Free while the cause is thelive same. Everyone has a different reason for serving free. E ca. Maybe theyre following in their fathers 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 patriotism. And when you add up all of those small towns, it gives you a Glimpse Oftown the sheerr weight of the cost of freedom. I for generations, families filled with faith and love for their countrli d y sent their on to battle in trenches, beachesd ,jungles and deserts. And not everyone made it back. In Guantanamo Bay, cuba, ind wasuantanamo bay, cuba, george oliveira, who was a Real Salt Of The Earth guy. Of tt, committed and really hard working. Back home, hd reallye was a pole officer. Service was in his blood. We both later deployed to afghanistan. We were in different units his e that point and we were in different parts of the country. And thatsre and when i got word that bee george had been killed in combat. N killed it hit me like a ton. Bricks. Its a feeling almost everyone who served feeli knows. You realize how fragile life really is. W fr just one bullet, one ied,e one rpg can change everything. None of us knew preciselyy what what we were signing up for when we raised our rightwere si. Sure, we saw the movies rere, we saw the movies you dont really understand it until you were there. Yog away from your family, away from your country foraway months, even years, your lifeeas can go from sheer boredom in ses seconds to fear and danger. Brh you form of brotherhood with americans from all Walks Of Lifh E because you have the same goal. You all feel america is worth yu the fight and youll put your life on the line to defend. It. But heroes, walk with us not ut heroes, walk with us not just veterans, Police Officers who run veteran headloo danger. Firefighters who rush into fig buildings, doctors,nto nurses and paramedics who work around the clock to save lives. Parents who teach the next generation to love our country a and pastors who lead their flocks and keep the faith. Those are americas heroes. L later in this show, ill be talking to two peoplepl who personally make me proud to be an american. E sa i wouldnt be the same person without them. Buwithout themt first, some of o here at fox are going to talkk to their heroetos. Joey jones talked to two veterans from his new book, unbroken bonds of battlew book. There are so many Men And Women who make me proud to be bt an american. But today, i have the Honor Of Hono To Two Inspiringtoonor of veterans that i get to call my friends and brothers. Nate boyer lives by a motto. Anything is possible. Ar he joined the army in 2005. My then just a year later, he earned his green beret and served in the special forcesd servede spec. Once he left the army at the ripe old age of 29, heenrold enrolled at the university of texas and decided he was goingea to play College Football without ever playing it down in his life. But nothing could stop him. Fe. He even earned a spotn on the Seattle Seahawks without being drafte sd. Y he and most recently, he startedste a Nonprofit Joinind G Retiredthe professional athletes an to learn fromletes an merging vets and players. He also wrote and starreayers. De a feature film by the same name. And then theres aaron hil l. Then theres aaron hil we went to eod school together, Or Banting School after caree a successful career as a navy chef. He na wanted to be closer to theind front lines and joined the army to take bomb ttos apart. Then he was severely injured in afghanistan when an Improvised Explosive Device detonated in his presencesed. But his injuries havent slowed him down. N hes about to run 135 miles across death valley. Its the hardest foot race in the world. He will be the first 100 blind and deaf person to ever complete iersot. Nate and aaron join me now. Gentlemen, thank you so much for being here. We just pulled. Hereus just we just did our mov, our book together called unbroken bonds of battle. You guys are two of the most important chapters in the book. I say that knowing apters all ten are important, but you two inspire me so muchyou tw. Aaron, i want to go to you m first. Tell me aboue about this 135 mie race and why you want to do it. The bad water 135 starts at death valley and it goes 135mile miles to the mt. Whitney portal ,just the trailhead to the tallest point. Heaand the contiguous 48. And its a 48 hours, more ororer less of. So some hot temperaturesre and, you know, some altitude we. Change as well. So its be grueling, but itsa o for a good cause. And i like cau a challenge. You know, you lost your sight. A lot of people dont understand. Ch erstand. T losyourt your hearing after the injury, but due to complications with the injuryfterth, what does that dor running it or even going up in altitude . R when i lost my hearing, noe only did i lose the ability to communicate because all of my visual accessibility aids were were muted, were renderedme inoperable. I also lost my inner ear since balance. So just getting on the treadmill was dangerous enough, but i took a long time,u to recover, so my balance and start running again wasg amazing. Thin nate, i dont think youre going to run 135 miles,yo but i know you do a trip to africa almost every yeador. E some someone a mountain to raise money for people to. Aise money for people yeah, and the stuff that you do, even here in the states with professional athletes sta and service members. Why do you keep wanting to give . Because of people like erin. Honestly. And people like you, joe, key, first of all, i feel very soft. Im doing 100 miles in augustst and i thought that was cool. But this is unbelievable. G this well, hearing this about erin, i mean, thats just it speaks to the resilience of so many of our Men And Women. You two are great examples of thatar. And yeah, we became people of uo service. You know, when we put that uniform on, we took that oath for the restrm of our lives. F thats a part of us, you know, and big reason why i joined the military was to fight for those that cant fight for themselves. And even when i leftose i lo the military and i lost that uniform, i still needed to do that to Feelt Uniforstil connect person. You know what i mean . To that soldie, you r . So, you know, every year an Organization Called waterboy started by chris long, we would climb kilimanjaro and raise money for clean water wells for people in africa. So its like we have this incredible challenge, push ourselves to the limit. Chalt also where were serving v those that just dont have what we do have here in t the United States, which is, you know, access to clean water and so many other thingsean an t were very fortunate to have. Have acces fortunate to have. Something we have here in the states, access to clean to cater, e. W ess to clean how amazing is this country and why on this Independence Day is it so thian important to remain patriotic . Its pretty easy to be grateful for what weve got here. We have a Strong Communitye , you know, strong moral values and weve got these defenders like you guys that protect our nation. Im extremely grateful, y america. And there are plenty of us around. Ari know ive gotten so much support since my injury, and im looking forward to celebrating a Pretty Warmm Fo 4th of july. F nate, whats your message on this 4th of july . Well, you know, i mean, you mentioned it in the intro, you know, with mvp emerging vets and players. And thats something thats its very important for all of us vets and athletes within the organization to be there for one another, to always have each others back. Each right. And i think its an Important Message foers andr not justouny the country, but the world. I mean, of course, were nothe w perfect. I of course, were always i think most of us are striving to b e better and do better, but We Doo Grater and do better, but we doo the opportunity to have thoserse freedoms, to express ourselves any way we want to express ourselves s. E that and its not like that everywhere. So i think having a good time, is important, you know, enjoying the day. Our but remember what youre celebrating and why youre celebrating icelebratt, a youre fortunate to even have the opportunity to celebrateyou independence. Not everybody gets that. And so, yeahge, and then tomorrow, then the next day on the fifth, you know, you look at what you could donu better to continue to move thingse forward and bring your Community Together and, you know, be a better human being. Beth o to call you friends. Ive gotten to know both of you over the last decade. Erinf yoer the knew me when i Ld A Little Prettier and still had legs. Nate, im sorrd y you missed th part. Youre still good. Listen, we sit here and talk toda y, and we didnt even talkin the about the stories in the book. We talked about your gratitude. We talked about how you want to keep helping others. And thiswant is such is asu exceptional as the two of you are that is a Common Thread among american veterans. And you guys just represenamerif absolutely well. Thank you both for coming here and talking with me and happy Independence Day. Thats i appreciate it. Thats what the books all about, though. That is a great job. Nobooks all t. W. Aaron thanks, ira. Coming up, how a Powerfulomin Friendshipg helped benjamin ha. Bass pro chefs and Cabella N Wavering Wh commitment to honoring our heroes. Our heroes. We extend our gratitudr freedom. Words by proudly offering a legendary salute, discounts no to those who protect our freedoms, our dedication our freedoms, our dedication to those who selflesslt. Us runs deep within our dna. Us runs deep within our dna. Its not just a discount. Its a commitment to making a difference, because every day is a chance for us to say thank you. Bass pro shops and cabelas. Youre adventure starts here ,and im. Dum dum dum dum. But you pretty much done. No, no, no, no. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Well be going in the other beaches. Beaches. Rhythm and blues. Caribbean sea. Ma, are you sure you dont want to go bowling with us tonight . Yeah. No, theres my little marzipan. I oh, my daughter gives motor the best hugs. Were just passincyinsurerg. On her way to the jazz jamboree. . Actly li and we wanted to thank americas number one Motorcycle Insurer for saving us money. Your parents are exactly like me. I know, right . Well, cheris h your friendsur of and loved ones. Oh, thank you. Lets boogie woogiyoife. E. Wake up, achievers. Youre making the most of every hour of your life except the hours that youre sleeping. So why do we leave so much Untapped Potential on the table . On the table . This is a next level bed for a next level. S a co you. My Circadian Rhythm is kicking. Circadiampn. N sleep n rhythms, t a competition. Plust im still winning. So it is a competition. The queen sleep number 360 c2 smart bed is now only 899 plus free Home Delivery when you had an adjustable base. Shop now only get sleep number on the fox news rundown podcast. Homelessness, violencer, and ens house for 19. Theres an old proverb that e al theres an old proverb that e go alone. But if you want to gone buo farh go together. As countless brave hi as countless brave us throughout history, when we stand together, we can accomplish anything. Fo our fox family Experiencedx Fami firsthand last year after Foreign CorrespondentBenjamin Hall was gravely injured during the ukraine war. Ane ukraine war. Friendship with Jennifer Griffin and a little help fromd god, benjamin came out on top. Take a look. Take a since the day i was nearly l killed by russian bombs last year while coverinook. G the wn ukraine, ive met so many people who make Me Immensely Wiople who make me immensely without the bravery of servicemen, of doctorsthe brav,f nurses, i would not be here today. But on this Independencey Bu Da id like to take the time to thank my colleague and my dear friend jennifer thanky grn for saving my life that day. Bengay. Hearing your voice makes meday. Give a little bit emotional thinking back to a year and a half agor voic and looking backa what youve done in terms of your recovery and your positivee attitude, You Are The One who inspires all of us and make me and alls al the others who ar part of that Incredible Team, proud to be an american. So thank you. Kin that very, very kind of you, jen. But in fact, i know for a factb that i wouldnt be sitting here were it not for the the actions that no you took that very second,tht as soon as you heard that we had been hit. I know you reached outry secon o kirby. You reached out to jennifer to serve abroad. And i wondered what you thought the second that you that i u thou you howyou that you knew to act so quickly and who you knew to reach out to. Andho well, the amazing thing about being in this job here at the pentagon and ive been here 15 years and ive also been in the field and there haven unfor unfortunately been with colleagues who were beth colleagues who were to being injured or killed. So my reaction, i think, likes o many people have done this for many years, my reactionsears, i didnt really think i went right into action. And what ive found ind what i l business over the years is that its all about relationships. And these relationships all came back and paid back in spades at that very crucial moment when you were missing, when pierr e was missing, Whenwere Sasha was missing. And it jus mist was there was a. Of fate involved. John kirby was sittingjohn kir i the Pentagon Booth with me, and i turned to him and asked tur help fromto him and asked the defense secretary. And they didnt hesitate knowin g how good our military and medicine is and how we needed to get you to landstuh l. Get you to landstuh wasnt sure how we were going to get you to landstuhl, because kirby told me right off that the u. S. Military could not go into ukrainlde. T mome and at that moment we didnt know where you were. So thats when now wher i who do i know who has done this kind of work or has a network of people who could help . And thats when i called sarah varnadso of the Independence Fund of save our allies. I had seen the incredible work that her team had done on the ground in afghanistane , getting 12,000 afghans out during that very messy withdrawalns outg th. And those private individuals just happened to be in poland ready to launch. But again, it was an act of fate at that point that thatdib Incredible Team and people like sara varnado, seaspray, bowe white, rich shattuck, theyre just whi, Incredible Americans. Absolutely. And they also make absol me ame incredibly proud to be an american. If it werent for them that i wouldnt be here either. If it wethemt you also knew whol because of all your Involvement You N some of theseheseolvement Wounded Warrior projects. I know that you have hosted the Wounded Warrior experience warrior ded warrior experience ,which allows injured veterans from afghanistan and iraq to speak about what happened to them to create these communities. You work closely with the independence them fund. Pendence you host the hearings the heroes of Military Medicine awards, whicyou host hh im verl for as well, because Military Medicine really saved me. Got me walking again, brought me back. And so youve you did all these things beforagain. D e my e happened. What drew you to that . What wha that inspired you toan go and help so many people, so many wounded veterans out theree . Benji when i started here at the pentagon, it was 15 years ago. It was the start of the surge. And there were so many Youngeri Americans who were losing their limbs, facing traumatic brain injuries, who were being filling the Wards At Walter Ree Reed and building 62 in particular. And so as a reporterand 62 i, i couldnt sit by and watch and not try to at least help sti and go tell their stories. And there were different ways that i got involved inthere s. One of the things im able to do is to emcee and t