RUSH: Bob in Colorado. Nice to have you, sir. Welcome to the EIB Network.
CALLER: Yes, sir. I’m calling to let you know that not only does your program and your opinions serve to interest people in the truth and get interested in the military and give them a reason to join — excuse me — (crying) my son was killed April this year over there, and what you do and say gives us a reason as survivors of people who made that sacrifice a reason to believe in what they did, because we know he believed in it. It was his second tour. And it does a lot to comfort us and make us know that it was just worthwhile. It’s tough to say that, but it is.
RUSH: I appreciate that. I can only try to relate to your loss. It’s something that — losing a child is something that nobody expects to happen. It’s not the way things are supposed to happen. But this happened in a duty of honor. He was doing it for his country, which is entirely honorable. The thing, if I may say so, Bob, that infuriates me, is in the midst of all this, your son giving his life and others in Iraq and Afghanistan, while this is going on, we have politicians in this country who want to just quit, bring ’em home, render their loss meaningless by saying that what we’re doing is meaningless; that what we’re doing is based on a lie; that it has no business taking place; that there’s nothing to fight for, it’s just a civil war, we can’t win. 
I can’t imagine how that infuriates you, and it is not honorable. It’s the exact opposite. It is dishonorable, and this has been going on for far too long, and it’s happening precisely because a political party thinks it needs to do this and say these things in order to get elected to the White House. It’s disgusting, it is sickening, to me, it’s almost indescribable. Which is why, for me, it is a privilege and an honor to continually sing the praises, both morally and spiritually and courageously, speaking of the courage of people like your son. It’s a courage and a bravery that a lot of Americans don’t have, and that’s not a criticism. It’s a special thing that your son volunteered to do. I know you’re as proud as you can be even though you’re still in pain over the loss, and I can totally understand that. But I’ll speak on behalf of everybody in this audience. If we could come to your house and thank you in person and share your grief with you, we would do it.
CALLER: Well, thank you, sir. We owe you a debt that we can’t repay, but —
RUSH: No, you don’t.
CALLER: — keep up the good work.
RUSH: You know, this is really hard for me. I appreciate — I’m trying to get better at receiving. I’m not going to reject what you said. I appreciate it. It just humbles me to be compared to what your son did. I’ve told this story a couple times. I’ll tell it again. National Review’s 50th anniversary dinner was at a little museum in Washington. They invited some wounded troops from Walter Reed to come for the evening and the troops at Walter Reed have suffered severe injuries. One of the guys that I spoke to lost an eye, was wearing an eye patch, some were without an arm, and a couple of them came up to me, I was told that they wanted to meet me, and they came up to the table where I was sitting with Mr. Buckley, and they started thanking me for what I was doing. I felt three inches tall. I mean, look who I’m talking to. I said, ‘Look, I really appreciate this, but I’m flapping my gums. You guys, look what you’ve given up here for our country?’ ‘Stop it, sir.’ They always call everybody sir. He said, ‘We all have our roles to play.’ We all have our roles in this.
When I toured Walter Reed, I was there mere moments after Senator Kerry had left, and heard much the same thing. And I saw the serious injuries. This was the amputee rehab wing that I went to visit. It was the day I spoke at a theater in Washington on the Rush to Excellence Tour later that night, and toured the Fisher House, which Max Fisher and his family have built a number of these homes near military bases where recovering wounded soldiers who are no longer required hospitalization can stay. It’s sort of like a Ronald McDonald’s house for the military, and they call it the Fisher House. And these guys were working really hard in the swimming pool and the exercise machines, doing rehab, learning to walk again and so forth, and they were just all — I didn’t see any misery. I did not see any doom and gloom. I’m sure they feel it. They have to. But they were all in a good mood, and they would happily discuss their service. They would tell you what happened, if you asked. They were speaking excitedly about their future, once they’d gotten well.
It’s inspirational to talk to people who do these kinds of things, like your son. I wish more people could meet them personally because, especially in the climate that we’re in now, it would slap people into a sense of reality as to what people are actually doing. They’re volunteering to do it because they believe the threat that we face is real, and they want to defend and protect their country. It’s really a special thing, and it’s been an honor for me to be associated with it, in however which way, all of us here are. So, Bob, thanks for the call. I appreciate it.