Remembering the Strength of America From a Terrible Horror

On the 22nd anniversary of September 11, 2001, Kim Monson broadcast live from the Center for American Values in Pueblo, Colorado. Medal of Honor recipient Drew Dix, retired Denver police officer Henry Jones, Douglas County School Board candidate Dave DiCarlo, and American Thinker columnist Brian Joondeph joined the program to reflect on sacrifice, civic duty, and the ongoing fight to preserve American ideals.

Honoring Medal of Honor Recipients and 9/11 Heroes

Start listening at 2:36 – Hour 1

Henry Jones, a retired Denver police officer who served as Protocol Executive Protection Officer at Denver International Airport, describes his work escorting dignitaries including presidents and heads of state. Jones conducted dignified transfers for military members killed during the War on Terror, a duty he calls both sad and honorable. Now serving on the boards of the Center for American Values, the USMC Memorial Foundation, and Angels of America’s Fallen, Jones dedicates his retirement to honoring those who served.

The Center for American Values in Pueblo houses the Portraits of Valor gallery featuring over 160 Medal of Honor recipients with their quotes. Jones notes how young visitors transform when entering the gallery, growing silent and studying the quotes intently. Pueblo earned the designation “Home of Heroes” after President Eisenhower remarked on the four Medal of Honor recipients who grew up there.

“What I love about the recipients is the love that they have for their fellow man and the love that they have for the country.”

Henry Jones, Retired Denver Police Officer

The Warrior Culture Needed to Defend Our Constitution

Start listening at 31:46 – Hour 1

Drew Dix, Medal of Honor recipient and co-founder of the Center for American Values, explains the military’s role in defending the Constitution. The country created its military not to conquer other lands but to defend the founding document. During times of peace, Americans grow complacent about the warrior class they depend upon in crisis. Dix recalls walking into a hotel lobby after his Medal of Honor ceremony to find over 400 recipients gathered for President Nixon’s inaugural, including Eddie Rickenbacker and Jimmy Doolittle.

Dix emphasizes that the Constitution was written simply for people to understand. The Center launched 13 years ago after Dix and Brad Padula visited Medal of Honor recipient Jerry Murphy in the hospital and realized the nation needed to hear these stories. The Medal of Honor quote book, designed small enough to fit in soldiers’ cargo pants, grew from watching children study the quotes in the gallery.

“If we continue down the road of just being individuals and thinking of ourselves, we’re going to lose that peace that America was so known for. And that is to pitch in and do whatever we can to help each other to get through this situation we’re in.”

Drew Dix, Medal of Honor Recipient

The Administrative State and Totalitarian Tendencies

Start listening at 61:34 – Hour 2

Brian Joondeph warns that totalitarianism prohibits opposing views and uses media to regulate activities and thoughts. The weaponization of government to arrest and imprison political opponents mirrors tactics from the Soviet Union, Cuba, and communist China. The administrative state has grown while Congress abdicates its legislative mandate, spending half its time raising money for reelection.

Post-9/11, the government gained significant powers under the Patriot Act, which subsequent administrations expanded and weaponized. Joondeph notes that by virtually every economic metric, from inflation to interest rates to the national debt, Americans are worse off than four years ago. The country added $10 trillion to the national debt in four years, matching what took 230 years to accumulate initially.

“We’ve created a massive bureaucratic administrative state, and these are long-term government employees, primarily on the left in terms of politics, and they’re entrenched, and they are making the rules.”

Brian Joondeph, American Thinker Columnist

Citizens Standing Up for Fiscal Responsibility in Schools

Start listening at 17:23 – Hour 1

Dave DiCarlo announced his run for Douglas County School Board after voters rejected a tax increase during difficult economic times, only for the board to bring it back the following year. DiCarlo argues the school district operates as a billion-dollar nonprofit with no control over its revenue stream, yet its funding has doubled the pace of inflation for six years while families and retirees cannot say the same about their incomes.

The district will receive a 9% bump next year totaling $53 million without any new taxes. DiCarlo questions why the district never discusses what to do with existing increases, instead always asking for more. He believes representatives should act on principle rather than populism and entered the race because nobody on the seven-member board represented the majority who voted against the tax increase.

“I was taught the only time you look into your neighbor’s plate is to make sure they have enough. We need to be comparing ourselves today to ourselves yesterday.”

Dave DiCarlo, Douglas County School Board Candidate