Beck and O’Reilly in Bold Fresh

Today was a surreal day for me.  First of all, I was in a National World War Two Museum Board of Trustees meeting all day.  Not drudgery at all, but a true privilege for me.  I am in awe of that museum, and it’s purpose.  If you have not been, it is worth a plane, train, bus or car ride there.  If you can’t make it, please consider visiting online.

This evening I was at the Bill O’ Reilly/Glenn Beck Bold Fresh show in New Orleans.  I want to thank Tracey Byrnes from Fox Business for setting it up.  I also want to thank the people that work behind the scenes for Mr. O’ Reilly and Mr. Beck for making it happen.  (I would mention their names, but don’t want to give them away.  They know who they are and I truly appreciate it.) They were outstanding.  Meg Cahill from the WW2 museum helped out a bunch too.  I owe you all one because you really made my pal’s day.

The reason it happened was a man named Walt Ehlers.  Walt is a friend of mine.  He is the last living Medal of Honor recipient from D-Day.  (never “winner”, always recipient) Truly remarkable.  I thought it would be cool for them to meet Walt since they all were going to be in New Orleans at the same time.  Walt was backstage and met both Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck.  Both men were extremely gracious with their time-being that they had to entertain a large paying crowd of people in about 20 minutes!  They each posed for photos with Mr. Ehlers.

Hopefully someday each of them will visit the museum.  I’ll pick up their admission!  Would be cool to see them broadcast from the Stage Door Canteen! Just like the old stars of the 1940′s!  I don’t think either of them were aware the nation’s  WW2 Museum was in New Orleans, and now they do.

We went to take our seats in the crowd.  Some people noticed that Walt was wearing his medal.  Pretty soon, they were lined up to shake his hand and take photos.  WW2 Museum representative Craig Bardell, fellow WW2 Trustee Ted Weggeland and his wife Jennifer ran interference!  Then the lights dimmed and the show started.

During Mr. Beck’s segment, he recognized Walt.  Walt stood up to a thunderous standing ovation!  When Mr. Beck was done, Mr. O’ Reilly did his segment.  Then there was a 15 minute intermission.

For fifteen minutes, people waited in line to shake Walt’s hand and take photos with him.  It was a consistent stream of people.  They were all gracious, and I am sure Walt is touched by that. Medal of Honor recipients never cease to amaze me.  They are so patient and kind.  It is uplifting to be around any of them at any time.  People sense that, and so they line up to be near them.

After intermission, Mr. Beck and Mr. O’ Reilly came out to do another entertaining segment.  By the way, both of them are extremely entertaining.  They are larger than life people on stage.  That’s why they make the big bucks.  Then, they said their goodbyes and the show ended.

Rather than compete with other people for the exits, we waited.  Walt is 89 years old(young!), and we would hate to have anything happen to him by accident.  While we waited, another line formed.  People took photos and shook his hand again!! The kicker for me was that the legendary chef, Paul Prudhomme, motored by in his wheel chair.  No one took a second look at him.  They patiently waited for Walt.

Think about that for a sec…….this is New Orleans, Louisiana!  Paul Prudhomme put cajun cooking on the map.  Yet the people waited for Walt. I don’t mean to slight Mr. Prudhomme at all.  It was just the situation, and the “appetite” of the people that were in attendance.

Wait, it gets more amazing.  No one knew the day that Walt had.  He woke up early.  In the morning, he taped a detailed  oral history for the World War Two Museum.  These are very draining interviews.  They last a long time.  When he finished, he shook hands and met people at the museum.  At noon, he made a presentation before the Board of Trustees. Then he went and did some more stuff in the museum.  We went to dinner at Mother’s at 5:30.  He met some people there.  We took his photo there so they can display it on their wall.  Then we went to the show.

Walt is the energizer bunny! An amazing evening.

Just a tip, there is a great poem by Rudyard Kipling that Mr. Beck read.  And Mr. O’ Reilly said some interesting things about the elections, politics and the news.  If the show is in your town, it’s worth the price of admission.


The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.

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