celebration live here in new york city where it is 80 degrees, very hot and humid. i m aishah hasnie here tonight with joey jones carley shimkus and joey failla and we have a jam packed two hours ahead including live pe
Words from that man. i wrote a book, my book unbroken bonds of battle it s available now. and the reason i want you to read it it includes stories, inspiring stories of veterans that have been a coherent part of my own journey. i really have the privilege of calling them my friends, not just my brothers. one of those amazing vets is truly remarkable, his name is aaron hill. we went to eod, or bomb tech school together and after a successful career in the navy as a chef which kept him away from the fight he wanted to be closer to the front lines and joined the army to take bombs apart. he was severely injured in afghanistan by an ied but his injuries haven t slowed him down. as a matter of fact he sped up. he s about to run 135 mile race across death valley the hardest foot race almost in the world. he will be the first 100% blind and deaf person to ever complete lit. aaron told me all about the
At the university of texas and decided he was going to play college football without ever playing a down in his life. but nothing could stop him. he even earned a spot on the seattle seahawks without being drafted and most recently he started a nonprofit joining retired professional athletes and veterans to learn from one another. aptly named mvp, or merging vets and players. he also wrote and starred in a feature film by the same name. and then there is aaron hill. we went to eod school together. after a successful career as a navy chef, he wanted to be closer to the front lines and joined the army to take bombs apart. then he was severely injured in afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device detonated in his presence. but his injuries haven t slowed him down. he s about to run 135 miles across death valley. it s the hardest foot race in