Turns out Kelly suggested the "he knew what he signed up for" language.
"...then he said how do you make these calls? If you're not in the family, if you've never worn the uniform, if you've never been in combat, you can't even imagine how to make that call, but I think he very bravely does make those calls.
The call in question that he made yesterday — a day before yesterday now — were to four family members, the four fallen.... But the phone call is made to the next of kin only if the next of kin agrees to take the phone call. Sometimes they don't. So a precall is made. The president of the United States, will you accept the call, and typically they all accept the call. [This is how Frederica got to listen; she knew the call was coming.] So he called four people the other day and expressed his condolences in the best way he could.
The call in question that he made yesterday — a day before yesterday now — were to four family members, the four fallen, and remember, there's a next of kin designated by the individual; if he's married, that's typically the spouse. If he's not married, that's typically the parents, unless the parents are divorced and he selects one of them. If he didn't get along with his parents, he'll select a sibling. But the phone call is made to the next of kin only if the next of kin agrees to take the phone call. Sometimes they don't. So a precall is made. The president of the United States, will you accept the call, and typically they all accept the call. So he called four people the other day and expressed his condolences in the best way he could.
And he said to me, what do I say? I said to him, sir, there's nothing you can do to lighten the burden on these families. Let me tell you what I tell them, let me tell you what my best friend told me because he was my casualty officer: He said Kel, he was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1 percent. He knew what the possibilities were. Because we're at war. And when he died, and the four cases we're talking about Niger and my son's cases in Afghanistan, when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this Earth, his friends. That's what the president tried to say to four families the other day.
I was stunned when I came to work yesterday morning and broken-hearted at what I saw a member of Congress doing, a member of Congress who listened in on a phone call from the president of the United States to a young wife. And in his way tried to express that opinion that he's a brave man, a fallen hero, he knew what he was getting himself into because he enlisted, there's no reason to enlist, he enlisted and was where he wanted to be, exactly where he wanted to be with exactly the people he wanted to be with when his life was taken. That was the message. That was the message that was transmitted. It stuns me that a member of Congress would have listened in on that conversation. Absolutely stuns me. And I thought at least that was sacred.
You know, when I was a kid growing up a lot of things were sacred in our country. Women were sacred. Looked upon with great honor. That's obviously not the case anymore, as we've seen from recent cases. Life was sacred. That's gone. Religion. That seems to be gone as well. Gold Star families, I think that left in the convention over the summer. I just thought the selfless devotion that brings a man or woman to die in the battlefield, I thought that might be sacred.
And when I listened to this woman and what she was saying and what she was doing on TV, the only thing I could do to collect my thoughts was to go and walk among the finest men and women on this Earth. And you can always find them. Because they're in Arlington National Cemetery. Went over there for an hour and a half, walked among the stones, some of whom I put there because they were doing what I told them to do when they were killed. I'll end with this.
In April of 2015, while still on active duty, I went to the dedication of the new FBI field office in Miami. And it was dedicated to two men who were killed in a firefight in Miami against drug traffickers in 1986. A guy by the name of Grogan and Duke. Grogan almost retired, 53 years old. Duke, I think less than a year on the job. They got in a gunfight and killed. Three FBI agents were there, wounded, now retired. We go down and give a brilliant memorial speech to all of the men and women of the FBI who serve our country so well and law enforcement so well. There were family members there. Some of the children were only 3, 4 years old when their dads were killed on that street in Miami-Dade.
Three of the men that survived the fight were there and gave rendition of how brave those men were and how they gave their lives. And a congresswoman stood up and, in the long tradition of empty barrels making the most noise, stood up there in all of that and talked about how she was instrumental in getting the funding for that building. How she took care of her constituents because she got the money and just called up President Obama and on that phone call he gave the money, the $20 million to build a building, and she sat down. And we were stunned. Stunned that she had done it. Even for someone that is that empty a barrel, we were stunned. But none of us went to the press and criticized. None of us stood up and were appalled. We just said okay, fine.
So I still hope as you write your stories and I appeal to America that let's not let this maybe last thing that's held sacred in our society, a young man, young woman going out and giving his or her life for our country, let's try to somehow keep that sacred. But it eroded a great deal yesterday by the selfish behavior by a member of Congress."
Very moving speech, worth listening to in its entirety. Everyone who was ripping on Trump for this particular issue should be ashamed.