Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Mom fears worst for missing soldier & HEAR a special 4th of July song

Episode Date: July 4, 2018

Army investigators consider Trevor Nichols to be AWOL, but his mother suspects the young soldier and father of a 2-year-old son was perhaps murdered. Nichols disappeared in November 2017 when he was supposed to board a train for a 2-week leave. Erin Nichols shares her concerns about her son's disappearance with Nancy Grace. Cold Case Research Institute director Sheryl McCollum, lawyer and& psychologist Dr. Brian Russell, and CrimeOnline.com reporter Leigh Egan join the discussion. Nancy shares thoughts on this 4th of July with singer-songwriter Barry Michael, whose new song "I Stand" is a ballad about why he stands for the national anthem. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Use promo code Nancy for your special discount. That's promo code Nancy. If you could see Trevor Nichols' face right now, you would see what I see, this beautiful smile, these big hazel eyes looking at you, just kind of one of those charismatic personalities. Have you ever known somebody that everybody just wants to be with, everybody wants to hang out with? That's the way Trevor Nichols strikes me.

But Trevor is missing. He had spoken with his mom just before he goes missing. He was packing an apartment to move from Fort Drum, New York to Fort Riley, Kansas. What happened? His mom in a no man's land, like in a bad dream, still trying to find her son. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us, with me right now. Trevor's mother, Erin Nichols. The director of the Cold Case Research Institute, Cheryl McCollum.

Dr. Brian Russell, lawyer, psychologist, and host of Investigation Discovery's Fatal Vow series, and CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Lee Egan, straight out to Erin Nichols. Ms. Nichols, thank you for being with us. I want to go straight into the disappearance of your awesome son, Trevor. Tell me what he was talking about the last time you two spoke on the phone. He was really frustrated. He was packing up all his things from the apartment,

and everything that was left in the apartment was from his estranged wife and his infant son. Lucas was just a little over a year old. And he was telling me he was just having trouble getting everything put into storage before he could go on leave. He had like a two-week leave before he was due to report into Fort Riley. And he said, Mom, I just don't know if I'm going to be able to get this done and get home to see you guys before I go to Fort Riley.

And I told him, I said, I understand. You know, I was a little disappointed, but, you know, hopefully you'd be able to make a quick stop on your way through to the other side of the country. And that was the last we talked to him. Trevor Nichols, brown hair, hazel eyes, a very small scar on his left arm. It's about 6'2", close to 200 pounds. Where is Trevor?

His mom still looking for him. 24 years old as of the date he goes missing. We are joining the search for this awesome veteran. He had been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, never complaining with an estranged wife and a beautiful little child. What can you tell me about their location, the estranged wife at the time Trevor goes missing, Erin? Trevor had come home in late August, early September

to bring them back home here with her parents in Springfield, Ohio, while he was at a three-month assignment at West Point. And he returned home in late September, or sorry, late August, early September, to take them back home. And at that time, Carla had said that she wanted a divorce. So Carla remained here in Springfield, Ohio with her parents. So at the date that he went missing, she and my grandson Lucas were here in Springfield, Ohio with her parents. Erin, was the divorce, was it going to be amicable or was there acrimony was there another person was there a love triangle what do we know don't know they never ended up filing for divorce before Trevor disappeared and Carla would always tell me there's reasons we're not together, but she would never really tell me what was happening.

Well, did he? No, he never really did. It was very frustrating on my end because I just never really got answers from them. Well, to Cheryl McCollum, director of the Cold Case Research Institute, that's the first place you look. And nobody is a target. Nobody is a person of interest. Nobody's a suspect right now. But what I find very unusual is that Trevor leaves behind his driver's license, his U.S. military ID card, and his cell phone. Okay, that's not right, Cheryl. No, and Nancy, that's probably the most alarming thing for me because somebody 24 years old, their whole world is in that cell phone. Even if they were to have left that at home, they would have turned around and gone and got that.

So if, you know, he was traveling somehow, whether it is an airplane or a train or a bus, you have to have some form of ID. So that only kind of leaves the passport if he has one. Well, that tells me that he didn't ever make it as far as that apartment. I would agree with you. No question about it. I mean, passport, smashport. This guy didn't leave the country.

This guy is not built that way. He was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division 1st Brigade Combat Team as of that November. Correct. This guy is not leaving the country and leaving behind a baby boy and an unresolved

relationship. His plans were definite. Erin, did you notice any issue with him moving when you spoke on the phone just before he disappeared? Other than the fact that he was upset that he was being transferred to Riley, which travels further the opposite direction of Carla and the baby. He said, now I'm going to be even further away from my son. So, you know, he was frustrated with the transfer.

But, yeah, I don't know. But what that says to me, to Dr. Brian Russell joining me, lawyer and psychologist, host of the wildly popular Investigation Discovery Fatal Vows series. Dr. Brian, if he was upset that he was going to be even further away from Lucas, his baby boy, there's no way he'd leave the country for Pete's sake, be even further away from the little boy. That just was not going to happen. So that is not the answer, Dr. Brian. I agree. I agree.

I agree. And had he left the country, there would likely be a record of that exit. And so if that's not available, then it seems to me that that's very unlikely the explanation. Trevor Nichols disappears. He was taking, we believe, an Amtrak train from Fort Drum, New York, for a few weeks before reporting to Fort Riley, Kansas. Now, we are learning this from acquaintances. Friends say they told police they saw him get on the Amtrak, but they won't say whether they drove him to the station.

Now, this is what I'm learning, that there seem to be no records or tickets showing he ever got on on that train. So that makes my suspicions turn toward the story. Cheryl McCollum, if they did not take him to the Amtrak, then how do they see him get on the train? And also, why would you get on the train on an Amtrak, which I've been on many, many times, if you don't take your driver's license, your military ID, or your cell phone, why in the world would you do that? That doesn't seem true to me, Cheryl. That's what I was saying about the train. The only possible form of ID he could have had to prove it was him to get the ticket to get on the train would be the passport. They have no record of that man getting on a train. These three friends, that's where I would start. If you saw that man get on a train, show me where you were standing. Let's pull some video and prove you got inside of Amtrak. I don't believe it for one minute, Nancy. Is any of his

luggage missing from the apartment? Why these three friends? Why did they take him? Why did he pick them? Were they friends or acquaintances? Did he normally take a train? Is there any record of him ever taking a train? There's something very, very wrong with this story. Let's go to the source, Erin Nichols.

This is Trevor's mom. We are on the search for a young man who goes missing, leaving behind a wife, a little baby he adores, and a veteran. A veteran still in the military, heading to his next gig. Erin Nichols, what can you tell me? Did you think he was traveling by Amtrak? I thought maybe he was headed home. Trevor has traveled by train before. He would go down to Syracuse and catch the train and come home. He would come home via, not Sandusky, Cleveland. We've gone up to Cleveland to pick him up several times. The Amtrak stops there. So I thought maybe when Gage, the one friend that said that that's what he did when he called me and said that Trevor got

on the train, I thought, okay, fine. I'm going to be getting, that was Friday night, November 17th. I thought I was up all night that night thinking, okay, Trevor's going to get into the train station at four o'clock in the morning and he's going to be calling me to come get him in Cleveland. Never happened. Okay. Let me understand. Let me understand something. You mean that day you were told before he was ever reported missing that he was on a train, Gage called and told you that? Gage told me on the Wednesday morning, November 15th, Gage is the one that contacted me and said, have you talked to Trevor today? And I said, no, I just talked to him yesterday. And he was telling me he was packing the apartment. And Gage said, yes, I was the one helping him.

I went back this morning to help him clean up before inspection, and he was gone. That was November 15th. Well, if he was gone, then how is that consistent with Gage telling you he put him on the train? Because two days later, Carla, the wife, let me know that they had had activity on Trevor's debit card. So at that point, I was still talking with Gage like every couple hours. And Gage said, well, where was this card used? And he and a couple of the buddies from base went to go find Trevor that's when he called me and said that he had gotten on the train that was Friday night November 17th let's go back through the timeline Trevor's getting transferred with

the military he doesn't want to go because it takes him too far away from his son Lucas. He's getting ready to go anyway. He's never been AWOL, ever. He's done tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is talking

to you on the phone. On what day is the last day you spoke to him? November what? 14th. He speaks to you what? Morning, noon, day is the last day you spoke to him, November what? 14th. He speaks to you what, morning, noon, or night? It was in the evening. It was in the late afternoon. Okay, afternoon. What's the next thing that happened after November 14th conversation with Trevor in the afternoon?

It was early November 15th, Wednesday morning. I got a Facebook Messenger message from Gage, Gage Gonzalez. And he said, I'm one of Trevor's Army buddies. Have you talked to him today? And that's when he told me that they went back to the apartment to help him clean. And Trevor was not there. Was all this over Facebook or over the phone? Facebook Messenger at that point with Gage. So that does not make sense to me that first he says, have you talked to Trevor?

Why would he be contacting the mother? Okay. Then he says, I don't know what day yet, we went back and he's gone. Is that the way it went? That was still on the 15th. That was still the Wednesday morning, the 15th. He told me they went back to the apartment to help Trevor clean

and he was not there. So when he's first contacting you about where is Trevor, it's because they've been to the apartment and he's not there. So when he's first contacting you about where is Trevor, it's because they've been to the apartment and he's not there? Yes. Oh, okay. That makes sense because the way I was hearing it, they called you and said, where's Trevor? Have you talked to him? Then they went back to the apartment.

That's the first story I'm getting. No. So let me be clear. Yes. They contact you when they go to the apartment and they don't see him. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. That's November 15.

What time of the day? Early morning. Early morning. Early morning, a.m. They can't find Trevor. Had you ever spoken to Gage Gonzalez before? No. How did he know to find you? Probably

Trevor's Facebook page had me listed as mom. He is friends with Trevor on Facebook. Okay, so that's how he reached you on Facebook. What's the next thing that happened, Erin? When does Gage then tell you he put him on the train? Friday night, November 17th. Okay, so between November 15th and November 17th, did you hear from Gage saying, oh, I found him? No, Gage did not find him until Trevor's wife Carla let me know that there was activity on his debit card. Told me where that was. I told Gage. Then Gage went to go look for Trevor.

Where was the debit card activity? Pulaski, New York. Where is that in relation to his home? I'm not sure how many miles, but it's not too far from base. And where was it? A restaurant? A bar? A gas station? Where was it?

I honestly don't know. Nobody ever told me where it was actually used. Have you talked to cops? The military police won't tell me anything. I have asked them many times. Did you pull ATM footage? Where was the card used? Have you checked it again? Have you pulled... Wait a minute. Won't it show up where it was used? ATM card used where?

It should say on his statement. But I don't have access to his records. Does his wife? I don't know. That would be a good thing to find out. Would you agree with that, Cheryl McCollum? Absolutely, Nancy. And the wife is the one that told everybody the debit card was used.

So if she knew there was activity and she knew where it was used, she had that information. Did you ever ask the wife, Erin? Carla won't hardly talk to me. In fact, right now, she and I are a very sore spot. Bad blood. Dr. Brian Russell, lawyer, psychologist, host of I.D.'s Fatal Vows. There's a problem right there. Everybody's got to pull together to try to find Trevor instead of the bad blood. I mean, at a time like this, this isn't the time for unreturned phone calls and nasty texts. Yeah, that's right. It's always interesting to me, you know, in a suspiciously curious way when everybody who is, even if there's a bad spot in a marriage, everybody who is close to somebody such that you would believe that they would have the person's best interest at heart

if the person goes missing, even if for no other reason than, you know, this is the co-parent of your child, you would think that everybody would sort of be coming together, throwing any information that they had into the mix. And when somebody is not appearing to do that, it just makes me wonder why not. I'm wondering the same thing. Erin Nichols, I mean, I know you may not get along with the daughter-in-law for a lot of reasons. I mean, they're on the brink of divorce. The grandchild is in the mix. There's a lot of emotions, but it would seem that everybody could get on one page to try to find Trevor. What is the daughter-in-law saying at all about this? She won't even talk to me at this point.

I did get a message from her mother the other day that I'm no longer welcome over at their home to see the grandbaby because I'm the liar. She said that I interfered with Carla filing the missing person report. Because he filed it at a different police station. Y'all need to get past that. If she's listening right now. She never filed it. She never filed it.

Well, you may have had the wrong jurisdiction and I'm not even saying you did, but at least you filed a police report. Something's not sitting right with me. I can tell you that right now. Let me get back to the timeline. So November 15, you speak to the friend, Gage Gonzalez. He can't find your son to help him pack. Interesting to me that you guys don't speak again until November 17.

No, we did speak. We spoke to each other every couple hours over the next two days. Okay. That's when I've written down something completely different. So November 15 and November 17. After November 15, when he tells you, asks you, where is Trevor? When is the next time you hear from him? Like I just said, we spoke every couple hours, you know, like every probably six hours at least.

We'd go by and he'd say, any updates? And we'd be back and forth. Any updates? Have you heard anything? Have you heard from him? You know, so both of us were back and forth seeing if there was any news. When did he tell you, oh, I found Trevor? After Carla let me know there was activity on the debit card,

I had contacted him to let him know where. He said, okay, I'm getting with a couple of the guys from base. We're going to go look for him. Then he called me just like two hours later and said that they found Trevor, but he didn't want to go back to base. He wouldn't even get on the phone to talk to me, and that he got on the train to leave New York. Okay, right there.

That's the problem. What day is this, November 17th? November 17th, about 10 o'clock at night. That doesn't sound true to me. Dr. Brian Russell, I mean, I'm just a trial lawyer. You're the lawyer and the psychologist and host of ID's Fatal Vows. Something's wrong right there. To say he doesn't want to go back, he wants to leave his driver's license and his iphone at his apartment and he puts him on a plane i'm on a train and he won't speak to his mother that that's not right right there yeah these guys have got to be interviewed it does sound to me like perhaps

they i'm you know looking at this uh this in the light most favorable to these three fellow soldiers, it sounds like perhaps they did believe that he was going AWOL and they don't want to be accused of having aided and abetted that. So when asked, do you know what happened to him, yes, he got on the train. Did you take him there? They don't want to answer that question because maybe they did take him there, thinking they were doing the right thing ultimately for his mental health and everything, getting him on a train to go back to his family

if they felt he was in some kind of fragile mental state. but then they don't want their superiors coming down on him for then having aided and abetted him, going AWOL, if in fact that's what they believed he was doing. But they've got to be interviewed to see, you know, what in the world did they think he was getting on the train for, and what kind of mental state did he seem to be in because it certainly i agree is very unusual that he would have left those things behind even if he was distraught and kind of uh you know unraveling mentally over what all was happening with his marriage and moving across the country with the redeployment and all that cheryl mccollum i hear dr brian russell and he just gave me what I would do. If this was my case, this is what I would do.

Those three friends would be in three separate patrol cars. Individually, they would drive. Where did you drop him off? Did they go to the same exact location or not? Where were you standing when they got him on the train? Everybody that can hear me right now, y'all know good and well, when men take somebody to a train station or the airport or anywhere, they pull up the curb, drop their buddy

off, do the see ya, and they leave. They don't get out and walk up to the plane platform and watch him get on the train. That never happens. Never. I agree. Yeah, When guys drop off our buddies at the airport or the train station, we pull up out front, the buddy gets out, and that's generally the end of it. That's weird if they say they

waited there and actually watched him board the train. If they did do that, it leads me to think that they thought he was in some kind of fragile state of mind and that they were doing the right thing, putting him on a train to head home. Now they may be worried about looking like they aided and abetted somebody going AWOL, so they're being cagey about exactly what they did. It sounds to me like the military, as an organization, believes that he did go AWOL.

And I think it's important to keep in mind that, you know, let's say he did have some kind of a mental breakdown and he decided that he was going to go home to mom and the friends found him in some kind of fragile state and thought that they were doing the best thing for him, helping him do that, it could have gone down that way. And then along the way, he could have become the victim of something completely unrelated. In other words, what I'm saying is there could have been technically a desertion under some kind of very difficult mental circumstance that he was under, followed by some completely unrelated crime of which he became the victim, either before getting on the train or after. Here's the reality. You have to have an ID.

So either he did not board that train or he did so with a fake ID. So they need to go back to that manifest. Was it one of the three names of one of the three people that dropped him off? Was it another ID that he stole? You have to have an ID to get on Amtrak. Cheryl, if you'll recall, when I tried cases, I wouldn't speak to anybody. I wouldn't do anything during a trial at all because I did not want to be involved in any other thought process beside trying the case. And what I just did was project. I projected what I would do onto this scenario.

That is an emotion. That's wrong when you're trying to figure something out. See, I was thinking, I'm upset. I'm going to have to. You think I'd be. H-E-double-L would freeze over before I would leave the twins. Okay. Not happening.

So I was thinking, if I was so upset about transferring away from the twins, God help me, why would I leave the twins and never see them again? So I was thinking, I was projecting my own feelings onto this Cheryl McCollum, mistake number one, tactical error number one, but that doesn't seem right to me that he would go AWOL and leave behind his son. If he's so upset, he's got to move away from his son, Cheryl. Am I crazy? No, you're not crazy. That's two steps away from sanity. So here's my issue. Where is his cell phone?

And who's gone through that phone? Because the morning those gentlemen went back to the apartment to supposedly help him and couldn't find him, they should have started calling him, leaving messages for him long before they contacted mama on Facebook Messenger. Why would they contact mama and not the wife? Why would they not go to their commanding officer? Why would they not go to MP? It seems like they're contacting the wrong person. She's too far away. And here's another reality. You got a child missing?

I don't care if the child is grown and in the Army. He's 24. He's still your child. I don't care if the police departments are seven miles away or not. File a report everywhere you can to let people know he's missing. The world should stop. So Tremont and Spring springfield who gives a damn who filed the report where file one everywhere okay that leads me to this

aaron nichols this is trevor's mother you didn't think it was weird he wouldn't get on the phone with you yes i did yes i thought that was very strange because trevor and i have always been close and as soon as he went missing i was calling new york and tried to file a missing person report and they told me it was a military matter and wouldn't file it in new york wow okay see that's just wrong that is just wrong right there so So, Erin, let me understand this. The friends call you November 7. They say November 17. They say they put him on a train, a train to where? And that's where the story gets confusing, too.

The story's already confusing. But where do you think he was going? It gets very confusing after that because his ceo called me and said well apparently he got on a train headed west so that's when i thought he was headed to cleveland and i would be getting the call to pick him up when i talked to the detective and i'm sorry i can't think of what county Watertown is in. Watertown, New York, is right outside of the base. That is the detective that I talked to.

He told me that the guys told him that Trevor got on the train for New York City. You know, am I wrong? Lee Egan with me, investigative reporter with CrimeOnline.com, but Amtrak, Greyhound, the airports, they're all dripping with surveillance video. What do we know about surveillance video of the Amtrak, Lee? Well, at this time, nothing, because the military police are not allowing anyone to know anything. And Aaron got a private investigator to check things out. And even she can't get into the surveillance video because she would need to have permission from the military police. Well,

do we know if there is surveillance video at the Amtrak? There is surveillance video at Amtrak, but we do not know. We do not have it for him. Erin, do you know if they got the surveillance video? The MPS won't even talk to me. They won't even talk to me. I've called them, I don't know how many times. And I said, did you pull the video? Did you, did you have proof that he got on that train alive? And we will, we can't tell you anything over the phone. I said, I'm in Ohio. This is my son. Would they tell you in person? Well, surely they have military police, but I don't have the money to go to New York. I don't understand. You know, I don't understand.

Have you thought of driving or taking an Amtrak to New York I mean yeah I thought of it but I other than talking to the military police in person I wouldn't even know where to start okay question to you are they saying they won't speak

to you over the phone and they would speak to you in person not clarified no have you asked them if they would speak to you over the phone and they would speak to you in person? Not clarified, no. Have you asked them if they would speak to you in person? Because I'm hearing over and over they said they would not speak to you over the phone. Did you ask if they would speak to you in person? God honest, I can't remember. I don't know. Let me think this through to Lee Egan, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. What more do we know, Lee? So we know the PI, she was able to check the train tickets. There's no record of him getting on the train at all, none. Do you have to show ID to get a train ticket?

Yes, you do. You do now. So to get that ticket, he would have had to show ID. Cheryl McCollum, Cold Case Research Institute director, if you have to show ID, then the ticket is made out in your name, is it not? Absolutely, and that's what I was saying earlier. The only form of ID that he did not leave behind would have been a passport. Nancy, he's now listed as a deserter. Anytime he would use that ID for travel, it would be flagged and they would know his whereabouts. That hasn't happened. So what does this mean to you, Cheryl?

He didn't get on that train. And something between the evening of the 14th and the day of the 15th, because nobody has legitimately heard from him since the 14th. His card was used. That doesn't mean it's him. Somebody says we saw him and took him to the train. That doesn't mean that happened. The last time we know somebody that loved him

and related to him, spoke to him, was on the 14th. The evening of the 14th, we don't even know if he's alive. Do you believe Aaron Nichols there has been any attempt on his part to see his son Lucas? No. In fact, her family thinks I'm hiding him. They won't let me see the baby because they think that I'm going to take the baby to him.

What I find interesting is on that day, November 14, he was trying to move his estranged wife's belongings to him. What I find interesting is on that day, November 14, he was trying to move his estranged wife's belongings to storage. He leaves behind his iPhone, his driver's license, and his military ID. I do not believe this man is a deserter. Wherein lies the truth? Where is Trevor Nichols? If you have any information, if you have any information about this missing member of the U.S. Army, Trevor Nichols. Please call the Clark County Sheriff's Office, 937-328-2560. Repeat, 937-328-2560.

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for sale on the dark web, you'll be the first to know. Visit truthfinder.com slash Nancy. Enter your own name. Get started. This warms for veterans your attention, please I can't help but notice you would have died for me I'd like to pay my respects So I'm speaking out out. I know it seems sometimes people forget the fact we're forever embraced in your debt, but I'm here to tell you that you're what this country is about. You are hearing Barry Michael, and he's singing Heroes and Angels that he wrote for veterans. Joining me right now is Barry Michael. Barry, it is so great to have you, and in a moment I'm going to play your brand new single I Stand with me Ashley Wilcott who comes from a

military family Vincent Hill who comes from a military family Alan Duke who comes from a military family Jackie Howard here in the studio that comes from a military family and of course myself my dad who was offered a basketball scholarship, dirt poor, by the way, full ride to college. He turns it down, lies about his age to get into the military and is immediately shipped around the world, away from everything he knows in little Oglethorpe, Georgia, to the other side of the world to fight for his country. My husband's dad, Chuck Lynch, also shipped around the world to fight for his country. And today, we honor our country and our military. Barry, tell me, what led you to perform, to write I Stand? Well, that song came out of

watching some NFL games and seeing people kneeling for the national anthem and just wanting to express what I stand for and why. And I stand for people. I don't really understand how, you know, you could take the flag and not be one as a country and see that it represents our great free country. It's flawed, just like every other country. But I do believe that that's one thing that we could all, that we all should be able to agree on. I agree with you, Barry Michael, and I can't wait to play I Stand for our listeners. It's incredible. You know, to Ashley Wilcott, you come from a military family, as do Jackie, Alan, as a female practicing law, I can't tell you how much, even to this day,

um, women put up with in the workplace, the discrimination, the, uh, sex advances, and we're hearing more and more about it every day. But I'll tell you one thing, right or wrong, I'm not going to take it out on our country at all. Absolutely, Nancy. And one of the things I do with my three kids, all of whom you know, is we thank those who served in the military for their service whenever we see them, whether it's a veteran that might be on the side of the road or whether it's somebody that's in uniform and we know they're currently serving because it's so important for me to teach them, listen, it is our country, stand up for it and thank those that serve and keep our freedoms. Alan, you know, it was only recently that I

learned you're a vet. Okay, you told me you jumped out of a plane and I made a joke like, so what were you under the influence of? And I found out, tell us. Well, I was in the U.S. Army for several years. I actually volunteered. The draft had just Well, I was in the U.S. Army for several years. I actually volunteered. The draft had just ended. I was getting out of high school, and I joined. And I wanted to go to airborne school because of a song. Barry, you remember the song Barry Sadler, Ballad of the Green Beret?

Oh, my stars, I love that song. Listen, when I was probably, that came listen when i was probably that came out when i was probably 11 years old i liked that song so much put silver wings on my son's chest that when i turned 18 i had to join the military and i eventually did qualify and make my way to fort benning georgia to jump school and i now have my silver wings And it was a song that inspired me. So these songs are really important. I'm very impressed. I remember watching that guy perform Green Beret on TV.

And everything just went silent as he sang that. Also with me, Vincent Hill, also from the military. Tell us, Vincent. Nancy, I grew up military. My dad did 30 years. I was born in Germany. We moved every three years across this great country. And what's great about it, I got to learn all aspects of people.

And it was only fitting that I joined the military in 1994. I did eight years as a counterintel guy. And I got to tell you, the only time I kneel, Nancy, is when I'm praying to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Other than that, I stand for this flag and I stand for this country. You know, I really think that so often we don't realize how blessed and lucky we are to live in this country and we are standing on the backs of so many people men and women that have given their all you know the other night Ashley uh the children on summer break and I'm they're all up into watching tv and their ipads okay so I have to take their ipads away and hide them and anyway I was trying to find a good thing for them to watch on TV.

And I started watching Sons of Liberty. And it actually got so violent that I turned it off. I liked it, but I didn't know if the children should see it. And I got to thinking all the way back to when our country was found. We have been fighting and it's been violent and difficult and people lost their lives to fight for our country, say, have freedom of speech, be free from search and seizure. All the constitutional protections, those wars, those battles, those violent, violent circumstances are the only reason we have all those protections. OK, Alan, you're creeping me out a little bit because Jackie here in the studio, we're laughing our heads off. We're looking at pictures of you no ponytail no mustache oh you're looking at facebook totally clean cut i mean you know i i i thought i loved your your ponytail but not anymore not after i see this and i mean wow all right so vincent what

branch tell me about your service so n, Nancy, I was in the Army. I enlisted in 1994. So I'm dating myself a little bit. I entered at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where most people enter. I went to counterintelligence school and went to Fort Drum, New York, the 10th Mountain Division, and did a lot of deployments there. I went places people don't even know exist, but that's part of the mission to protect the freedoms of this country. But I love every minute of it. And I'm so proud that my son is asking me about going into the Air Force. I couldn't be happier about that. Joining me right here is Jackie Howard in the studio, waving her arms. Your dad was in the Korean War? Yes. Wow. You know what?

The photo I have out of my dad, which are so many of them, one of is of him without a shirt on somewhere overseas with his fatigues on in the military. He's standing under, you know, it had to be hot, like a tin roofed warehouse somewhere working away. You know, I just think of that so often every time I walk by it. Right now with me, special guest, Barry Michael, who has just recorded an awesome new song that really supports our military. And what better day to hear it than July the 4th. Barry, it's such a pleasure to have you on. Let's take a listen to I Stand. I stand for the ones who can't get on their feet.

I stand for the homeless, the helpless, and the weak. I stand for your right to be who you want to be. That's why I stand. I stand for our children, our husbands and our wives I stand for policemen, first responders saving lives I stand for our dreamers, everyone who strives That's why I stand I get up every morning

with your freedom on my mind, leaving everyone and everything I love behind. Not afraid to pay the cost for this blessed promised land. That's why I stand. I stand for your right to agree to disagree. I even stand for those who refuse to stand for me. I stand for the one who gave it all in Calvary.

That's why I stand I will lay it on the line Fighting for equality But when the stars fend off better plays I'll never take a knee Cause I respect the ones who sacrificed and fought until the end That's why I stand

Say, can you see By the dawn's early light I get up every morning With your freedom on my mind Leaving everyone and everything I love behind Not afraid to pay the cost For this blessed promised land That's why I will lay it on the line

Fighting for equality But when the stars fling The banner plays I'll never take a knee Cause I respect the ones who sacrificed And fought to the end That's why I stand That's why I stand. That's why I stand.

You can find all of Barry's music at BarryMichaelMusic.com. His brand new single, I Stand. You can listen to it all there. What an awesome gift to the country on July the 4th, Barry. Thank you for being with us. Oh, it's my pleasure, Nancy. Thank you so much for having me. Everybody listening now, happy July the 4th. And as we celebrate, let's remember what so many people have given up for us and our country. And right now, we remember American hero,

senior trooper Stephen Vincent. Serving the Louisiana Police 13 years, the Lake Charles Police 11 years, the U.S. Army during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, attended Iowa High School, LSU, UNIS, McNeese State University, and the Louisiana State Police Academy. Louisiana police say there have been seven organ transplant matches so far.

Trooper Stephen Vincent leaves behind grieving wife, Catherine, son, Ethan, father, James Howard, mother, Mildred Marie, two brothers, two sisters, 15 nieces, and 11 nephews. Senior Trooper Stephen Vincent, American hero. Nancy Grace, signing off. Goodbye, friend. The Internet has created a dangerous new world. It's time you take back the power by using a new website called Truthfinder. Have you been issued a speeding ticket? Received a lien from the IRS? Did you forget about an embarrassing social media profile? That info may already be online.

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