Gaines for Girls with Riley Gaines - Behind the Badge： Honoring First Responders with Joey Jones

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00:01:17.620 Hello, everybody.

00:01:25.220 Welcome back to the Gains for Girls podcast,

00:01:27.480 and happy almost Independence Day.

00:01:30.360 I am reminded this week,

00:01:33.640 today, tomorrow, more than ever,

00:01:35.680 just how fortunate we are to live in the greatest nation.

00:01:39.840 God bless the people who fight for our nation,

00:01:44.440 to our first responders,

00:01:46.080 to our military members,

00:01:47.300 to the families of the fallen,

00:01:49.460 people like me who get to reap the benefits of the freedoms

00:01:53.940 that you all fight for,

00:01:56.320 continue to fight for on a daily basis.

00:01:58.840 We are indebted to you.

00:02:01.800 So thank you.

00:02:02.660 I hope everyone listening and watching enjoys their July 4th

00:02:06.840 and is reminded of just how lucky we are to live

00:02:11.100 in the United States of America.

00:02:15.000 In that vein,

00:02:16.040 we have a very, very exciting guest today

00:02:18.320 to talk about service,

00:02:21.460 but pretty remarkable because not just his service,

00:02:25.640 and he could talk about that for a long time.

00:02:27.940 He's here today to share with you

00:02:29.880 stories of first responders specifically

00:02:33.800 through his brand new book called Behind the Badge.

00:02:38.120 We are going to be talking to Fox News contributor,

00:02:41.140 Joey Jones.

00:02:42.420 He's just awesome, by the way.

00:02:44.660 But before we get to that,

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00:04:14.340 As I said, we're talking to Joey Jones.

00:04:17.100 If you watch Fox News,

00:04:19.160 maybe some of you know his personal story,

00:04:22.500 what he experienced that ultimately led him to where he is today.

00:04:26.860 But it was after high school.

00:04:28.020 He enlisted in the Marine Corps.

00:04:30.760 During his eight years, I believe, of service,

00:04:33.100 he worked as an explosive ordnance disposal,

00:04:35.780 basically a bomb technician.

00:04:37.440 Now he deployed to Iraq.

00:04:38.860 He deployed to Afghanistan on separate tours.

00:04:41.620 But during his last deployment to Afghanistan,

00:04:45.500 it was his team that had rendered safe

00:04:48.620 and destroyed nearly 80 improvised IEDs or explosive devices,

00:04:53.700 along with thousands of pounds of other unknown bulk explosives.

00:05:00.500 But it was during that tour back in 2010

00:05:03.140 when he stepped on and initiated an IED,

00:05:08.300 resulting in the loss of both of his legs above the knee

00:05:12.040 and severe damage to his,

00:05:14.920 actually both of his arms,

00:05:16.980 severe damage to his right forearm.

00:05:18.940 But as I said,

00:05:19.560 now he's a contributor to all Fox News media platforms,

00:05:22.320 Fox News Channel, Fox Business, Fox Nation.

00:05:25.860 He's a fill-in host for several hit shows on Fox,

00:05:29.240 including Fox & Friends,

00:05:31.120 The Five,

00:05:31.920 and the primetime show Fox News Tonight.

00:05:34.940 So very, very excited to be talking with him

00:05:36.940 and to get all of the behind the scenes of his new book,

00:05:40.020 Behind the Badge,

00:05:41.420 answering the call to serve on America's Homefront.

00:05:43.860 Check it out here.

00:05:45.480 Well, Joey, welcome to the Gains for Girls podcast.

00:05:49.680 Very, very excited to have you on.

00:05:51.620 And I was telling you prior to starting recording

00:05:54.640 that, of course, I'm grateful for you.

00:05:57.480 I'm grateful for your service.

00:05:59.320 But even more personally,

00:06:00.760 you have been someone from the beginning

00:06:03.160 who has just been so kind and gracious towards me

00:06:07.520 and, of course, the cause that I have found myself fighting for.

00:06:10.660 So thank you for everything.

00:06:12.120 Very, very excited for the opportunity to talk with you

00:06:14.480 and to talk about your new book

00:06:16.660 that has now just been released, Behind the Badge.

00:06:21.340 But before we get into any of that,

00:06:23.520 it has been a pretty hectic past month or so at this point.

00:06:28.140 We saw the No Kings Day protests happening all across the nation,

00:06:32.580 which I will say I was skeptical.

00:06:35.020 But to my dismay, it worked.

00:06:37.580 I woke up the next day and we had no kings.

00:06:40.640 How about that?

00:06:41.920 Yeah.

00:06:42.140 You know, you watch that army parade

00:06:43.440 and it's literally a celebration of the people

00:06:45.780 that got rid of a king. 0.97

00:06:47.640 So I don't understand the connection to begin with.

00:06:49.580 But hey, I'd say the most important thing

00:06:51.520 about No Kings Day is that a lot more Americans,

00:06:54.200 I think, showed up to be patriotic than not.

00:06:57.420 And you're always going to have dissent, I guess.

00:07:00.340 But I think a lot of people

00:07:01.540 that were on the wrong side of that are just bored.

00:07:04.080 And I don't get it.

00:07:05.660 But hopefully, you know, they don't stick around long.

00:07:09.220 Bored and old.

00:07:10.600 All of the coverage that I saw

00:07:12.940 from these No Kings Day protests,

00:07:14.560 like the crowd attendance looked like 70 average age, maybe.

00:07:20.700 That might be the low end of that.

00:07:22.280 So bored and old.

00:07:24.620 On top of, of course, the No Kings Day protests,

00:07:27.480 as you mentioned, it was the 250th birthday of the army,

00:07:32.080 also President Trump's birthday over the past month.

00:07:34.980 We also saw these riots that ensued in Los Angeles,

00:07:40.280 which I've listened to your insight

00:07:41.960 surrounding the National Guard deployment,

00:07:45.060 surrounding the failures of Gavin Newsom, etc. on Fox.

00:07:48.880 But there was this interaction on X

00:07:51.800 that I just thought was the most amazing thing ever.

00:07:54.780 And it started with Donald Trump.

00:07:56.440 In true Trump fashion,

00:07:58.940 there's like capital letters in there.

00:08:00.860 It's being sent out really early in the morning.

00:08:03.300 He put out something on True Social saying, 0.89

00:08:06.560 if they spit, we will hit.

00:08:08.620 This is a statement from the President of the United States

00:08:10.520 concerning the catastrophic Gavin Newsom-inspired riots

00:08:14.060 going on in Los Angeles.

00:08:16.260 The insurrectionists have a tendency to spit

00:08:18.100 in the face of the National Guardsmen and women and others.

00:08:20.600 These patriots are told to accept this.

00:08:22.620 It's just the way life runs,

00:08:24.240 but not in the Trump administration. 0.93

00:08:25.700 If they spit, we will hit. 0.99

00:08:27.580 And I promise you they will be hit harder 0.99

00:08:29.240 than they have ever been hit before.

00:08:31.560 Such disrespect will not be tolerated.

00:08:33.640 But then Gavin Newsom responded to this

00:08:36.620 by saying you sent your troops here

00:08:38.060 without fuel, food, water, or a place to sleep.

00:08:40.960 Here they are being forced to sleep on the floor

00:08:43.020 piled on top of one another.

00:08:44.500 If anyone is treating your troops disrespectfully,

00:08:46.560 it is you, Donald Trump.

00:08:48.080 And then he posted these photos.

00:08:50.380 Some people have speculated it's AI

00:08:52.540 given some inconsistencies

00:08:54.800 and some weird phalanges

00:08:56.840 that aren't really matching up in the photos.

00:08:58.800 Some are saying these are really old photos.

00:09:01.040 But I thought your response back to Gavin Newsom

00:09:04.500 was just amazing and so comprehensive

00:09:07.020 of what I would imagine many military members experience.

00:09:11.900 You said,

00:09:13.320 Amigo, I've slept on softball-sized gravel

00:09:15.800 under my truck the night before

00:09:17.200 and up under rows of seats at the airport

00:09:19.040 flying home on a delayed red eye

00:09:20.580 in the back of a seven-ton butt-to-butt

00:09:22.580 with my buddy and one poncho liner covering us

00:09:25.500 on top of an MRAP in the freezing cold

00:09:28.520 covering my body up with my gear

00:09:30.360 sitting against a wall

00:09:31.360 with my flak raised

00:09:32.360 propping my helmet on it

00:09:33.520 like a turtle in its shell.

00:09:34.640 They're deployed to a crisis.

00:09:35.960 None of them are expecting a holiday end.

00:09:38.080 Tell us about this.

00:09:39.700 Well, and my mind has even grown

00:09:41.780 from that of other examples,

00:09:43.480 but it's like this idea

00:09:44.860 that Gavin Newsom is more worried

00:09:47.240 about reaching for a messaging win

00:09:49.240 for a gotcha tweet

00:09:50.940 than maybe making sure

00:09:52.860 that his city doesn't burn

00:09:54.320 both literally and figuratively

00:09:56.380 when you look at everything

00:09:57.980 that's happened this year.

00:09:58.920 And I just really had to take a moment

00:10:01.360 and say, listen, bro,

00:10:02.200 you might be doing a lot of things,

00:10:03.700 but you're not defending our honor

00:10:05.360 with this tweet.

00:10:06.100 Like you're not doing anything

00:10:07.360 to speak for the men and women

00:10:09.000 that serve this country.

00:10:10.420 You don't sign up to play a sport

00:10:12.460 to bring this full circle

00:10:14.220 unless you want to go be in the game.

00:10:16.160 You don't do it for practice.

00:10:17.180 You don't do it

00:10:18.200 so that you never get to eat

00:10:19.760 what you want to

00:10:20.560 and always have to lift weights

00:10:21.880 and run hard.

00:10:22.800 You don't do it for that.

00:10:23.780 You do it because

00:10:24.560 you do all of those things

00:10:26.100 because one day

00:10:27.160 you might get to play in that game.

00:10:29.160 And regardless

00:10:29.720 if it's a contact sport or not,

00:10:31.280 there's a good chance

00:10:32.100 when you play in that game,

00:10:33.260 it's going to hurt a little bit.

00:10:34.860 And these guys and gals

00:10:36.280 deploying as crisis response

00:10:39.000 to support a community

00:10:40.400 that's in peril,

00:10:41.600 it's not supposed to feel good.

00:10:43.480 It's not supposed to be

00:10:44.540 a holiday in.

00:10:45.500 It's supposed to be

00:10:46.380 put your gear on,

00:10:47.360 suck it up and go do the work. 0.97

00:10:48.840 And that's what they train to do. 1.00

00:10:50.180 That's what they like doing.

00:10:51.380 And the real disrespect

00:10:53.360 to the troops

00:10:54.060 is the fact they had to be there

00:10:55.180 to begin with.

00:10:55.980 And that's the leadership

00:10:57.220 in California.

00:10:58.560 On top of that, though,

00:10:59.860 I mean,

00:11:00.740 have you ever spoke

00:11:01.480 to a lineman

00:11:02.180 or somebody that responds

00:11:03.360 to a natural disaster

00:11:05.060 like, say, a city burning down?

00:11:07.380 It's not like they're hanging out

00:11:08.500 in some fancy hotel either.

00:11:09.920 So when you make decisions

00:11:11.520 that allow communities

00:11:13.160 in your state to burn down,

00:11:14.920 what do you think

00:11:15.560 those first responders

00:11:16.600 were going through?

00:11:17.400 How do you think their life was?

00:11:18.780 How do you think

00:11:19.120 their family was

00:11:20.060 sitting up at night

00:11:21.000 hoping not to get a call

00:11:22.020 that they got caught up

00:11:22.840 in a fire they couldn't get out of?

00:11:24.260 Or even the LAPD officers

00:11:26.960 that were combating the riots

00:11:28.380 when they finally

00:11:28.840 were allowed to.

00:11:30.260 And you want to talk

00:11:31.140 about these National Guardsmen

00:11:32.540 or Marines sleeping

00:11:33.540 like Marines

00:11:34.560 and National Guardsmen

00:11:35.460 sleep when they're training? 0.98

00:11:37.000 Like, that's ridiculous. 0.95

00:11:38.820 Yeah. 0.97

00:11:39.220 Yeah.

00:11:39.460 And you're right.

00:11:40.000 They this is what

00:11:41.040 they prepare for.

00:11:42.140 And you mentioned

00:11:42.880 first responders.

00:11:43.640 This is what

00:11:44.600 and military members.

00:11:45.860 This is what their families

00:11:47.060 grow to

00:11:48.740 and have to be willing

00:11:49.800 to accept

00:11:50.540 as, you know,

00:11:51.740 tragic as it is,

00:11:53.040 especially when you're

00:11:54.080 deployed overseas.

00:11:55.500 That's what you

00:11:56.340 you sign up for.

00:11:57.160 That's what your family

00:11:57.900 expects.

00:11:58.900 And I, of course,

00:12:00.380 this is not something

00:12:01.080 that my husband

00:12:01.760 has ever had to deal

00:12:02.520 with our immediate family.

00:12:03.520 But nonetheless,

00:12:04.420 you would imagine

00:12:05.400 even being a spouse

00:12:07.480 to a military member

00:12:08.400 is something you have

00:12:09.340 to be OK with.

00:12:11.540 So so totally

00:12:12.780 to your new book.

00:12:14.140 Now, again,

00:12:14.800 behind the badge,

00:12:15.920 answering the call

00:12:16.500 to serve on

00:12:17.300 America's home front.

00:12:18.420 You mentioned

00:12:19.660 first responders.

00:12:20.460 That's what this book is.

00:12:21.360 It's a tribute

00:12:22.020 to first responders.

00:12:23.740 Can you just briefly

00:12:24.360 touch on a little

00:12:25.380 synopsis of the book

00:12:26.400 and I think

00:12:27.500 what inspired you

00:12:28.340 to write it

00:12:29.080 and why

00:12:29.920 why now of all times?

00:12:32.320 Yeah, I think

00:12:32.740 this is going to be

00:12:34.620 my

00:12:34.920 this is going to be

00:12:36.620 my most important work.

00:12:37.940 I think I really do

00:12:39.080 at least this point

00:12:40.060 in my career.

00:12:40.860 I wrote a book

00:12:41.760 a few years ago

00:12:42.400 called Unbroken Bonds

00:12:43.440 of Battle

00:12:43.780 where I highlighted

00:12:44.440 nine service members

00:12:45.480 in a gold star wife,

00:12:46.640 all of which were

00:12:47.460 close friends,

00:12:48.920 most of which

00:12:49.480 were really close friends

00:12:50.720 for more than a decade.

00:12:52.200 And the feedback

00:12:53.020 from that book

00:12:53.680 was how it helped

00:12:54.820 so many other veterans

00:12:56.280 and veteran families

00:12:57.540 deal with the trauma

00:12:58.880 they had been through

00:12:59.580 and understand

00:13:00.500 that they weren't crazy

00:13:01.960 for thinking

00:13:02.520 some of the things

00:13:03.120 they thought

00:13:03.560 or experiencing

00:13:04.460 what we call PTSD.

00:13:06.360 And also it allowed

00:13:07.400 them to be more prideful

00:13:08.360 because, I mean,

00:13:08.900 when you read that book,

00:13:09.940 the stories are

00:13:10.880 highs and lows

00:13:12.120 and the highs are heroic.

00:13:14.060 But immediately

00:13:14.860 after writing that book,

00:13:16.160 I realized that I had

00:13:17.380 all these first responders

00:13:18.240 in my life.

00:13:19.060 I had these firemen,

00:13:20.440 police officers,

00:13:21.200 state troopers,

00:13:22.140 a main game warden,

00:13:23.480 Jeremy Judd,

00:13:24.020 that's in the book

00:13:24.620 that I'd sit around

00:13:26.760 a campfire

00:13:27.440 and heard their story

00:13:28.660 and I was in absolute awe

00:13:30.420 at what they endured.

00:13:31.720 And for me

00:13:32.300 as a service member,

00:13:33.260 I go to war for six months

00:13:34.740 if you're in the army,

00:13:35.500 15 months.

00:13:36.780 You come home.

00:13:38.200 You're not in any environment

00:13:39.600 similar to what you were

00:13:40.520 at war with.

00:13:40.940 You got to leave your war 0.94

00:13:42.060 literally across an ocean.

00:13:43.800 But if you're a first responder,

00:13:46.220 your battlefield

00:13:46.980 is the community

00:13:48.720 you live in.

00:13:49.500 I mean,

00:13:49.820 the intersection

00:13:50.540 where you responded

00:13:52.260 to a fatal car accident

00:13:53.540 involving a young child

00:13:54.780 last night

00:13:55.460 is the one you're

00:13:56.380 driving through this morning

00:13:57.560 to take your kids

00:13:58.300 to school.

00:13:59.420 And you've got

00:13:59.880 to reason through that.

00:14:01.700 You know,

00:14:02.160 for some of the firemen,

00:14:03.960 you know,

00:14:04.240 they go past

00:14:04.840 an apartment building

00:14:05.620 every day

00:14:06.160 to take their family

00:14:06.880 to dinner.

00:14:07.680 And in that apartment building,

00:14:09.000 they've responded

00:14:09.980 to domestic abuse

00:14:11.480 of the worst kind,

00:14:12.640 drug overdose,

00:14:13.800 time and time again.

00:14:15.680 Fires that,

00:14:16.600 you know,

00:14:16.980 somebody cooking meth

00:14:18.020 burns down

00:14:18.620 three or four other apartments

00:14:19.780 and destroys lives.

00:14:21.620 And they go past

00:14:23.000 this apartment building

00:14:24.000 every day

00:14:24.440 to get to work

00:14:25.140 or to take their kids

00:14:25.940 to school

00:14:26.300 or to go out to eat.

00:14:27.620 They live in their battlefield.

00:14:29.820 And the best way

00:14:30.240 to explain it,

00:14:31.360 I guess,

00:14:31.900 the anecdote

00:14:32.420 or the turn of phrase

00:14:34.240 that really makes

00:14:34.900 a lot of sense

00:14:35.620 is the worst day

00:14:37.320 of our lives

00:14:38.260 as regular civilians,

00:14:39.860 citizens,

00:14:40.540 is another shift

00:14:41.960 for them.

00:14:42.880 And I start the book

00:14:43.840 telling the story

00:14:44.320 about my dad

00:14:45.040 when he passed away

00:14:45.980 and the firemen

00:14:47.580 that responded

00:14:48.180 and seeing him

00:14:49.140 a few weeks later

00:14:49.760 and having to tell him

00:14:50.380 no,

00:14:50.520 he didn't make it.

00:14:52.320 That's the point

00:14:54.900 of this whole book

00:14:55.640 is like,

00:14:56.900 you know,

00:14:57.140 that was just,

00:14:57.640 for all I know,

00:14:58.120 they did two or three

00:14:58.740 other calls like that

00:14:59.560 that night

00:14:59.940 and it was the most

00:15:00.540 traumatic thing

00:15:01.080 I've gone through

00:15:01.880 and to include war.

00:15:03.200 I mean,

00:15:03.360 you know,

00:15:03.680 when you do CPR

00:15:04.700 on your own dad,

00:15:05.420 it's not easy.

00:15:05.960 And so to know

00:15:07.660 that they had

00:15:08.240 to carry the burden

00:15:09.020 of seeing that look

00:15:10.100 on my face

00:15:10.760 of fear that night

00:15:11.800 and the only thing

00:15:12.520 that could make it better

00:15:13.260 was them doing their job.

00:15:14.680 Did they walk away

00:15:15.700 thinking,

00:15:16.180 man,

00:15:16.360 could I have done more?

00:15:17.300 Yeah,

00:15:17.420 I don't know.

00:15:18.740 And so I sought out

00:15:19.480 to find out

00:15:20.180 and I found nine

00:15:21.520 amazing,

00:15:23.040 as the first chapter says,

00:15:24.720 ordinary individuals

00:15:25.900 in extraordinary situations

00:15:27.800 day in and day out.

00:15:29.500 And part of the book

00:15:30.440 is to exacerbate on

00:15:34.320 or expand on this,

00:15:36.920 you know,

00:15:38.720 conversation between

00:15:39.900 defund the police

00:15:41.220 and support the blue.

00:15:42.760 But really,

00:15:43.280 it's a larger,

00:15:44.280 more objective view

00:15:45.200 because if you read this book,

00:15:46.380 I don't have to tell you

00:15:47.100 what to think.

00:15:47.600 You're going to read it

00:15:48.180 and you'll know

00:15:48.740 what the right thing is.

00:15:52.900 I have a friend

00:15:53.900 who just finished fire school.

00:15:57.320 He just started

00:15:57.960 as a fireman

00:15:58.820 here in Tennessee

00:15:59.480 and he's shared with me

00:16:02.060 some of the calls

00:16:03.380 that he has had

00:16:04.560 to respond to.

00:16:05.680 I mean,

00:16:06.200 so early in his career.

00:16:08.300 I mean,

00:16:08.440 he's only been doing this

00:16:09.260 a few months,

00:16:10.420 whether it's car accidents,

00:16:12.100 of course,

00:16:12.440 whether it's fires,

00:16:13.460 whether it's self-inflicted wounds.

00:16:15.540 I mean,

00:16:15.740 some of the most horrific things.

00:16:17.720 And as you said,

00:16:19.040 this is just another day

00:16:20.380 in the life for him.

00:16:21.680 I can't even imagine.

00:16:23.860 But it's remarkable

00:16:24.680 in the way that you do this

00:16:25.740 because you're not just

00:16:26.720 telling these stories.

00:16:28.580 You're telling

00:16:29.820 the motivations behind it.

00:16:31.180 You're sharing

00:16:31.640 about their families

00:16:32.840 and their values.

00:16:34.420 What are some common themes

00:16:35.920 that you saw

00:16:37.480 that you discovered

00:16:38.280 that drives

00:16:39.560 these men and women

00:16:40.380 to serve?

00:16:41.640 Yeah,

00:16:41.780 there's a lot of things.

00:16:42.880 You know,

00:16:43.020 when you write a book

00:16:43.740 and you learn

00:16:45.520 that you have an idea

00:16:47.520 going into it,

00:16:48.320 you go through it,

00:16:49.260 especially a book

00:16:50.080 like both of mine

00:16:51.100 where I have other people

00:16:52.140 weighing in.

00:16:53.360 And then on the back end,

00:16:54.160 you sit and you go,

00:16:54.700 wow,

00:16:54.840 what did I learn?

00:16:55.500 And I learned a lot.

00:16:56.400 There's a lot that I wish

00:16:57.120 I could go back

00:16:57.500 and put in the book

00:16:58.260 because I've had

00:16:59.160 more time to process

00:17:00.540 because the way

00:17:01.360 we wrote the book

00:17:01.960 is we interviewed

00:17:02.800 each of these individuals

00:17:04.340 based on what I knew

00:17:05.800 about them

00:17:06.160 and questions I had for them

00:17:07.360 and then let them

00:17:09.360 expound on what

00:17:10.260 they wanted to.

00:17:11.120 And so for just

00:17:11.560 about each one of them,

00:17:12.240 what I thought

00:17:12.640 they would talk about

00:17:13.320 wasn't exactly

00:17:14.020 what they ended up

00:17:14.580 talking about.

00:17:15.740 But some of the common themes,

00:17:16.880 some of the things

00:17:17.340 that really sewed

00:17:18.300 the thread

00:17:18.720 between all of them together,

00:17:20.100 first and foremost,

00:17:21.100 is that they learned

00:17:22.280 early on in their career

00:17:23.360 that it's going to come

00:17:24.620 at a heavier price

00:17:25.420 than they thought.

00:17:26.160 Jeremy Judd,

00:17:26.740 the main game warden,

00:17:27.600 says,

00:17:28.340 I had no idea

00:17:29.300 I would see

00:17:30.120 as many dead people 0.89

00:17:31.120 as I have

00:17:32.160 because he ended up

00:17:32.760 being a rescue diver,

00:17:34.060 a recovery diver,

00:17:35.460 as a game warden.

00:17:36.760 The one that says,

00:17:37.240 I thought I'd be

00:17:37.700 with animals and hunters.

00:17:38.940 No, it's saving people,

00:17:41.040 hopefully,

00:17:41.420 and recovering their body.

00:17:42.720 And so they all learned

00:17:43.920 early in their career

00:17:44.700 that it was a much larger

00:17:46.320 weight that they would carry

00:17:49.340 and never get to take off.

00:17:50.940 And then they all decided

00:17:51.760 the mission was worth it,

00:17:52.840 that it was worth it

00:17:53.880 to save their community,

00:17:54.980 to be there for them.

00:17:56.780 Some of the other things

00:17:57.760 you learn,

00:17:58.440 the thing I learned most

00:17:59.700 coming out of it

00:18:00.340 is we've had 20 years

00:18:01.440 of a conversation

00:18:02.200 about supporting

00:18:03.000 veterans' mental health.

00:18:04.120 I mean,

00:18:04.320 it started as early

00:18:05.860 as 2003, 2004,

00:18:07.740 and we're to a place now

00:18:09.240 to where it's pretty much

00:18:09.980 universally recognized

00:18:11.120 that veterans' mental health

00:18:12.420 is a problem.

00:18:13.840 It's something that needs

00:18:14.420 to be looked at

00:18:15.160 and society needs to support.

00:18:17.020 That conversation

00:18:17.780 has yet to even be started,

00:18:19.900 to get started

00:18:20.780 with our first responders.

00:18:21.880 And the psychological

00:18:24.220 trauma that they endure

00:18:26.720 is, I hate to say it,

00:18:28.420 is probably more

00:18:29.240 than any of our veterans

00:18:30.340 because we do these snapshots.

00:18:33.260 They do it daily.

00:18:35.340 Keith Dempsey,

00:18:36.180 the second chapter of the book,

00:18:37.180 says it's called

00:18:37.720 Suffering in Silence

00:18:38.760 because nobody knows

00:18:39.860 to talk about it.

00:18:40.740 They don't believe they could.

00:18:41.760 A lot of them

00:18:42.360 don't want to talk about it

00:18:43.080 because they don't want

00:18:43.480 to take away from us

00:18:44.240 in the military.

00:18:44.940 They don't want to be seen

00:18:46.160 as comparing themselves to us

00:18:47.580 if they say,

00:18:48.080 yeah, I think I have PTSD.

00:18:49.140 And so the grassroots effort

00:18:51.360 happens in the fire halls

00:18:52.920 and in the police precincts

00:18:54.300 and on the SWAT team.

00:18:55.760 It just happens

00:18:56.920 in conversation.

00:18:57.620 They're figuring it out

00:18:58.540 for themselves.

00:18:59.320 The resources aren't there.

00:19:01.200 And so to understand,

00:19:02.320 one,

00:19:02.660 that how heavy

00:19:03.940 of a burden it is

00:19:04.840 and that they decide

00:19:05.860 to carry it

00:19:06.620 and two,

00:19:07.720 the support for it

00:19:08.540 really isn't there

00:19:09.260 and they just,

00:19:10.000 they still end up

00:19:10.760 doing 30 years

00:19:11.540 on the force

00:19:12.160 or 20 years

00:19:12.920 in the fire hall.

00:19:13.640 It just really is

00:19:14.440 incredibly inspirational.

00:19:15.980 And the best way

00:19:16.860 I can frame it,

00:19:17.620 the best thing I can say

00:19:18.560 is when you leave

00:19:19.960 your house

00:19:20.560 as an American,

00:19:22.320 we talk about

00:19:23.420 being entitled.

00:19:24.580 Our largest sense

00:19:25.720 of entitlement

00:19:26.320 is that if we wreck

00:19:27.740 our car,

00:19:28.340 somebody will be there

00:19:29.080 to save us.

00:19:30.080 If a natural disaster

00:19:32.040 happens,

00:19:32.620 somebody's going

00:19:33.120 to be there

00:19:33.440 to save us.

00:19:34.080 If our house

00:19:34.580 catches on fire,

00:19:35.420 somebody's going

00:19:35.940 to be there

00:19:36.260 to save us.

00:19:36.820 If we go into

00:19:37.280 a medical emergency

00:19:38.160 at Walmart,

00:19:39.440 somebody's going

00:19:40.140 to be there

00:19:40.520 to save us.

00:19:41.200 We do not doubt

00:19:42.260 that.

00:19:42.740 Nobody doubts that.

00:19:44.280 Now,

00:19:45.200 is the police

00:19:45.700 always going

00:19:46.060 to make it

00:19:46.440 there in time

00:19:46.980 if there's

00:19:47.400 an active shooter

00:19:48.280 or something?

00:19:48.780 Those are situations

00:19:49.740 that are incredibly

00:19:50.440 rare that people

00:19:51.260 may doubt.

00:19:52.100 But as far as

00:19:52.580 car wrecks

00:19:53.280 and somebody,

00:19:54.460 you always believe

00:19:56.240 they'll be there

00:19:56.980 and you never think

00:19:58.200 about what that means

00:19:59.380 to them

00:20:00.500 that are there

00:20:01.320 in those worst

00:20:02.360 moments of our life.

00:20:04.360 And just to think,

00:20:05.380 like when you look

00:20:05.840 at this book,

00:20:06.440 we've got somebody

00:20:07.080 from LAPD

00:20:07.980 in Baltimore County

00:20:08.700 SWAT.

00:20:09.560 We've got firemen

00:20:10.360 from Dalton,

00:20:11.040 Georgia.

00:20:11.620 We've got police

00:20:13.000 officers,

00:20:13.760 Indiana State

00:20:14.340 Patrolmen.

00:20:15.260 These aren't

00:20:15.600 large cities.

00:20:16.480 These are small

00:20:17.040 municipalities

00:20:17.720 and local

00:20:18.860 rural areas,

00:20:19.940 but their stories

00:20:20.940 are just as impactful

00:20:21.920 as what you see

00:20:22.560 in Chicago Fire

00:20:23.460 or hear from,

00:20:24.320 you know,

00:20:24.820 like Nashville

00:20:25.420 or Boston.

00:20:27.760 Yeah,

00:20:28.220 yeah.

00:20:28.680 And if we learned

00:20:29.240 anything from

00:20:29.760 the last election,

00:20:30.600 it's that these

00:20:31.720 stories matter

00:20:32.620 in these small

00:20:34.280 rural parts

00:20:35.120 of the country.

00:20:36.520 So thank you

00:20:37.680 for being able

00:20:38.540 and willing

00:20:39.120 to tell their stories.

00:20:40.020 I imagine it took

00:20:40.660 a toll on you

00:20:41.380 hearing what

00:20:43.140 both these men

00:20:44.320 and women

00:20:44.680 had to say

00:20:45.460 to you.

00:20:47.160 If there's one

00:20:48.040 message,

00:20:48.500 last thing about

00:20:49.140 the book here,

00:20:49.680 if there's one

00:20:50.280 message that you

00:20:51.700 want readers

00:20:52.320 to take from

00:20:53.380 behind the badge,

00:20:54.240 especially as

00:20:55.080 they're waving

00:20:55.920 the flag this

00:20:56.600 summer or tomorrow

00:20:57.520 on July 4th,

00:20:58.940 what would that be?

00:21:00.520 We live in a special

00:21:01.500 place.

00:21:02.180 We live in a place

00:21:02.940 where we talk about

00:21:03.480 our all-volunteer

00:21:04.220 military.

00:21:04.700 Nobody's holding a gun

00:21:05.400 to anyone's head

00:21:05.920 and saying,

00:21:06.280 go be a police

00:21:06.740 officer.

00:21:07.500 I mean,

00:21:07.660 I say all the time,

00:21:08.280 why would somebody

00:21:09.260 want to be a police

00:21:10.060 officer the way

00:21:10.660 they're treated

00:21:11.060 in some places?

00:21:11.920 And the onus is

00:21:12.900 always on them

00:21:13.460 to be perfect.

00:21:14.820 If you want to

00:21:15.520 answer that question,

00:21:16.400 read this book.

00:21:17.180 If you really

00:21:17.820 want to understand

00:21:18.660 why somebody

00:21:19.940 would do that,

00:21:21.460 read this book.

00:21:22.380 And it's from

00:21:22.980 an absolute place

00:21:24.220 of selflessness

00:21:24.900 and service.

00:21:26.080 And it's this idea

00:21:26.980 which our military

00:21:28.060 understands.

00:21:28.720 I may sacrifice

00:21:29.420 all of my tomorrows

00:21:30.680 so that you have

00:21:31.620 a chance at yours.

00:21:32.960 And this is not

00:21:33.940 an individual's life.

00:21:35.660 Yeah,

00:21:36.500 I ask myself

00:21:37.860 that question.

00:21:39.200 Again,

00:21:39.740 my great-grandfather

00:21:41.540 and on both sides

00:21:43.320 of my family,

00:21:44.540 both my mom

00:21:45.020 and dad's side,

00:21:45.660 they both served

00:21:46.320 in the army.

00:21:48.140 But my parents

00:21:49.760 did not.

00:21:50.400 So I would say

00:21:51.200 I'm relatively

00:21:51.800 removed from what

00:21:53.060 that lifestyle

00:21:53.620 looks like.

00:21:54.160 And I found myself

00:21:54.940 over the L.A. riots,

00:21:56.500 especially asking

00:21:57.300 that question of,

00:21:58.280 oh my gosh,

00:21:58.780 why in the world

00:21:59.680 would anyone

00:22:00.760 want to be

00:22:02.500 a police officer

00:22:03.840 in a city

00:22:04.820 like L.A.?

00:22:06.320 So again,

00:22:07.520 this book,

00:22:08.440 it does perfectly

00:22:09.580 encapsulate that.

00:22:10.840 And I wish

00:22:11.220 I had read it

00:22:11.900 prior to asking

00:22:13.220 that question

00:22:13.800 because it really

00:22:14.380 does answer it

00:22:15.080 like you said.

00:22:16.260 Where can people

00:22:16.960 find the book

00:22:17.560 and how can

00:22:18.720 those who are

00:22:19.340 listening or

00:22:19.880 watching this

00:22:20.860 support the

00:22:22.160 first responders

00:22:22.860 in their own

00:22:23.400 communities?

00:22:24.640 Yeah,

00:22:24.900 finding the book's

00:22:25.840 easy.

00:22:26.280 Anywhere books

00:22:26.680 are sold,

00:22:27.100 it's on the

00:22:27.480 shelves in your

00:22:28.040 bookstore.

00:22:28.520 If it isn't,

00:22:28.900 ask them why it

00:22:29.440 isn't because

00:22:29.880 it should be.

00:22:31.100 Amazon,

00:22:31.880 but we like

00:22:32.800 you to go

00:22:33.020 to foxnewsbooks.com

00:22:34.480 and find it

00:22:34.940 there.

00:22:35.860 But anywhere

00:22:36.280 you find books,

00:22:37.060 anywhere they're

00:22:37.460 sold,

00:22:37.780 it should be

00:22:38.180 available.

00:22:39.560 And I think

00:22:39.920 people are

00:22:41.400 starting to

00:22:41.820 really read it

00:22:42.460 and enjoy it,

00:22:43.280 get good feedback

00:22:43.880 from it.

00:22:45.100 Yeah.

00:22:45.640 Your last

00:22:46.640 question,

00:22:47.120 how can people

00:22:47.600 support first

00:22:48.360 responders?

00:22:49.860 I say the same

00:22:50.560 thing I say

00:22:50.920 about the military.

00:22:51.660 Start with the

00:22:52.040 ones in your

00:22:52.420 life and having

00:22:54.540 conversations with

00:22:55.420 them.

00:22:56.560 And secondly,

00:22:57.260 from there,

00:22:58.280 if you are

00:22:59.200 active in your

00:22:59.760 community,

00:23:00.240 what kind of

00:23:00.740 support is

00:23:01.580 there for

00:23:02.000 them for

00:23:02.440 their

00:23:02.700 psychological

00:23:03.220 health.

00:23:04.040 And lastly,

00:23:04.880 it's kind of

00:23:05.160 the easy

00:23:05.420 one.

00:23:05.900 Don't be

00:23:06.200 one of the

00:23:06.500 problems they

00:23:06.940 have to

00:23:07.140 respond to.

00:23:08.000 Be responsible.

00:23:08.920 Don't let

00:23:09.140 your house

00:23:09.440 get on fire. 0.56

00:23:10.000 Don't get

00:23:10.240 in a car wreck

00:23:10.740 because you

00:23:10.960 were putting

00:23:11.220 makeup on

00:23:11.780 or texting.

00:23:13.360 Live a

00:23:13.880 responsible

00:23:14.300 life so that

00:23:15.040 you're one

00:23:15.360 less incident.

00:23:17.060 Go get

00:23:17.500 checked up so

00:23:18.120 you're not

00:23:18.340 having a heart

00:23:18.760 attack.

00:23:20.480 Take care of

00:23:21.120 yourself so

00:23:21.840 they don't

00:23:22.440 have to

00:23:22.720 respond to

00:23:23.180 a bad

00:23:23.460 day.

00:23:24.520 Yeah.

00:23:25.160 And I

00:23:25.600 will say at

00:23:26.040 my church,

00:23:27.420 what I have

00:23:27.780 found in

00:23:28.660 asking and

00:23:29.580 being involved

00:23:30.740 the different

00:23:31.120 Devo groups

00:23:31.720 or whatever

00:23:32.060 it is,

00:23:32.760 there are

00:23:33.060 fantastic ways

00:23:34.000 oftentimes in

00:23:35.940 the spiritual

00:23:36.820 world,

00:23:37.800 whether that's

00:23:38.620 your church,

00:23:39.560 whatever that

00:23:40.000 looks like to

00:23:40.560 get involved

00:23:41.160 and give back

00:23:41.740 in that way.

00:23:42.680 That is how

00:23:43.320 both me,

00:23:44.600 my family,

00:23:45.360 my extended

00:23:45.780 family, we do

00:23:46.500 that through

00:23:46.920 our local

00:23:47.420 church.

00:23:47.760 I would

00:23:48.000 encourage

00:23:48.280 people to

00:23:48.660 check out

00:23:49.020 what their

00:23:49.360 church is

00:23:49.760 doing.

00:23:50.400 And if

00:23:50.540 they're not

00:23:50.800 doing anything,

00:23:52.020 help make

00:23:52.600 that connection

00:23:53.120 for them because

00:23:53.900 I think it's

00:23:54.560 a really

00:23:55.460 wonderful

00:23:56.180 collaboration.

00:23:57.600 So Joey,

00:23:58.040 thank you for

00:23:58.580 everything.

00:23:59.080 Again, thank

00:23:59.480 you for your

00:23:59.880 service.

00:24:00.340 Excited for

00:24:01.180 tomorrow.

00:24:02.460 We are

00:24:02.720 really so

00:24:03.340 fortunate to

00:24:04.000 live in the

00:24:05.180 greatest nation

00:24:06.120 in the world.

00:24:07.720 And a large

00:24:08.220 part of that is

00:24:08.880 to thank people

00:24:10.260 like yourself.

00:24:11.160 So thank you.

00:24:12.160 It's a great

00:24:12.700 nation because

00:24:13.300 the people made

00:24:13.980 it that way.

00:24:15.700 When people say

00:24:16.440 thank you for

00:24:16.780 your service,

00:24:17.200 I say thank you

00:24:17.840 for being worth

00:24:18.480 serving.

00:24:19.460 Yeah, that's

00:24:20.400 good.

00:24:20.940 That's good.

00:24:21.420 Well, you rock

00:24:21.920 and we'll be

00:24:22.320 cheering you on

00:24:22.980 all your coverage.

00:24:24.060 I imagine you

00:24:24.560 will be very,

00:24:25.220 very busy

00:24:25.720 over the next

00:24:26.440 year.

00:24:26.780 Very busy tomorrow.

00:24:27.660 We've got a

00:24:27.920 4th of July

00:24:28.360 special from

00:24:29.320 8 to 10,

00:24:29.960 I believe.

00:24:30.760 Fantastic.

00:24:31.440 Fantastic.

00:24:32.160 Well, thank you,

00:24:32.660 Joey.

00:24:33.320 Yes, ma'am.

00:24:34.660 As Joey said,

00:24:35.320 go to foxbooks.com.

00:24:36.920 It should be

00:24:37.360 really easy for

00:24:38.160 you from there.

00:24:39.620 Incredible and

00:24:40.640 inspirational read.

00:24:42.260 And no better

00:24:44.580 than right now,

00:24:46.220 July 4th being

00:24:47.440 tomorrow,

00:24:48.620 the sense and

00:24:49.900 feelings of

00:24:51.060 patriotism that

00:24:52.400 I can speak to,

00:24:53.560 that I have,

00:24:54.680 that are surging

00:24:56.120 throughout my

00:24:56.660 little hometown

00:24:57.360 in rural Tennessee.

00:24:59.700 But even thinking

00:25:00.900 back to

00:25:01.400 inauguration,

00:25:02.580 I was in

00:25:03.220 Washington, D.C.

00:25:04.200 as Donald Trump

00:25:05.140 was inaugurated as

00:25:06.340 the 47th president

00:25:07.340 of the United

00:25:08.000 States.

00:25:09.520 It felt different.

00:25:10.740 I knew this year

00:25:12.040 would be a little

00:25:12.740 different, but of

00:25:14.120 course, as we are

00:25:15.000 approaching July

00:25:15.800 4th, understanding

00:25:17.740 the freedoms that

00:25:19.020 we have because of

00:25:20.200 those who fought

00:25:20.940 for those freedoms,

00:25:22.660 fantastic time to

00:25:24.540 read Joey's new

00:25:25.920 book, Behind the

00:25:27.440 Badge.

00:25:27.800 So, check it out,

00:25:29.120 foxbooks.com.

00:25:30.600 Enjoy your July

00:25:31.540 4th, your

00:25:32.560 Independence Day.

00:25:33.520 Remember what it

00:25:34.200 means.

00:25:34.620 really, really

00:25:36.300 critical time in

00:25:37.300 our nation and

00:25:38.140 very, very proud

00:25:39.420 today, tomorrow,

00:25:41.380 and always to be

00:25:43.000 an American.

00:25:44.220 I love this holiday

00:25:45.060 because I get to

00:25:45.460 rub it in my 0.94

00:25:45.900 husband's face.

00:25:47.300 He was on the

00:25:48.060 podcast a few

00:25:49.120 weeks ago when we

00:25:50.260 announced the

00:25:51.040 pregnancy of

00:25:52.540 our family.

00:25:54.620 We were having

00:25:55.040 this little girl

00:25:56.640 coming in September,

00:25:57.640 which is so

00:25:58.260 exciting, but he

00:26:00.440 admitted on that

00:26:01.640 podcast, if you go

00:26:02.580 back and listen,

00:26:03.120 that he was born

00:26:03.900 on the wrong

00:26:04.440 side of the

00:26:05.080 revolution, which

00:26:06.360 I will be happy

00:26:07.260 to remind him

00:26:08.260 tomorrow.

00:26:09.340 Thank you guys

00:26:10.020 for watching the

00:26:10.600 Gains for Girls 0.94

00:26:11.100 podcast.

00:26:11.640 Go to

00:26:11.800 youtube.com.

00:26:12.640 That's where you

00:26:13.060 can find all

00:26:14.220 things Gains for

00:26:15.060 Girls, youtube.com

00:26:16.000 slash outkick, and

00:26:16.800 we will see you

00:26:17.260 guys again next

00:26:17.880 week.

Gaines for Girls with Riley Gaines - July 02, 2025

Behind the Badge： Honoring First Responders with Joey Jones

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