America’s First Hero: The Story of George Washington

Lee Habeeb (00:10):
And we return to Our American Stories.

Up next, a story from Vince Benedetto, a friend, a veteran, and founder, president, and CEO of Bold Gold Media Group, which owns and operates radio stations throughout Pennsylvania and New York.

Today, Vince shares with us the story of who he considers to be America’s first true superhero.

Take it away, Vince.

Vince Benedetto (00:48):
Over the past several years, I’ve been invited to be the Veterans Day speaker at area public high schools and middle schools throughout Northeast Pennsylvania.

As a graduate of the Air Force Academy and a former Air Force captain and OSI special agent, I’m frequently asked to speak at events honoring our military.

However, speaking to teenagers is an altogether different and terrifying experience.

During more typical speaking engagements, the audience is there to hear what I have to say. Speaking at a high school, well, they have to be there.

My thoughts immediately went to how to say things differently in a way that would connect with them, keep their attention, and hopefully illuminate something that would contribute to their lives during their most formative years.

In my most recent remarks, I decided to go big—to challenge the very notion of why they should even care at all about our veterans.

Preceding my remarks, and to set the mood, I asked that a short clip from Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address be played.

It’s the part where the newly sworn-in president is essentially giving his audience a tour of the National Mall. He’s pointing out the major monuments and presenting the giants from our history.

President Ronald Reagan (02:03):
Standing here, one faces a magnificent vista.

At the end of this open mall are those shrines to the giants on whose shoulders we stand.

Directly in front of me, a monument to a monumental man—George Washington, father of our country, a man of humility who came to greatness reluctantly.

Vince Benedetto (02:27):
Those to Washington, to Jefferson, and to Lincoln.

But shortly after, he turns his attention to those sloping hills just beyond—to Arlington National Cemetery.

President Ronald Reagan (02:40):
With its row upon row of simple white markers bearing crosses or Stars of David, they add up to only a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom.

Vince Benedetto (02:55):
From among those thousands upon thousands of white markers, he resurrects the story of Martin Treptow.

President Ronald Reagan (03:01):
Under one such marker lies a young man who left his job in a small-town barbershop in 1917 to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division.

There, on the Western Front, he was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire.

Vince Benedetto (03:26):
On his person was found a diary.

Under the words “My Pledge,” Martin had written these words.

President Ronald Reagan (03:33):
America must win this war.

Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully, and do my utmost as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.

Vince Benedetto (03:57):
Strikingly, during this tender moment of his remarks and in front of the whole world, Reagan’s voice cracks as he’s fighting back tears during the telling of this remarkable young hero.

So upon completion of the clip, the hundreds of teens in the audience were paying attention. Some even had tears in their eyes, along with nearly all of the teachers in attendance.

Now that I felt the mood had been set, it was my turn to begin.

I asked some blunt questions.

Why do we celebrate our military and our veterans?

Why do you even care that I am a veteran?

And for that matter, why do we honor and celebrate Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day?

I probed them for audience participation, and a few hands went up.

Some answered:

• They serve their country.
• Our military protects our freedom.
• Freedom isn’t free.

Excellent answers.

Then I asked another question.

Who here has seen an American soldier in uniform?

Every hand in the room went up.

I asked, “What did you feel when you saw those soldiers?”

Some shouted:

• Pride.
• Patriotism.
• Safety.

Then I asked:

“Who here has seen an American soldier and felt afraid?”

Not one hand went up.

I pushed them further.

“No one? Our soldiers are powerful people. They’re trained to fight. They carry weapons.”

Still, not one hand was raised.

And at that moment I told them:

This is why we celebrate Veterans Day.

This is why we celebrate our military in America.

In much of the world, people do not celebrate their military. They fear it.

In much of the world, the military is viewed as a tool of government to oppress the people—not serve them.

I told them that to understand all this, we needed a short American history lesson.

I asked them to imagine the world as it was on July 3, 1776.

At that time, virtually everyone on Earth lived under some form of dictatorship.

But on July 4, 1776, it all changed.

Americans declared their independence and, more importantly, declared that they were free.

Yet that still didn’t answer why we do not fear our military.

To understand that, we have to turn to a person often considered our first American soldier—and a real-life superhero.

George Washington.

Washington, appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1775, had the enormous task of building and leading a fighting force against the British Empire, the most powerful military force in the world.

As I shared Washington’s story, an image of his command flag appeared behind me.

Thirteen equally sized six-pointed stars on a blue field.

Washington understood the rivalries among the colonies.

His battle flag did not represent him.

It represented them.

Whether a soldier came from a small colony or a large one, one of those stars represented home.

I then asked the students to imagine something else.

After the war, George Washington was one of the most famous people in the world.

Throughout Britain and Europe, it was assumed he would become king of America.

That was simply how history worked.

The victorious general became ruler.

King George III himself reportedly believed the Americans were merely exchanging one King George for another.

When the king learned Washington intended to resign his commission and return home to Mount Vernon, he reportedly declared Washington the greatest man in the world and the greatest character of the age.

Lee Habeeb (09:02):
And when we come back, more from Vince Benedetto on the story of George Washington, here on Our American Stories.

Lee Habeeb (10:32):
And we return to Our American Stories.

When we last left off, Vince Benedetto was explaining to a group of students why Americans respect and love their veterans.

To understand why, he said, we must look back to George Washington.

Let’s continue with the story.

Vince Benedetto:
I then asked the students to travel with me to Newburgh, New York, in 1783.

The new nation was struggling financially, and Congress was unable to meet its payment obligations to the Continental Army.

Severe unrest grew among officers and soldiers.

Some high-ranking officers even discussed using the military to take over—or threaten—the government until their demands were met.

But one indispensable man stood in their way.

George Washington.

Learning of the growing conspiracy, Washington called a meeting of his officers.

Initially, he indicated he would not attend, leaving General Horatio Gates in charge.

Gates began feeding the growing frenzy.

Then Washington unexpectedly entered the room and took command.

Many officers had not seen him for some time.

They noticed he had aged.

Washington explained that this was the moment when their example mattered most.

They were men of honor.

This was their ultimate test.

He assured them he was working on their behalf.

Then he pulled a letter from Congress from his vest and attempted to read it.

His eyesight was failing.

He struggled.

Then Washington paused, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a pair of spectacles.

Looking solemnly at his military family, he said:

“Gentlemen, you must pardon me, for I have not only grown gray, but almost blind in service to my country.”

By all accounts, at that moment the coup was over.

There were tears in the eyes of his officers.

They loved their general.

Washington, who had sacrificed so much and always placed principle above himself, held true.

And his example became their example.

Once again, Washington had saved the Revolution.

Later that same year, Washington did what the world doubted any man would do.

On December 23, 1783, one of the greatest days in recorded history, General George Washington resigned his commission before Congress and returned home to Mount Vernon.

The world was stunned.

This had never happened.

And even later, as America’s first president, the rulers of other nations assumed he would serve for life.

Instead, after two terms, Washington stepped away again.

Retiring once more to Mount Vernon.

Sensing the students were gaining a new appreciation for Washington, I made one final point.

Every American who joins our armed forces takes an oath.

What’s unique is that we do not swear an oath to a president, a government, or even the country itself.

We swear an oath to the Constitution.

To support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Americans instinctively sense that our military is not to be feared, but loved.

It is a powerful force that represents our rights as Americans.

Government serves the people—not the other way around.

Throughout most of history and in much of the world, that was never the case.

What we have here is miraculous.

And none of it would exist without George Washington.

It was George Washington who defied the way of things.

It was George Washington who enabled the feeling that our military represents the entirety of the nation.

It was George Washington who established civilian control of the military.

It was George Washington who remained faithful to representative government.

It was George Washington who helped Americans think continentally as a union.

It was George Washington who showed that the powerful should serve the people.

Upon Washington’s death, John Adams wrote:

“His example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age but in future generations as long as our history shall be read.”

It was always Washington.

He was America’s rock upon which our nation could be built.

He is America’s real-life superhero.

So why do we honor and celebrate our veterans and our military?

I posed the question again.

We celebrate them because they have fought and stand ready to fight—not just for us living today, but for future generations.

They defend traditions and institutions necessary for liberty to survive.

We honor our veterans because they signed on the dotted line to defend, with their lives if necessary, the idea that, as Abraham Lincoln said at Gettysburg:

“Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Without America, the world would be a very dark place.

Without the American soldier, civilization as we know it would have perished.

The light of individual liberty would have long since been extinguished.

It has frequently been remarked that the words of Thomas Jefferson would mean little without the sword of George Washington.

Similarly, all of the words of liberty, freedom, and American exceptionalism would mean nothing without the heroes who defended them.

Every person who joins the American armed forces becomes part of the long, unbroken line of military service in America that began with George Washington.

Today, we can trace it all back to our real-life superhero, George Washington.

Lee Habeeb (18:48):
And a special thanks to Monty Montgomery for producing the piece, a Hillsdale graduate and a proud one.

And a special thanks to Vince Benedetto, who built the Hillsdale Radio Station.

If you’re ever in central Michigan, visit Hillsdale College. You will be impressed.

The words of Thomas Jefferson would have meant little without the sword of George Washington.

And today we celebrate, as Vince put it, the long unbroken line of civilian military service and heroism to defend freedom—not just here, but across the globe.

On Our American Stories.