Booktv has covered many of these candidates. You can watch them on our web site, booktv. Org. Booktv attended a Publication Party in washington, d. C. For author and Time Magazine columnist joe klein. Mr. Kleins latest book, charlie mike, profiles two combat veterans that created Public Service organizations after leaving the military. Mr. Klein mingled with guests and moderated a Panel Discussion about the book. De facto mayors, defacto school principals, and that storys nebraska really been told. Thats what this book is about. Get them to libya. Get them to syria. No. No, we need them here. Oh, i see what youre no, we dont have [inaudible conversations] of them come back, and i talked to the ceo of [inaudible] about creating a way to give people who have had those experiences in military service some sort of formal credit for it. Because it doesnt translate. Ive been fighting this fight. Im a journalist on Everything Else but only for the next year, but im a lobbyist when it comes to these kids. Right. And i have been trying to get the administration to start, lets start a program that would give them, license them for their skills before they get out. You know . We need 70,000 welders in this country, and there are plenty of welders who are coming out of military, but then they have to pay money and go to school. If they come out with a credential oh, thats so sensible. Who could be against that . Well, ill tell you, who could be oh, the unions. Not just the unions, but the state bureaucracies because the state licensing commissions. You know, i was talking to kasich yeah. And i said do you know what it takes to become a truck driver in ohio . 10,000 and three months of training. The guys who drove me over mines in kandahar province, i think they can handle i80. Right. And he said youre absolutely right, and nothings happened. And if it doesnt happen hes one who likes to make things happen. Can you talk to martha [inaudible] no. So shes a representative from arizona. I just interviewed her. Shes doing all these veteran bills, particularly around this issue of getting employment tracks like on Border Security and all of this. And somebody that would be very simpatico. Senator from, really mark warner. No, the other one. Tim kaine. Tim kaine. Ding, ding, ding. Youve got more of your brain left than i do. Not really. [laughter] tim kaine is very interested in this too. Weve had several conversations about it. And i think hes a really good guy. He is a really good guy. I think [inaudible] this is one of those areas you can get bipartisan support well, its supposedly being run out of the first ladys office. Out of who . Do you think it might be jill biden . Shes the one thats more intimately involved in the military. Well, i dont think anybodys gotten tremendously [laughter] you know, my son chris, the diplomat, served in baghdad with beau. Oh, wow. Good for you for documenting what . Is it [inaudible] no, no,. No simon schuster, not even one company, two guys its two guys story through the whole two guys who are linked by a tragedy who go on to start these fabulous Public Service organizations. One of them is eric [inaudible] who founded the Mission Continues and is now running for governor of missouri oh, wow. As a progay rights republican. Proimmigration. Hes running against [inaudible] and one of his first Mission Continues fellows, Mission Continues gives six months Public Service internships for veterans if they come up with a sponsor like habitat or whatever. One of his first fellows was jake wood who was also in the story then, right . Who is the founder of [inaudible] and he and his best friend, clay hunt [inaudible] and developed some rubicon out of that fellowship. Wow. And claying [inaudible] and so the book is the story of them and clays story. And how clays death had this profound and how they adjusted their organizations really changed them. [inaudible conversations] but this has been the great privilege of my life. Who understood the book . [inaudible] priscilla. Yeah. I mean, there are a couple of, i mean, Jonathan Karp really was the one who said to me you write novels, write me a novel, write me a nonfiction novel. Yeah. Theres no prosthelytize anything this book at all. [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] where is he now . Jake . He be here tonight . He was going to be here tonight but his wife has surgery scheduled for tomorrow in l. A. So he cant be here. Eric is doing fundraising s so he cant be here. But were going to have some cool people from both organizations. You know, when i go around the country, weve been in some cases because jake is not only a former navy seal and probably the only navy seal who ever worked for Mother Teresa [laughter] wow. But he [inaudible] really . Wow. Mother teresa, jewish, navy seal, wow. Rhodes scholar. And he, and because of the fact that hes jewish, the Jewish Book Council has imlom glommed on to him, and im doing synagogues in various places, and were combining those events with service projects. With Mission Continues service projects. And [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] part of it is going to take place in the middle east. And a lot of its going to take place in israel. [inaudible] yes, i did. I like him a lot. A couple of big stories on you. [inaudible] i want to write books, and the opening scene, whatever its about [inaudible] [laughter] terminal two is where india or pakistan, all the Worlds Airlines fly in, the biggest sort of melting pots. Its one of the greatest scenes ive ever seen is that terminal. [inaudible] i know. [inaudible conversations] it really is very, very plugged in. I talk to them for five minutes the Italian Restaurant in the crown princes military reserve, do you know about that place . Inside the place . Yes. No, i havent been no, we were the only people there. [laughter] youre actually right. I mean, it was the same thing during vietnam. I can remember interviewing a veteran [inaudible] they didnt necessarily come back into society [inaudible] the theory of my case was that after were doing counterinsurgency, and i went out and embedded, i said to myself theyre going to come back with a [inaudible] for Public Service. I called petraeus, and he said, you know, i hadnt thought of that, i think youre probably right. So he and paula went to work and found he people. Paula . Oh, paula. In fact, theyre both acknowledged in the same paragraph but not in the same, not in the same youre so discreet. Anyway, i really look forward to reading it. [inaudible conversations] they making a movie about you or something . [inaudible] whos following you . Cspan. I love that. [inaudible conversations] ken her ball is [inaudible] rming. [inaudible conversations] also the main thing was that, and i gave him my credentials, he wanted me to become a war correspondent. I think you lied to me about how much war experience i think you deceived me about how much war experience you had. I had been to the middle east a number of times for Rolling Stone and for new york magazine. [inaudible] i hadnt been out on patrol in an area that was 90 taliban controlled before. I wont do that now. I wouldnt do that now. So how are you . How do you like it . I like it a lot. Thats great. We have to get together. We have to get together. And talk about it. These guys, these guys, you should really be getting to spend more time with because theyve had troubles with aid in the past. And it would really be great if the state department could coordinate with them, because their theyre so good at disaster relief. Theyre brilliant. I was there today [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] how are you . Great to meet you. Dave callaway is a veteran who has been setting up combat surgeries throughout the third world to help people out and civilians out in conflict situations. He also runs Emergency Services in the city of charlotte, north carolina, and [inaudible] i do all the stuff thats bad. He once tourniqueted jon stewart. I did. Which was the highlight of my life. [laughter] [inaudible] no, he invented a new kind of tourniquet. He wanted to know some of the stuff that was going on with [inaudible] and a friend of mine invented a tourniquet that they use in the army now. One of my heroes [inaudible] so what year were you there . I was there whats your recent role . Might have been 13. No, it had to be 11. I went there four times in the course of a few years. [inaudible conversations] last year i put my body armor down in the basement [inaudible] spent nine months. My wifes okay with me going. Yeah. [inaudible] you know, these guys are often overlooked. Its a whole of government approach. Yeah. But ive got to say, this was the greatest privilege of my life, you know . Watching them work and writing their story. [inaudible conversations] the interesting thing is [inaudible] you know, we create [inaudible] i was watching these kids, im trying to remember the name of the captain who was there from the 101st. But, you know, i studied counterinsurgency at leavenworth with petraeus and his group. And i was watching [inaudible] this kid whos under fire [inaudible] called petraeus and i said, you know, i think that coupe insurgency training counterinsurgency training is preparing these kids for Public Service. And he said, you know, i hadnt thought about that. And so he started helping me find the people in this book. Really . Anyway, what he [inaudible] yeah, i know. [inaudible conversations] hey this, folks hey there, folks, good evening. Hi there. I just wanted to, i wanted to warmly welcome many fojs, friends of joe, and also people im fortunate to call many of you longtime friends. Its so good to see all of you, and welcome to francos home. Im extremely grateful for him having hosted this evening. Ill say a little bit more about that in a moment. You know, as joe and i have been talking in recent weeks about doing this here in washington, its really occurred to me that in every era in American History there has been in this tremendous infusion of character and strength into the citizenry of the united states. And they are our returning veterans. These men and women, tempered by as we all know from multiple deployments, have made extraordinary contributions to what and who we are as a country and as a people. And most recently, in the last 14 years in iraq and afghanistan and also other places, they have fought to keep us secure. And as we have so often found and as joe has written about so eloquently in charlie mike, once theyve returned home, theyve often, more often than not returned to their community ands tried to answer the question, how do i continue to serve here now that ive transitioned and that im out of uniform . People like eric brighton, people like jake wood, many of you, actually, here tonight who have served. You try to, essentially, charlie mike, or continue the mission in your own way. And i think this is ultimately why were all here tonight, for joe, for the contents of book. Its, essentially, to recognize an outstanding generation of returning veterans, to hear the Inspiring Stories of these men and women and how they are making choices to continue to serve. And i also think how to reflect upon or consider how we, essentially, hear that call to service, how we engage in, as joe would say, active citizenship here in our own lyes. One of lives. One of the things that i wanted to do right now, a word about franco before we proceed with joe and the panel and several of our corporate sponsors who i will ask to come up and say a few words. Franco is someone we all know as a sophisticated entrepreneur, diplomat, philanthropist. And, obviously, being the owner of sort of the legendary cafe milano is but one. One of the things i think is so interesting about franco that people dont often know is how dedicated and commits he has been to our Service Members and to our troops as theyve returned home. And, in fact, hes done this under the radar, and, you know, obviously, not in any sort of a public way. But he spent during the height of both wars a lot of time at walter reed on weekends talking to Wounded Warriors and their families. Again, off the radar, and thats when you know its the real deal. I cant think of a better partner in crime, as i like to call us. I cant think of anyone for whom i really have more respect, and joe as well, more grateful in bringing together this pretty Awesome Group of people tonight. So i wanted to say, franco, thank you very much. I wanted to invite you to come and offer a few words, and i really, really, really appreciate your commitment and how you have made that manifest again here tonight. So, franco, do you want to say a few words, please. [applause] by now you already know my name, welcome to my home. Of course, i want to give a warm welcome to all of you. It is my privilege and deep honor to host this special book party for joe klein. A journalist and an awardwinning author. First of all, let me thank the sponsors for their generous support. And id like to express my deepest and most sincere gratitude to the honorable jane [inaudible] dade gergen, general jones, general john allen, michele flournoy, christian [inaudible] and congressman seth wilson. And the last but not least, Wendy Anderson. Shes the soul of this event. And for most of you dont know, she traveled to italy last week. [laughter] to rome. And spent a lot of hours on [inaudible] thats the reason we got this weather. [applause] shes really incredible and extraordinary, and fashion really brings us together. So a very special thank you to you, wendy. And now let me express my [inaudible] to joe klein for this inspiring book. I truly am very proud to host you, joe. There is no greater responsibility as an american than to acknowledge the men and women who have given everything to serve and protect us, to guarantee our freedom and security. Joe kleins charlie mike is a tribute to our veterans. This is a moving and deep tale of life and death. Page after page is the story of eric and jake fills our heart with hope. For the first time, we see merging from the battlefield a story of lives saved, not devastated. This book is a positive [inaudible] for all of us. And so these two combat veterans who are continuing their mission by helping ohs. So thank you by helping others. So thank you, joe, for this powerful and magnificent project of hope and faith. And welcome home. Thank you. [applause] all right, gang. Im about to throw you over to the real point of the night which is joe and a great group of folks, veterans, who are going to speak with him. I just wanted to say, you know, its really clear to me that joe was inspired to write charlie mike because of the time he spent embedded with our folks down range, mostly in afghanistan. He observed soldiers and marines not just fighting, but building things; government, helping revitalize communities and helping people. And i think hes recognized very clearly through the content of the book that this generation of veterans was going to have a very strong inclination and a natural desire to continue to serve and lead back here at home. From the start hes clearly recognized that their assets, that their seasoned leaders, theyre people who are living lives of consequence and that they had something as a group and as individuals, something very profound, to teach all of us about the way that we participate in our democracy and act as citizens in the 21st century. Thats really what the message is, i think what ive taken the message to be of charlie mike, and its certainly the reason were all gathered here tonight. So im going to introduce joe klein. Thank you. [applause] well, hi. Im kind of blown away. Thank you so much, wendy. Thank you, franco. Thank you to the sponsors. I want to thank all my battle buddies from the wars of New Hampshire and iowa [laughter] and afghanistan and iraq who are here tonight. I see mike boescher who i was in afghanistan with, and i know that there are a bunch of people out beyond these lights who i have spent many, too many, nights in iowa and New Hampshire with. And i also, of course, want to thank the veterans here. You know, thank you for your service has become kind of a cliche. Too often its thank you for your service, but im not sure i want to ohioan you, because you to honor you, because you guys are kind of screwed up, arent you . And so i will thank you for your service, but i want to add four very important words. These four words were first uttered by eric after he got blown up in iraq and was at bethesda naval hospital. And he walked up the wards, and he asked the wounded, the desperately wounded there, what do you want to do next . I had the same experience in military hospitals. They always say the same thing. I want to go back to my unit. And then he would ask them, well, if you cant, or when you get out of the service, what do you want to do . And they would say, well, i want to go back and maybe coach a Little League team or teach or become a cop or a fireman. And, in fact, the polls show that this extraordinary generation, 90 of them want to continue, want to charlie mike, want to continue their service when they come home. And so eric, in a moment of brilliance which is not unusual for him found himself saying to these kids who said they wanted to continue to serve the following four words which i say to the veterans here now we still need you. We really do need you in this country. Because of your values, your disbritain, your sense of community discipline, your sense of community, your sense of purpose. Now, you may wonder how an old political reporter like me got involved in this. And so im going to tell you a quick story, and then im going to invite [inaudible] wendys right, i wouldnt be here tonight if i hadnt been there, but i wouldnt have gone there if i didnt live in a town just north of new york city where nine of my neighbors didnt come home on the night of september 11th. I had thought that i had retired from journalism. Turned out i retired for eight months and eleven days. I had to get back in. For me journalism has always been an education. And i had to learn the military, i had to learn intelligence, i had to learn islam. I knew the region some, but i had to learn that better. And during the course of this, i opposed the war in iraq, but i thought that once we were there, we had a moral responsibility to thiess calm thing to at least calm things down and let the iraqis set their own fate. And in 2006 when things were going really bad, i wrote a column about counterinurgency strategy. Military folks here know all about it, but the basic principle was instead of playing whackamole and going off and trying to find the bad guys, we would protect the good guys, protect the public. So i wrote this column, and the next day i got a call from a guy named David Petraeus who had been cast into the outer darkness by donald rumsfeld, one of the worst Public Servants weve ever had [laughter] but he sent him out to Fort Leavenworth which is the armys think tank, and there petraeus was concocting a counterinsurgency doctrine. And he said, look, youre on the right track, but you dont know anything. He said do you want to learn . And i said, yeah. He said, well, im going to send you a reading list. Immediately in my hand to 30 articles about counterinsurgency from scholarly journals. And he said, do you want to come out and study with us . And i said, sure, absolutely. So i went out to Fort Leavenworth for a week, and the ground rules was it was all off the record, but i could ask anything i wanted. And i began to learn there about the spirit of military. For example, i might ask the question and one of his brilliant circle of advisers, all of them seem to be Rhodes Scholars, you know, one of them would respond, klein, didnt you read carelllys piece in military review about full spectrum warfare . [laughter] at one point one of them looked at my loafers and said, klein, youre too lazy to even tie your shoes in the morning. [laughter] and the only possible response to that and to their incredible intelligence and rigor and a government that i didnt think was paying enough attention to this war was to fall totally in love. So i kept in touch, and six months later David Petraeus was sent to iraq to try and patch things up. And i said when do you want me to come, much to my wifes dismay. And he said ill let you know. I first went in june of 2007 to iraq. I embedded there. I went on patrol there. And i got caught up in it. And as wendy said, i did most of my embedding in afghanistan. And most of my embedding in afghanistan in one town which is just west of kandahar at a crucial chokepoint in taliban central. Two towns over from mullah omars hometown. And i first embedded with the fourth infantry Acquisition Division and a captain who was essentially the mayor of the town. His job was not only to protect them, but also he had public works money. He had cert funds. And so for the first time in human history, the afghan residents were asked how would what would you like us to build . What would you like us to do with this money in and the overwhelming response was they wanted, they wanted us to reopen a school that the canadians had built and that the taliban had closed and booby trapped. And the overwhelming response of the Shura Council and do the local warlord is they wanted us to build an irrigation ditch where we later found out the warlord had made a deal with the taliban to grow poppies. The school is open. The irrigation ditch was not built. There was a day, a very specific day when we were about to launch the operation to take school, and i was with captain ellis, and he was trying to con to vince the local land convince the local landowner who owned a twostory building in town to allow some of our troops to take an oversight position to make sure the taliban didnt come in the night before and set an ambush. And this guy was faced with two choices. He wanted the school reopened, but he also feared that if it got to be known he was harboring american troops, the taliban might kill him. They were known to hang people from trees in that region. And as i was watching Jeremiah Ellis sitting crosslegged with his helmet off, his rifle, you know, leaning against a wall smiling, but not too much, body language absolutely perfect and con vicinitiesing this guy convincing this guy to do it. I said to myself, my god, he could go back to iowa and run for governor. [laughter] and so when i got home, i called general petraeus, and i said ive had weird thought. I think that this counterinsurgency training that the army and the marines now get is preparing this generation for Public Service as well as for entrepreneurialism. And he said, you know, i never thought about that, but he said you may be right. And he became obsessed with this, and he and others on his staff and members of the veterans groups like iada started introducing me to people. And along the way i met eric who, Rhodes Scholar who became a navy seal, probably the only navy seal who ever worked for Mother Teresa. Decided to join the seals after hed been to africa and had seen all these kids with their armed chops off, and he said arms shopped off. He was blown up in iraq, and i told you the story about what happened when he came home. He had another epiphany then which was what im going to do is try and enable these people to, to serve. And so the Mission Continues was born. And it gives six month Public Service fellowships youll hear more about it from spencer who is erics successor as ceo or president or whatever they call you, spencer. And one of the first recipients of one of these fellowships was a guy by the name of jake wood who played left tackle for the university of wisconsin and wanted to serve and was deans list, and wanted to serve when he got out. But the marines wouldnt take him because of his football injuries. And the army wouldnt take him as an officer because of his football injuries. He had six operations on one foot. And finally, he found a recruiter who needed to meet a quota at the end of the month [laughter] and he became a grunt in the marines and rose to sergeant. When he got out after tours in iraq and afghanistan as a scout sniper, he was watching the Haiti Earthquake on tv. And he said, hey, we could do something about that. He was filling out his mba applications. Anyway, he called a bunch of his friends, four of whom joined him, and they found three doctors, and one of his friends, william mcnulty, contacted the jesuits who needed people to run medical supplies into haiti, and team rubicon was born. And four days, four days after the first phone call, team rubicon was running the emergency room in the largest hospital in port awe prince. They got port a prince. They got their first, they got their fast, they got their efficient. And as jake said, im a marine. [laughter] ive deployed with them since in various places, especially in oklahoma after tornadoes, and when you see these focus outs out in the field with their Forward Operating base always in a parking lot of home depot home tebow should get a shoutout here and you see them organize and you see the other groups, mostly Church Groups who come to do good works look to team rubicon for how to deploy, how to do what theyre going to do. It really is one of the most gratifying things, the most wonderful things to see. And so in the course of writing this book and telling jake and erics story which includes a terrible tragedy i came to realize a couple of things about the military and about what we civilians can learn from them. Most important is that this is a generation of volunteers. And they have served. And they have served a cause larger than themselves. And they have created a community; a caring, purposeful community. And they understand the spiritual importance of helping others. Theyve come to understand and this is really extra benefit finish that the act of helping others is a great way to treat posttraumatic stress. First studies are just coming out now, i mention them in the book. Well get more literature over time, but it will be shown that this actually works. Ive seen it work. There are stories in this book of people whose lyes, who had guns to their head and whose lives were saved by these two organizations. And the other thing i learned, another thing i learned was that posttraumatic stress isnt only about what they saw and did over there, but its about the act of coming home and losing the sense of community that they have. No longer being part of a community. I have a great character named Natasha Young who was a gutty sergeant in an explosive Ordnance Disposal unit and came home with a raging case of posttraumatic stress, and her line was i deploy myself to camp couch where i was the Commanding Officer of camp couch [laughter] and my mos was to remain on camp couch. Her life was saved by the Mission Continues. I just got her latest report card from college. All as. So this book reminded me of the importance of community, and it reminded me of the importance of service. And it made me ever more conscious of something ive been concerned about for years which is that weve kind of lost in all of this affluence that weve experienced in this country finish weve kind of lost a sense of spirit and spirit of community. You hear politicians talk about rights all the time, but you never hear them talk about responsibilities. The folks i know in the military always and now that theyre home are always aware of their responsibilities. Weve been trying to do a weird experiment in political history. Weve been trying to do democracy without citizenship. And i truly believe that these people who ive spent the last four years with are going to show us way back to citizenship. And they are my major cause for optimism in the world. And the last thing i want to say is that general mcconvilles going to come up in a minute from the 101st airborne, and i embedded with those guys. They protected my sorry old 60someoddyearold butt [laughter] when we were out on patrol. And embedding with them and watching these two organizations evolve and save lives and help people in our communities has been greatest privilege of my career. And so now id like to call the members of the panel up, and lets talk about it a little bit. [applause] [inaudible conversations] why dont we just go down the row, and each of you introduce yourself. Hi. Im janine davidson. And how come youre here . She walked in off the street. Yeah, i did. Im thrilled to be here, and i want to congratulate you for an amazingly heartfelt presentation of the work that youve done. Its really amazing to hear the transformation too much, too much. The head. [laughter] okay. Im spencer [inaudible] im the president or ceo of the Mission Continues, whatever theyre calling me these days. And most notably, a good friend of joes who, you know, we hold in very high regard at the Mission Continues. Ted harbaugh, i was hoping to pass myself off as jake wood tonight [laughter] but im not eight feet tall and chiseled from granite. Coo of team rubicon, i was with eric at the founding of the Mission Continues, and well hopefully have a chance to share some of that. Im seth mollton, im a marine veteran and got to know joe through his work with [inaudible] and im jim mcconville, i had the privilege of serving a couple of tours with the 101st airborne vision. General mcconville comes from quincy, mass, which should be a lesson to all of you who think that the military only comes from south. There are a lot of new englanders. Seth is from new england as well. General mcconville, let me start with you. Am i just blowing smoke about these kids . No, youre not. I mean, you know, people talk about the greatest generation, and i come from a division that has an incredibly proud history. If youve seen band of brothers and youve seen that hbo series about these incredible men, but the men and women that we see today are absolutely extraordinary because they all signed up to serve, you know . I bring up the [inaudible] said you knew be after 9 11 that when you signed up for the military that you would be going to combat. They knew that. You know when you come to the 101st, youre going to get maybe a tougher mission than you chose to serve. So its an incredible honor to serve in the company of these heroes. And as joe said in afghanistan, its amazing what they do. They are giving the young men and women of afghanistan opportunity for a future. The its a very its a very, very tough place to seven. They really dont have the infrastructure that we have here, but, you know, to see these kids get a chance, young girls and boys go to school, i mean, thats about as exciting as it gets. And, you know, we wish our kids would go to school in the environment that they go in. And when you see some of these schools and what theyre trying to do, its absolutely incredible, and its been a real privilege to serve with them. Explain to the folks want to make that decision. And have that has led to your continued service. First of all i should say that if anyone isnt going to college, majoring in physics is a great decision. For you what decision. For everyone in life and seizure resume and doctor transcript, you sound very smart. [laughter] i grew up in a nice town. Not with the family with a lot of money there are still pay my College Loans no. I dont know if there any members of Congress Still doing that. But i went to good Public Schools i went to a great high school, got to go to harvard. When i was at harvard i realized i had never do anything to get back. I had not served in any way. I was able to have some mentors. He talked a lot about the importance of service go about how its not enough just to believe in service to find a way yourself to serve. I looked at different options that it was not a sure thing i would go into military. At the end of the day i had so much respect for the 18th and 19 year old kids who serve on the front lines of our military that i decided thats where i wanted to do my part. My mother was not thrilled with this decision. When edited by the boston globe about her son in iraq, she said quote i would only have been more disappointed in them if you chosen a life of crime. [laughter] and was a with the parental support that i made the decision to i also made it, when i graduated in june of 2001 so i didnt know that i would be in combat at the time. I thought i was joining a peacetime military. When i started training at about i just missed the war in afghanistan, ended up being in the First Company of marines into iraq in 2003. But fundamentally it was the respect i had for these 19 your kids and thats why want to be in the infantry as well. You at duke and he once told a story about how come when he told one of your professors that youre going into the military, he reacted how . And then i would like you to tell me why you into the military and why when you came out the notion of continued year of service is so important. So eric and i were part of the same Scholarship Program at duke. It was a way to bring in kids who may be need a little extra support, needed a full ride to get through. They had High Expectations. This was pre9 11 and those days High Expectations meant anything but joining the military. When i told the scholarship, the professor who monitored the scholars that i was going to join the navy, i was going to be first to join the navy, he brought me in his office and traditionally to talk me out of it because he was afraid of the application and would have on the Scholarship Program and for the university. But i did it anyway. And in some ways i suppose it was reflective. I grew up in a military family. Might father was a pilot in vietnam. My brother was a pilot. I didnt choose that path when i went to college. I grew a beard and played guitar and hitchhiked around new zealand and had an epiphany at one moment. All the fun i was having it was, i do nothing to enjoy the privileges i was taking advantage of. And i came back from that semester hitchhiking around tasmania and new zealand and signed up. But prefer to the programming because for me servicemen military service. Then i married a schoolteacher who served on the front lines of the Dropout Academy in new haven, connecticut. I was going to law school after my time in service and realize there are many, many ways to serve. The military for me was my conduit and it can be an inspiration or any generation. Weve got to find a way to reinject citizenship into the democracy. I think veterans would be a part of that. It is about veterans serving but is also about reanimating the spirit of citizenship writ large. Using veterans as an example of that, a trojan horse if you want. I think hopefully that is starting to gain momentum. Team rubicon, i think a lot of people look at what we are doing to engage veterans and sang you know what, theres a lot we can do in our communities on top of what team rubicon is doing. Will have veterans leading operation and thousands spontaneous volunteers to act as after hurricane sandy, 300 members of team rubicon organized 10,000 civilians to do the cleanup in the rockaways and the new jersey. An amazing piece of work which they have been honored for by the president. Eric couldnt here tonight because hes doing his own, he is running for governor of missouri. He had to raise some money. This would have been a good fundraiser for him. And also jake was going to get tonight but he had a medical emergency in his family. Spencer, youve taken over for eric, and tell me about how Mission Continues, has expanded and gone into new areas since the original scholarship, fellowship program. Yeah. I mean, ill paint the picture of where we are now versus where we were when eric had that initial idea. The initial idea that was born in the hallways of bethesda and walter read, and was turned into the inspiration. Where we are now, the nation continues where we are now is men and women, veterans, active and just down the street. Now, men and women, veterans active in the promise zone, in los angeles. What it looks like there is men and women or acted in the Charter School network in southeast houston. What it looks like there is men and Women Veterans who are combating chronic homelessness in phoenix are countering Youth Violence on the southside of chicago. It has evolved, that initial idea that was born of veterans coming home, missing something, having something other than the arm of eyesight or their hearing gone, its that connection to a mission, connection to service, a social connection to others, the spirit and camaraderie that is all been replaced by a mission in their community. And there is no lack of mission unfortunately sadly there is no lack of mission out there in the communities. We have a tremendous opportunity now to ask, to challenge our veterans, the men and women are returning daily to our communities to be the vanguard, the vanguard who are, that can serve in military and youre saying actually the positives i make in this democracy are not been im not done yet. My generation was not about withdrawing from democracy. I saw deposits to make. I will make in my community, or i didnt live in iraq or afghanistan or Southeast Asia or where ever i served. Its my community and thats what im going to make this deposit. I shared one thing with another Group Earlier this week, is a photo that we put up at all of our gatherings that is another one single photo that represents what were trying to do. Its a photo, or black and white photo of space boost boot prints on the moon. I dont think theres a photo that more singly and without word represents the culmination of a nation and a vision than that single photo. That photo that signified that an entire country said were going to do something and were going to do something by a certain date, that photo suggests updating. The reason why we use that photo is not only to convey our own, our own goal is, that the Mission Continues to influence future generations desires to serve at all to suggest that every single man and woman, every veteran veteran sitting ie audience looking at that photo can choose and determine what inference they want to leave on the world, whats their blueprint going to be . Because we dont believe that the only blueprint they left it in the sands of the dirt and afghanistan and the right big they can leave an imprint on the lives of future generations of americans who are soon to be making the decision about how theyre going to serve and whether theyre going to serve their country. That may be in the military but it should be in some way serving this country in their community and schools and committee centers, homelessness or joining the military. So it is our great privilege to be placing folks on the vanguard, men and women who served their country in the first chapter of the story and hopefully now one of many chapters to come. How did you how you continuing your message . I come to be flying planes, well, i joined the air force because they gave me a scholarship. Actually company, this whole conversation often confuses me because you may find this, you may agree with me but for those of us that serve in the military, it was never a question. I was a military brat. My father was in the navy, and i knew that i was going to do something that had to do with service. Had to do with government, teaching, something adventurous. And so i joined the military in the 1980s. I served in the 90s, and it always this tells me today. Im heartened by how much people come here, youre coming of age or think for your service, youre a veteran, thats so amazing. I think theres sort of a tidal wave that is enabling you to view some the things you are doing. So for me, and i think for so many of the veterans that you are talking about, it was never a question, the skills we learn and military have enable us to move on and do other things. I teach. Im a professor, also in the pentagon and i cant imagine not being part of our democracy at that level. And so i think that, i think we have a huge opportunity to continue to model the behavior. Last thing i will say is, unit come with so many negative images. I actually, we have a row talked about that, but theres just not who this generation is. They are battle hardened. They are community organizers. They are skilled, ready to get the job done, and theyre out there doing it everywhere. And i think thats the message i know that your book is going to convey and thats what im so happy to be your tonight and to help you promote it. You can see i had a really tough job in anything these people. You know, that it was just like pulling teeth. Actually i really am incredibly honored and touched by how much so many of them, guys, opened their hearts to me and told me their deepest hopes and fears. And im thinking that they are a great resource, and youre a great audience, and maybe you have some different questions for them. I wonder if any of you want to ask any of these folks a question . If you do, stand. Who will be the first . No one . Okay. Then ill ask another question. What is it like in congress to be a veteran . So many people in congress are not veterans. Ive heard some veterans say, some democrats that youre, say i have more in common with republicans were veterans than i do with democrats who were not. How does that work . And how you guys different . First of all its a very interesting time to be in congress. I know that from the outside it looks like things are in total chaos in the house of representatives but let me tell you first of all from inside perspective was really going on. Its total chaos. [laughter] so its fascinating, but there is a commonality that i find with elevators. Weve never had fewer veterans in congress and the nations history than we do today. We face an unprecedented number of challenges across the globe and i think its a perspective that is respected. So i find that no one cares about the opinion of a freshman democrat on the whole front of issues but when it comes to issues like complexes ongoing in the middle east, much more senior members of congress do look to me for my thoughts and advice. And i have found that as a democrat you will have to make an effort to reach out across the aisle to get to know republicans. And fellow veterans are pretty receptive. I reached out and took a fellow veteran, an iraq war that are outdated hes quite conservative rank the, representing local and and which said that and said look, what can we find some Common Ground . Where can we find some things we can agree. We did not tal talk about abortn get through some issues we didnt even discuss bigotry that we agreed with what to do with isis in iraq and some disagree as we had with the administration. We wrote a joint oped, he did it was much more powerful to write that piece with a coauthor from a very different place on the political spectrum are represented a different constituency of america. That if i just written it with another democrat from massachusetts, have put america where dismissed it without even reading it. So there is potential to get things done in congress today. Despite the chaos. And if you think that theres a lot of things to come together. Let me just ask one more question and then we will let you get back to eating and drinking. I will get back to drinking. [laughter] but i want to ask everybody here how this generation is different from the Vietnam Veterans. From previous generations. You know, we know that their skills are different, their sensibilities to the. And then i want both kenneth and spencer to talk about how their organizations have reached out to Vietnam Veterans. And it is one of the most moving things thats going on. Vietnam veterans are finding their committed to this community. Theyre finding a place as part of his community as well. So lets just go across the board, and then go get drunk last night. [laughter] when i think of Vietnam Veterans, i think theyre all the same. I think we are very fortunate today in the military. Ive been in a military for 34 years. We get walked over therefore, going to a Shopping Mall without people coming up. Its really passionate about thanking us for our service. So if you see some vietnam vets, thank them for their service. I had a chance to speak out the first rotc commissioning, as the Vietnam Veterans to stand up. And i said, we did thank all the time t but i said i want to thak you for your service. Because you never got the. These were grown men that had tears in their eyes because no one had ever thank them for their service but if you get a chance to do that, they serve just as valiantly. They dont make policy to executed. I have tremendous respect for our Vietnam Veterans. Could i just say that [applause] if you could keep your remarks in general that would be good. It is a great honor to serve the country today budget also is wonderful when you get to come home and see so much support from your community and from your fellow veterans. I have such incredibly deep respect for the Vietnam Veterans who served their country in a much more difficult time. When they went through a hub and his experience overseas, and then were disrespected back home. It has meant a lot to me as a veteran in todays world, wars, to get to know Vietnam Veterans and to reach out to them in the same way, thank them for their service. So i think you are some differences but there are really practical. The vietnam generation was much larger than our generation. Smaller, all volunteer, we have intensity, an invitation to take care of each other on a more intimate and personal level. Some of the differences are structural. The veteran service for positions today are not really, we dont compete in the same way the old veteran Service Organizations did. So spencer, the Mission Continues, team rubicon, organizations like team red, white and blue are incredibly cooperative. We are all in it together moving in the same direction. But theres a critical way in which the Vietnam Veterans are exactly the same, and you see it around the campfire after a team rubicon nation, either overseas or domestically. When they begin to open up your we dont have a filter that says only post 9 11 veterans. Some of these guys up and do not have all been guys say, i didnt thats true. There is a woman veteran from vietnam in oklahoma. They say, this is 30 years overdue, 40 years overdue. I can edit you. And that is a powerful moment not just for the vietnam vets holding his or her place around a campfire, it is an equally powerful moment for the post9 11 vets who realize theyre not the first ones to be wrestling with this. That the our people have tried to take away, and i think we have an opportunity, and historic opportunity given some of the structural realities, the fact that its a somalia group, the fact that we were welcomed home and away that was fundamentally different to the way my dad was welcomed home. We have a chance to change their to for the next 100 years about what it means to be a returning veteran. Ill just focus on actually one single area and i think that any between the two generations, the need for Community Upon return. And sadly i think that because i am a dynamic in the country with the vietnam generation, many were forced to find that Community Behind the four walls of a building with smoke coming out from the windows. With a large number of the community wondering what was going on inside. But i think this generation is pioneering, a version of community that is on full display for the community and, in fact, false the community and inquires the innovation of the community as part of their coming home. So the are no or walls to this. It happened at the Team Rubicon Disaster site, it happened on the southside of chicago so i think a deeper community, we have an opportunity to make community the place where it all happens. Ill just say the obvious differences of generation of volunteers and draftees we had invaded nam, although there were plenty of volunteers in a generation as well, i think the main difference is the american people. You and i, were navy brats going up. They did not wear the uniforms around town for a reason. Because it was dangerous to do so. In this country, in this city, right . Today its the complete opposite the it is thank you for your service, 10 off at home depot, whatever. Its a completely different world and im grateful for that. I think we can embrace the previous generation. I would like to thank all of you for coming out, especially again Wendy Anderson and the sponsors, and you know, when people ask me why write a book about veterans, the new is an ongoing to write another sob story about veterans as victims, veterans as basket cases. But the message of this book is the exact opposite. The message of this book is optimism about our future. And the message of this book is about the importance of service in a democracy. And its something that a message that help gets out of their, and i hope that each of you at some point cant experience what ive experienced, going out, cleaning up a school in brooklyn or helping out after the tornadoes in oklahoma. It really, it really makes your heart sing. Thanks so much for coming. [applause] [inaudible conversations] i have a picture up on my wall spent do you . Great conversations from oklahoma. I didnt realize that. I love what both you and david are doing with the book but you doing a great job. I did it. Your article, for two years i kept article out of my foyer when you go in. I wanted people to see it. Im a little bit older, im a veteran of afghanistan as well. I didnt know that. No, no. Who were you with . Iran operations up out of bagram but i was all overcome in kandahar, iraq. In 2003 i led to september 11, 2003. I was in business school, got called up. My dad is a vietnam veteran. Im happy to do that. Spent i appreciate it. I loved tonight. I love the discussion because it was great. Thank you. My nieces boyfriend came back and hes not doing so well. Hes in jail, selfmedicating. You should put him in touch with these organizations spent thats i want to check it out. I had a personal interest now. Thank you. Us and ms. Miller now joins us here in