RUSH: Jim Kallstrom from the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, a good friend of mine, former head of the New York FBI office. Great to have you on the program, my friend. Thanks for checking in.
KALLSTROM: Nice being with you, Rush. I have to call you because I want the listening public to know that the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, which you’ve been such a tremendous supporter of over the years, Rush, you’ve been our biggest donor by far. I mean, ladies and gentlemen, this man has given millions and millions of his own dollars to the foundation, plus he’s asked the loyal listeners, and they’ve donated millions and millions of dollars. Rush, every time you talk about the foundation, we get letters with ten dollar bills, with fifty cents, with hundred-dollar bills, you know, from thousands and thousands of your listeners. Now, we’re not a political organization. We come from all different stripes. Most of us were in Vietnam. Some were in Korea. We didn’t particularly enjoy coming back to the United States when we came back. There wasn’t much of a welcoming committee, so we feel it’s absolutely critical to take care of the troops, take care of these heroes that are fighting this war.
Whatever the politicians think of it, they’re over there supporting the United States, our freedom, our democracy, and to date we’ve given in excess of 2,700 scholarships to these young children who have lost a parent. And, Rush, you’ve financed probably 40% of those. I mean, you’ve done more for the military than anyone I know of, and I’ve been involved in military circles for a long, long time. So to call you anything but the true patriot, the true supporter of the military that you are, is just absolutely wrong. I mean, there’s no one who has done more for these children, these families, these daughters, you know, these wives.
You’ve helped fund tremendous work with plastic surgery and reconstructive dentistry to help the severely wounded. You’ve helped fund visits so the families can go to Walter Reed, can go to Bethesda, go to Brooke. DOD will pay for one trip for the immediate family, but some of these poor guys are in there for months, and months, and months. You’ve helped fund that. So, Rush, I don’t know of anybody else in this great country who’s done more for our military and for our law enforcement family than you have. So I just wanted your listening public to know that, and they all should give you a round of thanks, which I know they will, for all the work you’ve done.
RUSH: Well, Jim, I appreciate that. I’m almost speechless, which hardly ever happens. But when you say all that, you’re leaving out somebody who was really crucial at MC-LEF, and that was Zack Fisher. He recently passed away. Now, there was a great man, too.
KALLSTROM: Right. We have tremendous — if listeners want to go to our website, MC-LEF.org, they can see who’s on the board. They’re from all walks of life. I think the only thing we share in common is that we’re patriots and we want to do the right thing for the United States. We don’t get involved in politics. We have supporters on both sides of the aisle. But we just can’t stand by and let, you know, our principal supporter, our major supporter — we have many, and you’re the major one — we can’t have such horrible things being said that basically are just a lie. We can’t stand by and not respond to that.
RUSH: Well, I appreciate that, more than I can ever express. It’s been a sheer joy and a pleasure to be able to help and be involved. You guys invited me to be involved. I remember one of the founding meetings at Torykian’s place.
KALLSTROM: Right.
RUSH: I just was moved by it, and I was flattered to be included. So, look, thanks, thanks very much, I appreciate it. You guys are doing the Lord’s work and everybody appreciates it.
KALLSTROM: Well, Rush, I just remembered, you heard about us, and your comment was, ‘You guys actually give away every dollar that you get?’ and the answer is, ‘Yes, we don’t have any overhead.’ We eat the overhead. So that was, I think, the first thing that attracted us to you.
RUSH: Yeah, because that really is rare. That’s unique. Jim, look, all the best to you, my friend. Thanks so much again.
KALLSTROM: Rush, Semper Fi. Thank God for what you do.
RUSH: Jim Kallstrom from the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation and the former head of the New York FBI office.