Bill Meyer Show Podcast - Sponsored by Clouser Drilling www.ClouserDrilling.com - 07-18-25_FRIDAY_8AM

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

07-18-25_FRIDAY_8AM...

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 The Bill Myer Show podcast is sponsored by Clouser Drilling. They've been leading the way in Southern Oregon well drilling for over 50 years. Find out more about them at www.clouserdrilling.com. Hey, we appreciate Doug holding on here. Doug, you were telling me, since it is Find Your Phone Friday, I want to get everybody's take on things here, that we were discussing thefts last week and you wanted to weigh in on something that happened that you were talking to a friend or You were out there went on Tolo Road somewhere. Go ahead. Yes. Yes Well, I was on Tolo Road heading to my daughter's house and I the guys were out there with their beehives
Starting point is 00:00:35 You know whole trailer full of beehives But I guess in recent years and this is costing guys millions of dollars They were coming in and loading up all of these guys beehives and then taking them someplace or selling them to somebody, but now they have to put chip detectors in their beehives so they can track them if they're stolen. Wow. So kind of like those apple tags. Whatever they call those, right?
Starting point is 00:01:04 You put them in the... Yeah, you know, of course, obviously all the bees go in at night, so these guys were going into these orchards and places like this and stealing all of these guys' beehives and... Yeah, nothing's sacred, Doug. Even your beehive for crying out loud? Really? Yeah, yeah. Well, they come in at night.
Starting point is 00:01:24 All the bees are in there. They just load them up in their trailer and they steal them. Yeah, and I would imagine the challenges at fighting that is that these rural areas a lot of times and not a lot of people necessarily around those beehives, especially orchards, you know, a lot of space, right? That kind of thing. Yeah, yeah, because these beehive owners travel all over different parts of the United States, so they got to pollinate this tree, and then they go to this farm, and then they go to that farm. But these guys think, yeah, it's costing millions of dollars when these bees would come in there and steal all the beehives and take them someplace else, or sell them, or do whatever. You know, I was reading someplace that...
Starting point is 00:02:06 Now this is just kind of a weird thing that entered my head. I remember reading something about a DARPA project in which they were creating like little bee drones. Have you heard about that? Did you ever hear about that deal? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And I was thinking, wouldn't it be interesting if DARPA ends up creating the bee drone and
Starting point is 00:02:22 you could put a bee drone into every one of those hives, then if someone tries to steal it, the Apple Air Tag then tells the B-Drone to go out there and attack the person carrying away the hive. Go after them. Go for it, I'll be darned. Yeah. But, you know, who'd have thought of this? This is just another way thieves stay. Let's go into these places in the middle of the night. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:02:45 You know, you have to go from one project to another. You know, we got to pollinate this alfalfa. We got to pollinate the orchards. Sure. Yeah, they're necessary. And a pox on these bastardos, okay? How about that? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:01 Well, it's just something I thought I'd throw out there, but how many people would know that? I wouldn't have known that unless you I thought I'd throw out there, but how many people would know that? I wouldn't have known that unless you called. I appreciate you doing that, Doug. Thank you. All righty. All right. You're having a great day.
Starting point is 00:03:12 You too now. 10 minutes after eight, this is the Bill Meyers Show. Appreciate you waking up this morning. Here. This is Bob at Father and Son Jewelry. We're here to help you design, pick, choose, and make that special ring for that special someone.
Starting point is 00:03:26 Just remember, if you have that special design in mind and he's thinking he can't afford it, come in and see us. We'll sit down with you and we'll work with you. You have a budget, we'll help you stay in that budget and we'll be able to make her happy and give her what she wants and you'll still walk. K290AF Rogue River in South Jackson County on 1067 K294AS Ashland. Gold star, gold star father I should say, not just gold star, gold star father George A. Lutz joins me this morning.
Starting point is 00:03:57 He's the founder of Honor and Remember. George, it's a pleasure having you on here over, although it's about a tribute to a sad event in your family. How are you doing? Welcome. I'm doing well, Bill. Thanks for the privilege to be on and talk to your listeners. By the way, is it Lutz or Lutes? I forgot to ask you. I just went with Lutz. Lutz is a good...yes, Lutz. Okay, good. Because I went to school with a Lutz. It was spelled the same way. I'm thinking, oh my, did I just screw this up? You never know. George, I wanted to bring you on here because you have a unique way of honoring your son.
Starting point is 00:04:35 First off, for those who don't know, what is a Gold Star family, if people who don't know this or are familiar with this in the military? But please let us know about that first. Yeah, sure, sure. Well, there's a lot of terms for a gold star, or say definitions, but a gold star officially is a family member who has lost a loved one in combat. Someone who has been in theater, lost their lives, and that's now been broadened to mean those who had died while serving, in any capacity while serving or as a result of serving. So it's kind of a broad definition, but it's military-related, losing your life in service to our country. Was it good to expand it in your view to anyone who was just serving or while in service to our country. Was it good to expand it in your view to anyone who was
Starting point is 00:05:25 just serving or while in service or because I always kind of thought it was was for people who actually died in combat which was what happened to your son George or Tony Watts II. He was killed in Fallujah that you write here. Yeah, I just don't get caught up in definitions, honestly, because the pain of knowing that your loved one, regardless of how they died in the military, is not walking through that door again. You're not going to hear their voice. I let the purists decide on the definition. I just want to make sure the families who know that it's military connected recognize that we haven't forgotten.
Starting point is 00:06:08 Yeah, when it's military connected. I think though there was a reason why some people have criticized the changing of these definitions because it's one thing, okay, you suffer a heart attack at your desk at the green room and it's different than what happened with your son. That's kind of where I was going. And I was wondering if sometimes, it's like, I'm not saying like, I don't want to be flipping when I say this, but there's been a change in our culture in which everybody gets a gold star so to speak, and no pun intended.
Starting point is 00:06:42 Yeah, I understand that. Well, let me answer it this way. Is that I just spoke to an individual, a widow, who's husband had committed suicide. Now suicide can have a stigma on it depending on how you look at it. But this guy was special forces. He had been deployed nine times. In 20 years, he was probably home three. And something horrific happened to him in a firefight. And mentally that war was brought home. And so can you say, oh, well, we shouldn't honor him for his service, you know service because of the way he died?
Starting point is 00:07:25 See, I just can't get into that kind of process. I understand then where you're going, and I appreciate that, but I at least wanted to bring it up because I've heard the kind of grumblings about this over the years from people within the forces. Could you tell us about what happened to your son, though, killed in 2005, and why you ended up going into... And you wrote a book about this. It really is a unique tribute to your son.
Starting point is 00:07:50 And I haven't even mentioned that yet. It's called, Tragedy to Tribute. One Father's Grief Fuels a Passionate Journey to Change the Mindset of a Nation. So tell us what happened with Tony. Yeah, sure. Tony was a very gregarious guy, kind of a marketing sales mentality. He joined the Army after 9-11. You know, he was affected by that tragedy and wanted to make a difference. And so he joined the Army in 03 when we were just going into Iraq. He was married
Starting point is 00:08:20 and had a child. He was 23 years old. And he felt like he could make a difference. And gosh, there was everything in front of him at that point in life. 23, right? Oh, he had already been to college. He had already started a business. He was doing what he wanted to do. He was getting into real estate. I mean, he was that kind of a guy. but he realized that, you know, he wanted to serve his country. And he came up to me one day, you know, he was a man living on his own with his family. And he said, Dad, I joined the army and I leave for boot camp on Saturday.
Starting point is 00:08:57 What was your thought when he did that, when he told you that? Yeah. So the first thing I said to him was, Tony, are you crazy? I said, there's a war going on. You could get hurt. Those were the first words out of my mouth. And he looked at me and he said, dad, I think I've got a skill set that can make a difference. The women and children of Iraq need our help. And, you know, I'll be back. So I gave him a hug. I told him I loved him, I told him to keep his head down. And that's all you could do, you know, as a loving father.
Starting point is 00:09:29 And I will tell you, this is what got me into this. When he died, Bill, I realized that I needed to have something to help me grieve, some way of healing myself, because he died for his country. How did he die in that conflict? What happened? So he was in Fallujah December 29th of 05 and he was manning a 50 caliber in the top of a Humvee overlooking a group of Marines and he was shot by a sniper. So it was just one clear clean shot, Oh boy. So it was just one clear clean shot, you know, and he was gone. And so, yeah, and it was just one of those, one of those, you know, right place at the wrong
Starting point is 00:10:12 time or wrong place at the right time, you know, whatever that, you know, however you want to look at it. And Harry, you are the father and what you told him on the way out, was that the last time you had seen him before this ended up happening, or had you seen him at some time before that? I was able to see him before he ended up on that deployment. It was Thanksgiving. We went down to Fort Bragg where he was stationed and hung out with a family before he was deployed. And that was the last time I saw him. I had a couple of conversations with
Starting point is 00:10:48 him on the phone while he was gone. The last conversation I had with him was on his birthday, which was December 12th. And it was only a text back and forth conversation. I put that in the book actually. Yeah. And he ended up passing away just what he was killed by that sniper 17 days later, wasn't he? He died immediately. Yeah. 17 days later, you know, he was gone. And you know, what do you do with that as a parent?
Starting point is 00:11:18 And then this is what my path took, right? Not finding anything in America that we all are unified around that sends that same message of appreciation, you know, I realized that we needed something in this country. We needed some way of saying thank you, you know, because when he came to me and said those words, Bill, you know, I realized that every parent in America would rather somebody else's kid died for their country besides their own. I mean, I'd rather my son be home.
Starting point is 00:11:50 And so somebody else's kid is giving their life so that yours doesn't have to. What's the least that we can do is say thank you. And how do you do that if you don't even know the families themselves, right? There's tens and hundreds of thousands of families out there that are grieving that never talk about it because it's too painful. But the one thing that they want is to be told or shown that their loved one hadn't been forgotten. So, how are you hoping to accomplish this with a tragedy to tribute?
Starting point is 00:12:28 Because this has been a big journey for you the last, I guess, 20 years, really. Yeah, 20 years. Well, I created a flag. I created what I hoped would become a national symbol of remembrance, the honor and remember flag. And so that has been my life's work, has been to get this flag out there for a way for you and your neighbor and everyone you know, to be able to say those words thank you
Starting point is 00:12:59 without actually having to know that family. The honor and remember, so this is why you ended up founding Honor and Remember. And by the way, that is honorandremember.org. So this is a... Right. You're just dedicated to a permanent public recognition. Now, are you hoping that we get these flags, that we fly them on certain days? Or where are you going? What are you hoping to do with this? Well, my hope is that this flag is on every flagpole across America on a regular basis, just sending that message continually to these families that their loved one is remembered. And so over the course of getting that done, you know, we've had legislation. For instance, 29 states have legislated the Honor and Remember flag as their state symbol of remembrance.
Starting point is 00:13:51 No kidding. Oregon is one of those states. Oregon actually did this? Yeah, Oregon actually did this back in, I want to say 2012. Okay, well so 2012, we've already had this because I have not heard much about this. And that's why I wanted to talk with you. I didn't realize that... Because, you know, Oregon is normally just falling over itself over pride flags, more so than honor and remember flags. I mean, you know, that's what we're told. It's like the state religion. I didn't realize that. Yeah. It's actually a state legislated flag of remembrance.
Starting point is 00:14:27 It took one Vietnam vets, combat veteran to bang on doors for a long time out there, you know, at the state house, you know, to get it done, but he did get it done, but that doesn't mean that it's that it's flying, but it means that it is the legislated state symbol. So that's, that's part of the goal. Plus we're working with corporations like NASCAR and the NHL and Norwegian Cruise Line and Spartan Nash grocery stores and getting flags on flagpoles all over America ourselves. Plus we have a bill in Congress right now, H.R. 1363, and we are working to make this a federally legislated flag.
Starting point is 00:15:11 I mean, it's very simple, similar to the POW-MIA flag, right? We needed to have awareness of those when they were captured back in the 70s, but then those that were missing. And there's thousands of families that are still waiting to find their families. But then there's tens of thousands of families who have lost their loved ones that don't have that same recognition. So consider it to be completing a circle of tribute, right? We have to remember the missing and the captured, but we also have to give honor to those that will never come home. I'm looking at the honor and remember flag right now that is on your website. And I have to tell you, I haven't seen many of these. and this is why we're talking, right? You want, because I was not even aware of this, even though we had a, well, I'm thinking 2012. So 13 years ago, the state legislature was less insane in those days. I could see why it would have
Starting point is 00:16:16 been passed during that particular time. And out here on the left coast, they have just gone completely off the rockers. It's a very attractive flag. It has a gold star, like the gold star family, like you talked about. Is that a flame inside that? Is that the way? Yeah, eternal flame. So what we have is, I'll just run it down for you, we've got the color red for the sacrifice that these men and women made. We've got the color white for the purity of their service, like my son. I'm going to go make a difference. Then we have a blue star, a thin blue star, which actually began in World War I when families hung blue stars
Starting point is 00:16:58 on windows to remind their neighbors that they had someone out in the fight. And then when that star was overlaid gold, it meant that that loved one, that family member wasn't coming home. So there's the blue and the gold star. And then you've got a folded flag that we recognize that was taken off a casket and folded reverently and handed to the family. And then the flames, eternal flames. I'm reminded of John F. Kennedy's grave site. There's an eternal flame
Starting point is 00:17:27 that burns forever. And the words below, we will always honor their sacrifice and remember them individually by name. It's something that we need in this country. It's something that we're coming up to. You'll identify this. Your listeners will identify this. We're coming up to our 250th year of our birth, right, our country's birth. But we didn't get to 250 years of freedom without 250 years of sacrifice. And all we're trying to do as an organization is to say that you cannot celebrate one without celebrating the other. You just can't say, okay, we've been here, but how did we get here and what keeps us
Starting point is 00:18:16 here? It's those men and women. And some people say, well, we have Memorial Day, that ought to be enough. Well, most Gold Star families hope for Memorial Day to be over. They don't want Memorial Day. It's interesting you bring this up because I have been concerned, I shouldn't say concerned, but I guess bothered, is how the greater culture would always tend to look at Memorial Day as another Veterans Day. And it's not, right? It's kind of
Starting point is 00:18:49 been muddied, I shouldn't say muddied, but muddled over the years that, oh, well, this is where Memorial Day for the veterans. Hey, nothing wrong with that. But there's Veterans Day for that. Memorial Day was supposed to be for the military dead. Like what you're talking about here. For the fallen veterans, if you want to look at it that way. But if you look, let me give you a different perspective. I call them heroes. These heroes have died on every calendar day, right? They didn't die on Memorial Day. So today is Memorial Day for a family, many families, you know, across the United States. Today is Memorial Day. Tomorrow will be Memorial Day for another family.
Starting point is 00:19:35 Every day is a Memorial Day for some family. Every day is Memorial Day. And so we, not that we don't need that day, we all need to have a collective reminder for sure. But the Honorary Member flag allows us to remember the family the day after Memorial Day, because we're not done, are we? I mean, when you go, hey, we want to remember the fallen, do you just forget about them the next day or a week later. I mean, no, we all want to be appreciative And so this flag gives everyone a unified and consistent way to just be appreciative It's our expression of appreciation and that's why it's so important. George a lots with me and George has written a book about his experience here, tragedy, to tribute one father's grief,
Starting point is 00:20:25 fuels a passionate journey to change the mindset of a nation. So you want to talk about remembering all the time. When you look back, and especially with new administrations taking a different take on that, and you know that your son, of course, killed by a sniper in Fallujah late December 2005. In retrospect, did we do it right, as you see it? When you look at what happened in Iraq, what was left afterward, even the withdrawal from Afghanistan, anything else? Do you have an opinion on that? I'm just curious, George. I am. Yeah. My opinion, Bill, is there's a lot of what-if questions. There are always what-if questions. There are still questions being answered about the Afghan pullout and the 13 that were killed. There's still questions going back to the USS Cole and that bombing back in 2000. I mean the Chinook.
Starting point is 00:21:27 I mean there's been many groupings. Take the groupings away and just look at individuals and the thousands of families that I have talked to. There's all these what if questions. It's very, very difficult to say, well, should we have been there or should we have not? Look at Vietnam. What did we accomplish?
Starting point is 00:21:48 Yeah, you can understand people saying that because guess what? When communist anyway, right? Right. And so now we're doing trade deals with them. Who would have thunk back in the day, right? So you, to me, you cannot, politics is its own animal. And, and I think that these men and women, even those in Vietnam and any other conflict, they go in for the right reasons. They want to protect their, you know, their, their families, their neighbors, you know, they want to make a difference. Washington gets it right, and they screw it up.
Starting point is 00:22:26 And all I know is that I'm going to be here to make sure that those families know that their sacrifice hasn't been forgotten, not the political nature of it, because it'll never be satisfied. You can drive yourself crazy on the political side, I think. Yeah, and there's no sense in it, honestly. Yeah, the reason I bring that up though is that I wondered if when, you know, here it is, you warn your son, son, keep your head down, right? You talked about this and then you get the worst news that could ever happen to a military family. You know this and it's like everything that you had prayed would not happen, ended up coming to be. And I just wondered if as part of your journey you were sitting there
Starting point is 00:23:11 and you know the wild wolf, you know, baying at the moon, you know, this sort of thing like why, you know, that kind of thing. What happened after you found out? Well, the interesting thing is that I never was mad at the government. Never. I was mad at God. I mean, I had some really hard conversations with God, you know, until he pulled me out of it and realized, you know, I mean, I don't know if you're a man of faith, I am, and then I don't know what your listeners are, but I mean, I had this very, very pointed conversation with God, and God said, don't worry about your son, I've got him. And that's all it took for me,
Starting point is 00:23:55 because I realized that there were other families who may not have an assurance of their loss, and maybe I needed to bring some healing to those families. And so this is why I began to focus outwardly and start meeting families and sharing with them and telling them, hey, we're going to keep remembering. Can you share a story maybe of some of these families that you've discussed? Oh, sure. So I'll give you a point in the story from a Vietnam-era family.
Starting point is 00:24:29 One thing we hadn't mentioned is that we present hand-sewn, personalized flags kind of as a benevolent arm of our organization. And so we'll hand-sew an honor remember flag with the name of a loved one the day they died and their theater of death. And then we'll present it to them We've presented Almost six thousand flags, you know over the course of the last 18 years And so I went to present a flag I was a family was a Vietnam couple in their 80s
Starting point is 00:25:00 Were supposed to come to an event the father had a heart attack, he wasn't able to come, he was recovering, so I went to him. And I walked up this New Jersey, very low-income neighborhood, was greeted in their home, the wife, very, very unusual for a husband and wife to be still married and to be alive, you know, from the Vietnam era. And so I sat in their living room and I explained to them this flag that I had. I showed it to them without the name on it. And this father burst into tears and he said, that flag is so beautiful. I wish I could have one." He didn't realize that I then opened a flag with his son's name on it. And the mother there said, this is the first time
Starting point is 00:25:52 in 40 years anybody has ever mentioned his name. And this is why I do this, Phil, because there are family members out there who are very extroverted and they're out there getting post offices and roads and bridges named after their loved ones. And then there's families middle of the road that can take it or leave it. It's painful, they're not sure what to do. And then there's families that you will never hear from
Starting point is 00:26:19 your entire life. You will never know that they exist because it's way too painful for them to even talk about it. And it could be your next door neighbor. And so I've got to reach all of those families and let them know when they see this flag that somebody is sending a message that they have not been forgotten and that sacrifice has not been in vain. I mean, it's a passion that I will take to my last breath. George, I appreciate you sharing some of your story here. And the real bottom line here is that symbols matter.
Starting point is 00:27:00 Yeah. And this is a very important symbol. I can understand your passion for this and I appreciate what you've done and What I can do then is just to mention where people can go to find out more about honor and remember That's pretty simple. It's honor and remember dot o RG now there is a website for the book to tragedy to tribute dot o RG and What are you hoping people people will take from it? Yes. My greatest hope is that people realize that sacrifice comes at a price, and that it needs to be appreciated. And the best way, I don't know how you would
Starting point is 00:27:41 appreciate it other than this, because I haven't found a way. But to me, what I would hope everyone would do if they had a flagpole is to get the Honor Member flag and put it up at their home, at their business. I mean, it doesn't even have to be someone they know. They could stop at a flagpole that's prominent and say, do you know about the Honor Member flag? And so this is what I hope.
Starting point is 00:28:05 I would want to see these flags flying. Let me give you an example, one quick example if I can. Sure. Is that when you, and I know you'll relate to this, whenever the US flag is moved down to half staff, aren't you always wondering why? Yes, I am. Isn't that always a question like,
Starting point is 00:28:25 hey, why is the flag at half staff? And so here's my visual, is that whenever there's a military casualty, if an honor or member flag was under that US flag when it was lowered to half staff, you would know that a hero gave their life for their country. Got it. Okay. That's a vision that I would like to see. All right, very good. George, I appreciate you sharing some of your journey here. More of that is at tragedytotribute.org, and you can find out more about Honor and Remember at honorandremember.org. Appreciate your work on this. Are you are you doing okay now 20 years later?
Starting point is 00:29:05 Yeah, you know it's ripping of the scab every day Bill. I'm doing very well, you know we're making progress and the more families I can touch you know the more my healing grows. So yeah I'm doing really well just getting old and getting tired. Okay well may it be a long life too, my friend. Thank you, George. Thank you. Great having you on the program. George Lutz. It's 841 at KMED. and enter to win a GP6500 watt Generac portable generator from Patriot Electric, your local Generac generator dealer that installs a full line of generators to keep your property powered up during outages.
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Starting point is 00:34:56 Join us at the Jackson County Fair, July 15th through the 20th at the Expo. Don't miss the 4-H and FFA exhibits, the Junior livestock auction, and of course, delicious carnival food! Check out incredible concerts at the Bi-Mart Amphitheater. Wednesday, July 16th, it's country superstar Jodi Messina. Thursday, July 17th, it's classic rock legends Kansas.
Starting point is 00:35:14 Then, it's skillet on Friday, July 18th, and a Taylor Swift salute on Saturday, July 19th. All headline entertainment is included with your fair admission. Enjoy over 25 thrilling carnival rides. Get your wristbands early at Food for Less or online at the Expo. Remember, kids 12 and under are free every day thanks to the West Family Foundation. Sunday, everyone gets in free thanks to Ray's Food Place. New this year? Free Park and Ride Shuttles from Crater High School or the Back 40 off Gebhard Road. It's fun for the whole herd at the Jackson County Fair July 15th through the 20th at
Starting point is 00:35:49 the Expo. For details, go to theexpo.com. Hi, this is Lisa, the Hughes Lumber Girl, and I'm on 106.7 KMED. You're going to have fun with this one. It's the Diner 62 Real American Quiz. Let me go to Melinda. Hi, Melinda. How you doing? Hi, good morning. Even if you guess, Melinda, you have a 20% chance of winning this, okay? Even if you just guess. So here we go. John Jacob Astor was born yesterday in 1763,
Starting point is 00:36:20 designed to, or destined rather, to make a fortune from the furs of the American West, John Jacob Aster is born pretty modest circumstances, a small German village of Waldorf. So in his home village of Waldorf, Germany, not far from Heidelberg, the young Aster's opportunities were respectable, though limited. He was the son of a village butcher. And John Jacob Astor could have followed in his father's footsteps or entered some other modest trade. But instead, when he was 16, Melinda, Astor left Waldorf and traveled to London to join his brother in manufacturing. And he was eager to find new markets for their products. And so the two brothers looked overseas to the newly independent United States of America, and they're thinking, hey, that's a plum to be picked.
Starting point is 00:37:07 So in 1793, John Jacob Astor sailed to America with a shipload of this. What did he have a shipload of to get his future in the United States started? So it's one of five things. Was it A, wool fabric? So he had a ship full of sheep, okay? Well, wool fabric actually. Was it B, musical instruments? Was it C, shoes? Was it D, pottery? Or was it E, soap? How did John Jacob Astor get his start in the United States? Okay, musical instruments. You're thinking musical instruments? Really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you got it. I thought this was going to fool everybody. Who would have
Starting point is 00:37:58 thought that he'd be having a ship full of musical instruments? But that's exactly what happened. a ship full of musical instruments. But that's exactly what happened. Excellent. Yeah, and this is it. He sailed for America with a shipload of flutes. It's, of all things, flutes. And he didn't have a lot of money. And then on the way, Astor became friends with a fur dealer who persuaded him to sell his flutes in New York and then use the profits to buy furs. Then he would sell those back in London. And so John did that and had a big profit convinced him to enter full-time into the fur trade and he made numerous trips to the Western frontier. By the end of the century he become the leading fur merchant. After the Louisiana purchase he
Starting point is 00:38:41 then moved to exploit this huge new territory. And although Lewis and Clark's exploration of the territory brought back the news that there was no easy waterway to get there, Aster was nonetheless convinced that a Pacific Coast operation could be profitable for China. So he was trying to get the furs sold in China, and so he created the Pacific Fur Company. Ever in a couple of years his men had established that trading post and we know it as Astoria. I don't know if you remember that or not. So the outbreak of the war of 1812 forced Astor to abandon Astoria to the British, effectively destroying that Pacific Fur Company, but he eventually got the same in by, he gradually expanded
Starting point is 00:39:26 his New York based American fur company West. And by 1823, John Jacob Astor had dominated the American fur trade, although the British Hudson Bay Company maintained its hold in the Oregon territory until 1845. And then by then the fur trade was already going into a steep decline because well, we were wiping out the beavers. That's why we saw the beavers, we killed them and they were they all gone. And fashion and fashion, by the way, was shifting over to silk rather than for hats. And so killing beavers didn't help that.
Starting point is 00:39:59 No, there you go. Well, we're going to send you to 962 and you'll get a little bit of history in there too. Hang on. Access your stored items in comfort. Storage at Exit 24 has climate controlled elevator access units from 5x5 to 10x30 that are warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and always well lit and secure. Visit storage at exit24.com.
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Starting point is 00:41:16 Because a Ford Certified Pre-Owned Vehicle can be any make for any model. And it's backed by a 90-day, 4,000-mile comprehensive warranty. It's as low a risk as it gets when it comes to buying a used vehicle. Hey, when you see Ford's ads for 0% financing, 0 down payments, no payments for 90 days, come see us. We can do that too. Butler-Fortin' Truck Center, just 12 short minutes down the freeway in Ashland, right off X-19, where you know we've got your truck, your SUV,
Starting point is 00:41:40 certified pre-owned, and always your savings. 24-month lease with 6,600 cash or trade due at signing on thin number 858054 with selling price of $51,497 after all rebates and discounts on approved credits and form-order financing. Excludes tax, license, title, and $250 dealer.fees. See the list for details. If you've been injured in an accident, you've got Reed Law Firm on your side. I'm Shane Reed. Call us for a free,
Starting point is 00:41:58 no-obligation consultation to discuss your case. We've been helping injured clients get the care and resources they need to get their lives back on track for 27 years. Don't be a victim twice. Put our experience on your side. Find us at reedlawfirm.com, R-E-E-D, lawfirm.com, or call us and let's talk. 772-3266. Welcome to the Bill Meyer show on 1063 KMED. Give Bill a call at 541-770-5633.
Starting point is 00:42:31 That's 770-KMED. If you ever wonder what that song is, Smithereens, Blood and Roses. Smithereens from New Jersey was the best Moprock band of the 80s. I always call it Moprock. I don't know if that was an official, you know, the kind of people that I'm really depressed, but it's a really great song. You know, that kind of thing. It's 855.
Starting point is 00:42:57 So some emails of the day. Maybe I'll grab a quick call here before we wrap up to emails of the day are sponsored by Central Point Family Dentistry and Dr. Steve Nelson. They take pride in their same-day crowns made in office. I had one of them put in just a few days ago and for how expensive crowns are today you want to be sure you get what you pay for. They're really efficient and they'll give you just excellent care. I think you'd like that. dentistry.com. And I had Butch write in, says, Bill, OMG, I just went in and looked at the proposed new ballpark and assorted structures that go with it. This is the the one in Medford Hawthorne. It's got to be the worst design for any
Starting point is 00:43:39 development I've ever seen. Everyone needs to go on the City of Medford website and look at the design, magnify the image and study it closely. Wonderful! The viaduct runs right through the middle of it. Imagine all the noise that will generate. Well, it's not in the middle of it though, is it? It's not underneath the viaduct, butch, I don't think so. But anyway, imagine all the noise that will generate. Oh, this is Randy. I'm sorry, not butch. Imagine all the noise that will generate. Oh, this is Randy. I'm sorry, not Butch. Imagine all the noise that will generate. Might have missed it, but didn't see anything in the designs showing any parking areas. Guess you'll have to walk some distance to get to the game.
Starting point is 00:44:13 Thumbs down on the design. Okay, that's one. I appreciate your writing about that. And then I have Michael who says, Bill, I believe that we're being distracted with the soap opera that is politics and foreign conflict instead of being concerned with the science and the data that is available that is showing what's happening with our sun and the earth. The powers that be know that we're in for one heck of a ride in the near future. Elites are building bunkers not to protect them from nuclear blasts but from the wrath of God.
Starting point is 00:44:46 The earth is undergoing a weakening magnetic field and the sun is acting up, which then puts the inhabitants of this planet in a dire situation. Not to mention the infrastructure we so depend on for everyday life. The Bible's been warning us. What exciting times we live in, if you trust in the Lord. Please forgive my rambling, Mr. Meyer. No problem, Michael. I appreciate your writing. I just look at the bright side. I don't have to worry about that pesky credit card bill, if you are right on that. Okay? And let me grab another call before we wrap for the week. Hi, good morning. Who's this? Good morning. This is your brother.
Starting point is 00:45:20 Brother Brad. I got about a minute. SLM. I got about a minute for the SLM. What do you say? Real quickly, the guy you had on honor, remember? That was powerful. I'm glad you got something from that. I got a boy that made it out. He was there. He was in, he was in the worst. They made it out. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:45:47 And they'll lose your boy. That's a hard thing, but look what he's done in memory. Yeah. Of all the things you've had on your radio, dude, that's one of the most powerful anointed messages we've had. I'm glad and proud we were able to bring it to you, Brad. And thanks for sharing. Okay.

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