Retired Navy SEAL Says Learning, Honoring History is Key to Being Better Soldier, American

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Freedom 250 is holding a national candlelight tribute at Arlington National Cemetery tonight to honor America's fallen. I sat down with former Navy SEAL Chris Wiley, who is participating in that event to reflect on what this Memorial Day means in the nation's 250th year.

[00:00:19]Former Navy SEAL Chris Wiley, thanks so much for joining.

[00:00:24]Thank you very much for having me.

[00:00:25]Absolutely. Uh Chris, you'll be at Freedom 250's national candlelight tribute at Arlington National uh tonight to honor America's fallen heroes. What does participating in this event mean to you on Memorial Day? Well, first it's such an honor to be a part of Freedom 250 and then to have this event at Arlington National Cemetery is uh you know, just makes it such a bigger uh event for me. It is a historic and hallowed ground, you know, so uh having all of the people that have served and sacrificed their lives to better this country uh there where we can speak about them, remember them, honor them, it's just such a interesting stage and I think it's just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I wouldn't miss it. Now, obviously with this being America's 250th birthday, talk to us about the military sacrifices that have built the United States.

[00:01:30]Well, we had our you know, founding fathers who pretty much gave up all of their wealth knowing that they were committing treason to go against the king of England, you know, so just the initial uh you know, spark of what America was back then where it was whispered in taverns and it was too fragile and delicate to even speak out loud about uh to present day today where you have young men and women, uh uh, writing a check, uh, to our government and to our country, uh, all the way up to their lives. So, it it's absolutely an honor to one have served my country and to two be alongside people who have made that ultimate sacrifice.

[00:02:15]Talk to us, I mean, as a Navy SEAL, the most elite special operators in our armed forces, um, you know, what you just laid out about, you know, our our founding fathers and sort of what it took to establish this country, how often do, you know, Navy SEALs, and you can speak from your own perspective, uh, think about those sacrifices and what it really took to build this country and what you guys, uh, are sent sometimes often overseas to try to preserve.

[00:02:44]Well, I believe that, you know, a lot of us are reminded, you know, when we do do our job and do our work, we have such a high level of, uh, one skill, but a high level of danger daily that at any point in training or in in a mission, you could be severely injured or lose your life.

[00:03:04]So, a lot of us are looking back into history, and that helps us with leadership, decision-making, and inspiration. So, it's just one of those things that, you know, to be a better soldier, better warrior, a better individual, a better American, you know, we all need to learn about our history, remember our history, and pass it down.

[00:03:29]Chris, you've served next to those that have fallen and paid the ultimate sacrifice, which is what Memorial Day is is about, to remember those who have, uh, paid that that price for our freedom.

[00:03:42]Talk to us about Gold Star families and how we're able to honor them.

[00:03:49]Well, I am around Gold Star families almost daily. So, I work at the I run the Michael Murphy Navy SEAL Museum and Michael Murphy was a Medal of Honor recipient. The movie Lone Survivor was made after him. Um but being around a Gold Star family, being around other Gold Star families throughout the year, the way we can honor them and remember them and help them is by being respectful, uh being appreciative of what they sacrificed. You know, they have given a son or a daughter uh to our country for our freedoms. You know, what we take for granted daily was paid for by someone's life. And what I would ask people is that if you meet a Gold Star family or Gold Star mother or father or brother or sister, you don't have to ask how or what happened to that person. You know, if you understand and and know that, you know, they lost somebody, it it sometimes more therapeutic to ask a you know, who they were when they were in school or or a funny story because that is more of a happy memory for that family to relive while speaking about their loved one. So, I see that being as a more therapeutic approach um you know, when you're you know, dealing with Gold Star families because a lot of people want to speak about what happened, you know, and to relive that daily is not I personally don't think it was healthy.

[00:05:20]I can't imagine losing my children. You know, I know one of my sons my son, one of my kids uh is interested in going in the military and I would be super proud if he does.

[00:05:32]Uh but I couldn't fathom losing him in in that way. It's a great reminder, you know, the sensitivities that um it takes to to do the work that you do. Uh we also, you know, recently saw the extraordinary effort, resources, and coordination devoted to recovering the pilot who went down in Iran. What does that say about America, and how does that distinguish the United States from other nations?

[00:06:03]The fact that we're willing to risk so much blood and treasure, not just for those who may have been captured or, you know, stranded like this airman was, but also those that were were killed, to go behind enemy lines and get them back.

[00:06:21]Well, we have numerous accounts of service men and women going in to recover bodies, recover our fallen, like you said, recovering pilots and and hostages.

[00:06:35]I try to remind, especially our youth, that we live in the greatest country in the world. And granted, you know, I'm an American, and that's what I believe, and I'm going to be proud to say it, but I believe we live in the greatest country in the world, and I know that as a US citizen, if you're in trouble in another part of this world, that our country, if they know you're in trouble, they will go and spend millions of dollars and resources to go recover one of our US citizens. You don't have to be a special person, you know, nuclear engineer or scientist that the government needs. They know you're a US citizen, and we're going to come and help you and get you out of there. And that is such a an amazing gift of being a US citizen, an American, that I I wish people could understand and appreciate more often.

[00:07:30]It truly a distinguishing factor from the United States of America and so many other countries.

[00:07:36]You know, recently the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, reflected on our moment in American history here at the re-dedicate 250 event on the National Mall. Here's a look.

[00:07:47]And now as we approach the 250th anniversary of American independence, we face a new new set of challenges in a in a new era.

[00:07:56]In recent years, we've seen sinister ideologies sow confusion and discord among our people.

[00:08:04]We've witnessed attacks on our history, on our heroes, and the the cherished moral and spiritual identity of this great nation. Chris, you just alluded to it in a way.

[00:08:14]You know, talking about sort of the amazing things that our country stands for, yet there are a lot of people that that have a lot to say unfortunately when it comes to criticism. Why is it important to preserve stories of sacrifice for younger generations?

[00:08:36]Well, to preserve and have an oral history and to pass that information along is you know, if you know this, we've all heard this and if we erase history, it's going to repeat itself.

[00:08:49]So, that's one one of the most important things that you know, we need to do. We need to speak about things. We need to remember and honor the people that went above and beyond the call of duty to you know, one maybe serve their country or like I said in the beginning, a founding father who you know, put his life, his wealth, his future on the line not knowing what the outcome was going to be. He bet on America, you know, so that that is amazing. So, to be able to put that history forward and explain that to our youth is very important.

[00:09:24]But, what Speaker Johnson, what I would love to add to that is that what I'm seeing and I am a I consider myself a patriot. I consider myself uh true American and who loves his country dearly. I would sacrifice my life for this country today.

[00:09:43]It is a choice to be united.

[00:09:46]It takes effort to be united. And if everybody would just choose to work things out, we would be a better country. But right now, everyone's choosing to try to make all of these different things, just like re-dedicate 250, they are trying to twist it into a political issue. Because we had a group of people that wanted to re-dedicate the country to God. I was there personally, um and it was uh shocking, to say the least, that we can't just come together and choose to work together, choose to reunite this country. That's all it is.

[00:10:23]It's a It's a conscious choice.

[00:10:27]Yeah, and Speaker Johnson spoke about it earlier, um how he came under attack for being there, and and how people forget that religion and belief in the divine was a key part of, you know, sort of establishing our country. It's It's what it was founded upon, uh freedom of religion. So, to just sort of dismiss it out of the dialogue, um it's it's not doing our country any service. Um you know, back to to what what it comes to our military, Chris, strength is not just in numbers or technology, but the strength of spirit of our service members. Here's Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. And not because they're going to get a medal for it, or they're going to be famous because of it. But it's because of the integrity and honor and duty [music] that they have inside them that makes them a warrior. Chris, it takes humility and selflessness to serve uh in the military at the highest levels. How does this demonstrate true strength, in your opinion?

[00:11:28]Well, you know, to to be humble, to be accountable, uh to be wrong. You know, those are all character traits. And to serve in the military, um you're learning all of those things. It just creates uh a better soldier, a better person.

[00:11:45]Um We're we're ingrained in during your military service. You're ingrained about ethics and ethical and morals and character. And you know, we have rules.

[00:11:54]Other countries don't have rules of engagement. You know, so we're fighting uh you know, sometimes almost an impossible battle because we're we're you know, told not to do things that you know, the enemy will do to us. So, you know, we're trying to live the moral high ground in the military. And Secretary of War Hexseth is, you know, in my opinion doing an amazing job bringing our standards back, bringing our moral morale back, bringing our recruitment numbers back. Um and that's because he's put putting back the basics. It's the basics of the military, the structure, the leadership, the history, the culture. All of those things that are why people love being saying you're a veteran because you remember all of those things that you went through during your military service, good and bad. And you laugh about them and talks talk about them and tell stories about them.

[00:12:50]Um but that's what you know, Secretary of War Hexseth's doing is trying to reinstall all those values back into the military where we can be lethal, we can be effective, and we will have people that are proud to serve this country once again. Now, many service members really don't receive recognition or glory. What drives you guys to just keep going and at such a high level and and high standards each day?

[00:13:21]That's a great question. Um when I was in the service, what they explained to us and I think it would be uh applicable to all levels of the service is that a lot of things that the military does especially as a seal is classified or secret or top secret. So a lot of times we do things that nobody will ever hear about. So they can't give you a reward. They can't give you a medal. They can't recognize you because if they do then that means you did something that wasn't supposed to be talked about. So we were instructed and taught that you're doing the job because of your brothers and sisters standing next to you. You're doing the job to protect your loved ones that are back home. You're doing this job because you want to be the best at your job. So it's just a different mindset. You're not doing it for a medal. You're not doing it for recognition. You're doing it to make sure that all of you men and women that are serving are coming home together.

[00:14:21]Chris, is there a story that comes to mind that sort of stuck with you that sort of displays that selflessness and the you know sacrifice that it took to to do all those things that you mentioned to you know protect your family back home and protect your you know brother in arms next to you.

[00:14:41]Well perfect perfect example is you know Michael Murphy where I run the museum with the family. You know Michael stepped out into the open fully exposing himself to make a phone call because all of this all of the radio equipment was destroyed and he had a satellite phone on him and he was doing that to hopefully save somebody on his team from imminent death. He knew he was probably going to die you know performing that act and he did die performing that act but he went out anyway. He stepped out into the open into enemy gunfire made a phone call that act you know ultimately saved Marcus Luttrell. So, it's just one of the numerous stories that I could say, uh you know, about where you have selflessness and you have that character and that, you know, uh devotion of of making sure that you do the right thing. You've talked about how it can be difficult to sort of find your purpose after a career in the military and how, you know, veterans can become leaders in their communities afterwards and, um you know, set an example that others can aspire to. How were you able to sort of fulfill your desire to serve after retiring as a SEAL?

[00:16:00]Well, that took me a long time to figure out because I was filling that void with work and extra work and uh school and all of these things that I thought, "If I just did this, I would feel better. If I just did that, I would feel better." You know, and it took me a long time to figure out um how and what my purpose should be because sometimes your purpose is not what you think it's going to be or what you want. Uh if I told you uh if somebody told me a few years ago that I would be running a a museum and, you know, putting mannequins together and and, you know, giving kids tours, I would have laughed at you. Um but what I found is that once I got around other veterans, and it was not SEALs only, um Marines that were in IED explosions, uh Army soldiers, all of these different people and heard their stories and listened and was just there for them to be a, you know, uh an ear, um I started understanding that my purpose would be more trying to help other veterans and then help them find their purpose. In in doing so, I wound up finding my own. So, it was uh serendipitous with that.

[00:17:14]Retired Navy SEAL Chris Wiley, uh greatly appreciate your service and really appreciate you coming on to share the stories with us.

[00:17:23]Thank you. It was my pleasure, Steve.