The Heaviest Flag

Independence Day. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/jocko-podcast/exclusive-content

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

• 0:01Jocko Willink?

  I watched through my peripheral vision.

• 0:07Jocko Willink?

  It's something that I learned to do in the military. I learned to stand at attention and look straight forward,

• 0:17Jocko Willink?

  but still see what's going on around me.

• 0:23Jocko Willink?

  And I could see.

• 0:27Jocko Willink?

  I could see the honor guard take the flag off of his coffin.

• 0:33Jocko Willink?

  Their sharp uniforms. Their white gloves.

• 0:41Jocko Willink?

  I watched their crisp, well-rehearsed movements as they went through their procedures.

• 0:51Jocko Willink?

  Without shifting my eyes,

• 0:54Jocko Willink?

  I focused back on his coffin.

• 0:59Jocko Willink?

  I was still trying to process it all. So much emotion, so much joy, so much sorrow. So much light and laughter and love.

• 1:12Jocko Willink?

  So much life.

• 1:16Jocko Willink?

  All now boxed up and silent in that wooden casket.

• 1:26Jocko Willink?

  Gone.

• 1:31Jocko Willink?

  The honor guard continued with their predetermined movements. One fold at a time. Precise hands moving like craftsmen.

• 1:45Jocko Willink?

  As they carry on, the red and white stripes of the flag are consumed by the blue field with its white stars.

• 1:57Jocko Willink?

  The flag is finely folded into a neat, thick triangle.

• 2:05Jocko Willink?

  The leader of the honor guard, a second-class petty officer, grasps the flag into his hands.

• 2:15Jocko Willink?

  He executes a sharp-facing movement, takes a step, and then executes another facing movement.

• 2:24Jocko Willink?

  He's now looking directly at me. Our eyes are locked, but expressionless.

• 2:33Jocko Willink?

  We both know we have a job to do.

• 2:38Jocko Willink?

  He marches forward. He halts just in front of me.

• 2:44Jocko Willink?

  I slowly and precisely raise my right hand from my side and render a sharp salute.

• 2:52Jocko Willink?

  I pause.

• 2:56Jocko Willink?

  I gradually lower the salute and then put my hands out to receive the flag.

• 3:04Jocko Willink?

  He moves it forward into my hands.

• 3:09Jocko Willink?

  I clench it.

• 3:13Jocko Willink?

  The flag is heavy in my hands with pain and grief.

• 3:19Jocko Willink?

  I feel the weight.

• 3:22Jocko Willink?

  A weight I can barely support as it tears at my soul.

• 3:29Jocko Willink?

  He takes one step back and renders a slow, flawless salute.

• 3:39Jocko Willink?

  It is my turn now.

• 3:43Jocko Willink?

  I execute a right face. I take six steps forward.

• 3:50Jocko Willink?

  I focus on my breath.

• 3:54Jocko Willink?

  I clench my jaw in order to get some control over my emotions before she sees my face.

• 4:04Jocko Willink?

  I execute another right face.

• 4:09Jocko Willink?

  I am in front of her now.

• 4:13Jocko Willink?

  I take two steps forward.

• 4:17Jocko Willink?

  She whispers a quiet moan of anguish.

• 4:24Jocko Willink?

  It is the loudest noise I have ever heard.

• 4:31Jocko Willink?

  I stop in front of her, still looking straight ahead.

• 4:37Jocko Willink?

  I bend down onto one knee.

• 4:43Jocko Willink?

  I look at her.

• 4:47Jocko Willink?

  Her heart is broken.

• 4:51Jocko Willink?

  Tears are trickling down her face.

• 4:57Jocko Willink?

  And yet she smiles at me. As if to say,

• 5:02Jocko Willink?

  "It's okay."

• 5:06Jocko Willink?

  I feel my emotions start to rush to the surface. I want to break down. I want to cry.

• 5:15Jocko Willink?

  But there is procedure to follow.

• 5:19Jocko Willink?

  And I am a military man, and I know to follow procedure.

• 5:26Jocko Willink?

  I then say the words.

• 5:31Jocko Willink?

  "On behalf of the President of the United States, the United States Navy, and a grateful nation,

• 5:39Jocko Willink?

  please accept this flag as a symbol of our appreciation of your loved one's honorable and faithful service."

• 5:52Jocko Willink?

  I place the full weight of that flag with all its agony and torment into her hands.

• 6:03Jocko Willink?

  She looked down at it and pulled it in close to her chest and absorbed it all.

• 6:14Jocko Willink?

  Then she looked back at me.

• 6:19Jocko Willink?

  "I break protocol."

• 6:25Jocko Willink?

  "Your boy was my hero," I told her.

• 6:30Jocko Willink?

  "I loved him. And I always will."

• 6:37Jocko Willink?

  She smiled. And she nodded.

• 6:42Jocko Willink?

  She already knew that.

• 6:47Jocko Willink?

  Her eyes returned to gaze at the heavy flag in her arms.

• 6:53Jocko Willink?

  I leaned in and gently kissed her on the forehead.

• 7:01Jocko Willink?

  That kiss was not only from me.

• 7:06Jocko Willink?

  She knew that too.

• 7:13Jocko Willink?

  I stood back up. And assumed the position of attention.

• 7:20Jocko Willink?

  I rendered the proudest salute I could possibly muster.

• 7:27Jocko Willink?

  I took one step back.

• 7:30Jocko Willink?

  I performed a right face.

• 7:35Jocko Willink?

  And I marched off and assumed my position back in the ranks.

• 7:44Jocko Willink?

  The guns were fired.

• 7:47Jocko Willink?

  The bugle played its solemn notes.

• 7:54Jocko Willink?

  And my friend was buried in that sacred place.

• 7:59Jocko Willink?

  With many of my other friends. Our brothers in arms.

• 8:05Jocko Willink?

  Now together again.

• 8:11Jocko Willink?

  And above it all. Soaring in the sky was our flag. Old Glory.

• 8:20Jocko Willink?

  Bearing upon it the weight of a million souls who gave their lives for it.

• 8:28Jocko Willink?

  Bearing upon it the burden and anguish of mothers and fathers who gave their precious children for it.

• 8:41Jocko Willink?

  And yet it flies.

• 8:46Jocko Willink?

  It flies, carried aloft by freedom.

• 8:53Jocko Willink?

  And by the precious memories of those who sacrificed everything to give us that freedom.

• 9:04Jocko Willink?

  Please.

• 9:07Jocko Willink?

  Please.

• 9:11Jocko Willink?

  Remember what that flag represents.

• 9:17Jocko Willink?

  And why it flies.