Memorial Day 2018: Remember Me

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Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Jocko Willink?

  Remember me.

• 0:03Jocko Willink?

  I am the fallen soldier, sailor, airman, and marine.

• 0:09Jocko Willink?

  I am the one that held the line.

• 0:13Jocko Willink?

  Sometimes I volunteered. Sometimes I went because I was told to go.

• 0:20Jocko Willink?

  But when the nation called, I answered.

• 0:25Jocko Willink?

  In order to serve, I left behind the family, friends, and freedom that so many take for granted.

• 0:34Jocko Willink?

  Over time, I used different weapons. A sword, a musket, a bayonet, a rifle, a machine gun.

• 0:47Jocko Willink?

  Often, I marched into battle on foot, countless miles, across whole continents.

• 0:55Jocko Willink?

  I had little water and even less food, but it did not matter.

• 1:02Jocko Willink?

  We had a job to do.

• 1:05Jocko Willink?

  Other times, I rode to battle on horseback or in wagons, sometimes on trains, later in tanks, or jeeps, or Humvees.

• 1:16Jocko Willink?

  In early wars, my ships were made of wood and powered by the wind.

• 1:22Jocko Willink?

  Later, they were made of steel and powered by diesel fuel or the atom.

• 1:30Jocko Willink?

  I even took to the air and mastered the sky in planes, helicopters, and jets.

• 1:37Jocko Willink?

  The machines of war evolved and changed with the times.

• 1:43Jocko Willink?

  But remember that it was always me, the warrior, that had to fight our nation's enemies.

• 1:51Jocko Willink?

  I fought at Lexington and Concord as our nation was born. I crossed the Delaware on Christmas Day in 1776. Freedom was on our side.

• 2:05Jocko Willink?

  I defended the Chattahoochee River in the War of 1812. I would stand again.

• 2:13Jocko Willink?

  In the Civil War, I fought with my brothers and against my brothers at Gettysburg and Shiloh and Bull Run.

• 2:23Jocko Willink?

  I learned that we must never again divide.

• 2:30Jocko Willink?

  In World War I, I marched on the Marne and held the line at Belleau Wood.

• 2:37Jocko Willink?

  "The war to end all wars," they called it.

• 2:41Jocko Willink?

  I just called it hell.

• 2:46Jocko Willink?

  In World War II, I fought everywhere. From the beaches of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, to the sands of Iwo Jima and the hell of Guadalcanal.

• 2:57Jocko Willink?

  I stood against tyranny and kept darkness from consuming the world.

• 3:06Jocko Willink?

  In Korea, I landed at Incheon and broke out of the Chosin Reservoir.

• 3:13Jocko Willink?

  They called it "The Forgotten War."

• 3:17Jocko Willink?

  But I never forgot.

• 3:21Jocko Willink?

  In Vietnam, I went and I fought.

• 3:25Jocko Willink?

  In the Mekong Delta, and at Idrang, and Khasan, and Hamburger Hill.

• 3:33Jocko Willink?

  Some say, "My country wavered."

• 3:37Jocko Willink?

  But I did not waver.

• 3:40Jocko Willink?

  Ever.

• 3:43Jocko Willink?

  In the recent past, I fought in Grenada, Panama, Somalia, and other desperate places around the globe.

• 3:52Jocko Willink?

  And finally, I have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Baghdad, and Fallujah, and Ramadi, in Kunar, and Helmand, and Kandahar.

• 4:06Jocko Willink?

  As technology advanced, I used night vision goggles, and global positioning systems, and drones, and lasers, and thermal optics.

• 4:17Jocko Willink?

  But it was still me, a human being, that did the work. It was me that patrolled up the mountains, or across the desert, or through the streets. It was me that suffered in the merciless heat and the bitter cold.

• 4:32Jocko Willink?

  It was me that went out, night after night, to confront our nation's enemies and confront evil, face to face.

• 4:44Jocko Willink?

  It was me.

• 4:47Jocko Willink?

  Remember me.

• 4:51Jocko Willink?

  I was a warrior.

• 4:55Jocko Willink?

  But also remember

• 4:58Jocko Willink?

  that I was not only a warrior. I was not just a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine.

• 5:09Jocko Willink?

  Remember also

• 5:12Jocko Willink?

  that I was a son, a brother, a father.

• 5:19Jocko Willink?

  I was a daughter, a sister, a mother.

• 5:26Jocko Willink?

  I was a person. Like you, a real person with hopes and dreams for the future.

• 5:36Jocko Willink?

  I wanted to have children.

• 5:39Jocko Willink?

  I wanted to watch my children grow up.

• 5:43Jocko Willink?

  I wanted to see my son score a touchdown or shoot the winning basket.

• 5:50Jocko Willink?

  I wanted to walk my daughter down the aisle.

• 5:55Jocko Willink?

  I wanted to kiss my wife again.

• 5:59Jocko Willink?

  I wanted to grow old with her and be there to hold her hand when life grew hard.

• 6:07Jocko Willink?

  When I told her I would be with her until the end, I meant it.

• 6:13Jocko Willink?

  When I told my children I would always be there for them,

• 6:18Jocko Willink?

  I meant it.

• 6:26Jocko Willink?

  But I gave all that away.

• 6:30Jocko Willink?

  All of it.

• 6:33Jocko Willink?

  On that distant battlefield, on some godforsaken patch of dirt amongst the fear and the fire and the bullets.

• 6:43Jocko Willink?

  Or in the sky above enemy territory filled with fatal flak.

• 6:49Jocko Willink?

  Or in the unforgiving sea where we fought against the enemy and against the depths of the abyss.

• 6:58Jocko Willink?

  There.

• 7:01Jocko Willink?

  In those awful places, I held the line.

• 7:06Jocko Willink?

  I did not waver, and I did not hesitate.

• 7:12Jocko Willink?

  I, the soldier, sailor, airman, or marine, I stood my ground and sacrificed my life. My future, my hopes, my dreams, I sacrificed everything.

• 7:30Jocko Willink?

  For you.

• 7:36Jocko Willink?

  This Memorial Day, remember me.

• 7:41Jocko Willink?

  The fallen warrior.

• 7:45Jocko Willink?

  And remember me, not for my sake, but for yours.

• 7:52Jocko Willink?

  Remember what I sacrificed, so you can truly appreciate the incredible treasures you have.

• 8:01Jocko Willink?

  Life.

• 8:04Jocko Willink?

  Liberty.

• 8:07Jocko Willink?

  The pursuit of happiness.

• 8:11Jocko Willink?

  You have the joys of life, the joys that I gave up.

• 8:17Jocko Willink?

  So that you can relish in them.

• 8:20Jocko Willink?

  A cool breeze in the air.

• 8:24Jocko Willink?

  The gentle spring grass on your bare feet. The warm summer sun on your face. Family. Friends.

• 8:37Jocko Willink?

  And freedom.

• 8:42Jocko Willink?

  Never forget where it all came from. It came from sacrifice, the supreme sacrifice.

• 8:53Jocko Willink?

  Don't waste it. Don't waste any of your time on this earth.

• 9:01Jocko Willink?

  Live a life that honors the sacrifice of our fallen heroes.

• 9:12Jocko Willink?

  Remember them always. And make every day.

• 9:17Jocko Willink?

  Memorial Day.