An Example of Reflection & Choice with Medal of Honor Recipient Flo Groberg | Constitution Day 2023

0:01 [Music] we’re pleased to be joined today by Flo groberg a decorated veteran of our nation’s armed forces and someone who I think has a very unique story to share with us as we consider today’s theme of reflection and choice Flo this was at the beginning of your journey but certainly an important

0:22 moment when you took an oath to join the armed forces of the United States to protect the Constitution against its enemies and uh I want to do if you would just to reflect on what that oath meant to you at the time and how your understanding of that oath has evolved today you know back in 2008 uh at Fort Meade

0:43 in Maryland I took an oath to join the United States Army and to me that was one of the most important moments of my life specifically because at that moment it gave me the right to to join our Armed Forces but also to earn the right to call myself an American as an immigrant as a naturalized citizen when my country my newly adopted

1:06 countries at War the fact that I as one of its citizens was not involved in being a part of a solution that didn’t sit well with me so I had to go earn it I had to go earn the right call myself an American and that meant to join his armed forces and and serve my nation so raising my right hand

1:26 was such an honor and a privilege uh fully understanding that I was now committing myself to a different life that’s that’s for sure but most importantly that I was committing uh myself to something greater than just me it’s something that I look back at and man am I excited that I made that choice it it made me a man it gave me a

1:46 foundation that I lived by and through um today and also gave me the opportunity to challenge myself in ways that it I don’t think I could have I could have ever challenged myself at so let’s go back a little further to where it did start uh you you shared that you weren’t always here can you tell us a bit of your early story and

2:07 particularly some of those moments that may have shaped your character and and helped you see something that made you want to be here absolutely it’s I was born in France and just at the Oscars of Paris um I lived I lived there till I was 11 years old I did have a stint in Spain for a year there I’m adopted which is a big deal for me because I meant that two

2:29 individuals chose me to be their son uh and I don’t take that for granted uh it means a lot to me and and that’s something that throughout my life as a young man when I found out and later on as an adult I’ve paid really close attention to because I wanted to make sure that those two individuals are always proud of me and what I bring to

2:49 them and how I represent them because they didn’t have to pick me I didn’t have to raise me and go through all the things that they’ve gone through specifically my mother it gave me this this mindset of I always need to be the hardest working person in the room um because I need to earn it just same mindset that I had about earning the right to call myself an American and taking that oath but when I was 11 we

3:11 had the opportunity to move to the United States I didn’t speak English so coming here to United States was definitely a changing culture uh but it’s something that I I was incredibly excited about uh the idea of moving here and getting to see even the yellow buses things like we didn’t have in France uh that you only saw movies or TV shows was just super

3:32 exciting for a young kid and when I got here obviously it was definitely a culture change or probably the the more accurate saying is a culture shock everything was bigger I think everything moved slower uh coming from Paris to the outskirts of Chicago uh I mean the suburbs of Chicago and Palatine Illinois and that was a shock and of course not

3:54 speaking the language but my father will has always been a man of very few words but a lot of Direction and very direct Direction he didn’t didn’t hold my hand uh the way you I guess you would expect a father to do so to a younger child specifically because we’ve got rough times he allowed me to do is to go

4:16 jump right into things and follow my face and learn the lessons from it and some people might look back and say whoa that’s really not cool like why would your dad do that well it’s not like my dad just let me do it by myself he would give me instruction and expect me to follow his instructions but what he instilled in me at a young age is courage uh courage to go do things that are uncomfortable to step outside my

4:37 comfort zone and that started with being 11 years old going to the pool I’ll never forget this he he told me to get out of the house um we had to duplex uh townhome I guess and he said go to the you know he gave me a card and he gave me instruction on how to get to the local pool to walk there and he expected me to go give you know make friends and I told him at that time I said look

4:58 man like I uh I don’t speak this language I don’t know anyone why don’t you come with me and then he said to me literally what I explained earlier I’m not gonna hold your hand the rest of your life sometimes you’re gonna have to take chances you have to go do things that don’t feel that a little bit difficult or make you feel uncomfortable but that’s how you’re going to learn so go figure out how to speak this language meet some of your friends and then go be

5:20 a kid so I was really confused at that time but that was a really important lesson that I remember to this day because that was the first time in my life where I really felt like on my own and challenged and it sounds so trivial to talk about going to the pool but when you don’t speak a language um and then you try to interact with a bunch of strangers in a foreign country

5:43 by yourself at 11 years old yeah that’s weird so I did it and I followed the instructions I made friends that day uh I think people were probably really intrigued the fact that I spoke French and didn’t speak English so like that’s easy to make friends there or maybe they’re making fun of me I don’t remember either way I do I love the pool I had you know and I was a really good soccer player so with those kids we

6:05 started playing soccer and I became I made made a lot of new friends you know I went to in I went to French international school and in transitioned to an American school and the American school I was in English as a second language and that’s when I learned English rapidly because when you’re force fed a language in an environment where you don’t have

6:26 any other choices but to learn quite rapidly uh you learn rapidly and that to me was one of those things again where I felt really uncomfortable because I was in English as a second language for my English classes but I was with every other kid in you know history science math PE whatever those courses are all that really challenged me in ways that

6:47 I think really paid dividend later on in life specifically when I was in Afghanistan because I was able to be exposed at an early age to multiple different cultures multiple different languages uh I was able to be put in an uncomfortable uncomfortable situation where you have to fit in you have to find ways to fit in um but most importantly you have to find ways to communicate but probably

7:08 something the most important thing that happened in my childhood was um in 1996 in February 1996 after we had just moved to to Maryland my uncle was killed by a terrorist organization called a GAA my uncle was living in North Africa at the time in Algeria and he had just joined the

7:28 military a few years prior about five six years prior uh to go fight against this terrorist organization predecessor to Al-Qaeda who had come into this North African westernized type country where men and women drank they went out to nightclubs you know women didn’t have to wear any head scarf they didn’t want to they can go study whatever it was

7:49 right it was just a Westerner North African Arab country and then these folks wanted to bring in Sharia law and so on February 6 1996 he was doing a ceasefire to observe Ramadan of all things my uncle was uh was attacked and he was killed when that news was passed down to me the

8:10 following day or so back here in the United States by my father it is sent shock waves to my system specifically because that Uncle was my favorite person in the world outside of my parents uh he’s he’s the one that I remember being three years old and going to the Beachwood just you know hanging out with him being in his arm always wanted to

8:32 follow him and probably really annoying I kind of think of it now uh always wanted to be around him and and for those years my Early Childhood years he was the who I wanted to emulate and be like and so the fact that my favorite person who was always the sweetest person to me was now killed by other folks and in the matter that he

8:53 was killed that I’d rather not share in this video um was was atrocious and it was horrible that gave me a very early understanding and reality of the evil in this world and that shaped my my youth in a way that potentially would never happen because of that uh

9:15 and it made me realize at a young age that I’m more unlikely was going to follow in his footsteps also My Father’s Footsteps and joined the military uh and fight those type of individuals so you know you’re talking about being 12 years old and you already know in a way what you want to do and then finally the last piece this is uh icing on a cake is

9:37 I was naturalized on February 1st and February 2001. seven months later 9 11 happens and the same type of individuals that terrorize my family killed my uncle now I’ve attacked my new adopted country and killed you know thousands of my brothers and sisters and so that was the

9:59 the final decision Point um that was the it cemented my path at that moment and I knew no matter what I was going to join the military and be a part of that solution you’ve painted a really um detailed picture of how your life experiences around you kind of formed and shaped your character as you look back now as an adult

10:22 what kinds of things do you think young people need to learn what kinds of values should they be seeking to incorporate into their character well I think the first one should be respect uh respect of of and not just you know I love respecting Elders right because there was they have so much experiences they’re going to teach you something right no matter whether or not

10:43 you want to hear it they’re going to teach you something that’s incredibly valuable and more than likely I will say almost a guarantee you will not understand that value until later on in life um you might pick it up on the things especially when you’re young uh but it’s just it’s going to make a heck of a lot more sense later on in life when you’re like that’s what she meant well that’s what he meant now I get it and so I

11:05 think respect is such a big thing that um we don’t we we believe we we practice a lot of times we believe that you know that we are incredibly respectful individuals but if you really take a step back and replay if you could replay some of your interactions some of your

11:25 thoughts you’re going to see that this is something that we always need to work on the other one is integrity I I use this example as as an easy one for people to digest and that is when I ran track I was I was a soccer player and I was a track athlete every Sunday was the day of recovery for long run

11:45 night recovered but it was the only day during the week that you didn’t have organized practice majority of the time right unless Summers would get together but this was a day where you could go as you know with your teammates and go for a 15 20 mile run or you could do it on your own no one really checked in on you but as my coasters used to say that day is

12:07 the most important day of the week because that’s the day where you’re going to find out whether or not you want it because I’m not checking up on you so you’re gonna have to have the integrity self-integrity and self-respect as well to go do the work when no one’s watching you know it’s really easy it sounds like

12:27 okay all right whatever just go go for a run you’re in college you’re young right sometimes you just had a track meet or cross-country meet the day before so you’re tired and you know you want to over you want to sleep in a little bit it’s Sunday you deserve that right well you know you sleep in you sleep until nine and you get up and your friends are here like hey let’s go get some breakfast you’re like no I gotta go run

12:48 15 miles we’re gonna take me two plus hours right or 20 miles and then you find an excuse not to do it I didn’t want to live like that I had this mindset that if I don’t do my run on Sunday I’m not letting myself down I’m not even letting just my coach down I’m letting my team down because that means that I miss one of

13:09 the most important key components of My Success in the team’s success because I decided to be lazy when I decided to to to take a rest day when everybody else is working hard right and so though that was probably the hardest things for me to do I would get up at six o’clock in the morning on a Sunday even if I went to sleep at two

13:32 um and so I got a little bit smart about that as years went on but I would get up at six o’clock in the morning and I would go on my 15 to 20 mile run and every time I hated the start of that run never did I enjoy because I didn’t enjoy running long distance I was a middle distance a mile or two mile but every time I was done with that run

13:52 it made that Sunday amazing that build discipline that played massive dividends later on in my life when I was in the military when I went to Ranger school and I had you know you you you’re exhausted you’re tired you’re hungry and you’re supposed to be doing your part on you know on a at two o’clock in the morning taking a knee and covering your

14:13 sector and instead of taking a nap because no one’s around to watch me I had the same type of mindset that was trained through my years in College of I’m gonna do the right thing but no one’s watching because I know that if I don’t I’m gonna let these folks down I’m gonna let my teammates down Integrity self-discipline are such important traits and character traits

14:35 that I work really hard on and by the way it’s not like I said those words when I was doing them it was just the Motions it was what made sense to me um or who I wanted to be as an individual and I think the last piece is the respect also brought a respect to it towards the enemy in combat having

14:55 respect for your enemy keeps you honest also keeps you attentive and keeps you ready uh it doesn’t it really kicks in or kicks out more accurately complacency we’ve talked a lot about your choices and the things that have shaped that as you’ve learned more about the history of your adopted country

15:16 are there any particular stories where others made choices that have been meaningful or inspiring to you first of all going back to the beginning to me uh George Washington and the decisions that he made with you know and bring it into militia and being able to to work in a

15:39 PL I guess All Odds Against an enemy force that it was overwhelming but also did not have respect right for against us and so I think they took us they underestimated us too often but his leadership characteristics really and the way he he led and and motivated folks and trusted some of the advisors

16:02 in the way he operated that gave me a really understanding and a clue of of the just the American Spirit uh we come we’ve we’ve always been it’s well not anymore but for the longest time we were what we would perceived as almost underdogs uh young country uh people call us a little bit arrogant at

16:23 times four of ourselves but one thing that we do better than everyone anyone else is my goodness we are so darn patriotic we are so patriotic um we’re so patriotic that when we’re not in a conflict we start fighting against each other uh and so you kind of look at 9 11. you look at go back to 19 you know 1941 December 7 1941 uh Pearl

16:45 Harbor um and then you kind of look at that country we were probably when the World War II started I always messed these numbers up so you can fact check me later but the 33rd world power on the military side at the time maybe maybe a little maybe top 30 but we were really we we weren’t doing too well um and by I think 1950 by 1942 a year

17:07 after Pearl Harbor we’re number two uh you know this country overnight after we were attacked just flip the switch and put all of our differences a size so I’ll forget the Great Depression it was all about making sure that whoever attacked us paid the price you know to say Awakening and sleeping giant uh is

17:28 that saying right there the reality is what it did is is it gave us the negative situation forced us to align with each other to start respecting each other and working with each other on a common goal and when Americans do this we are absolutely without a doubt Second To None Unstoppable it is the way we’ve

17:50 when we fought against the British Empire uh that is what we walked that is how we did it we took the hard route uh we did the unthinkable to to beat one of the the world power at the time and that’s something that I look back and then you go from the stories that we have in this nation

18:11 um you know I worked for the Bowman Company but you know Boeing uh to to Martin Luther King uh to Reagan and what he did during the Cold War and these are really important his speeches that he made that I watch all the time because they’re so motivating but impactful but also makes so much sense of the situated time but now you go back and you listen

18:33 to these speeches and it still makes sense today but what we’re facing and the threats we’re facing I didn’t want to get really into more military folks but I’m a history buff uh you know Doolittles the fact that I’m even in the same in a safe society as do a little and Audie Murphy is absolutely completely ludicrous and crazy to me because there’s no way that I could ever

18:53 put myself in the same sense as these you know warriors uh but it’s uh it’s fascinating that there’s so many points of motivations throughout our history that have made me so proud to be an American but also more importantly it gave me a lot of reasons to make sure that um I never took a day off flow you’ve

19:13 said a lot of inspiring things here in um just your example of service to our country for which we we thank you is is inspiring in itself not everybody is going to have the same opportunity as you did to serve the nation in that particular way what would you encourage young people to do how would you encourage them to serve

19:35 one another in their Community to help make the country stronger one the the first thing that I would say that’s really important um you’re probably not going to expect me to say that and as these young individuals who are watching this video probably not gonna expect me to say that is uh learn the art of listening I think listening to each other if I you

19:56 know what forget don’t even do any community service I don’t really care uh don’t don’t even join any other organizations don’t join the military it’s okay uh if you just work on listening to other people and being compassionate enough to hear them out without bringing upon judgment or your own judgment upon them and by being just a little bit of curious of why they

20:18 think in a certain way we live we live in such a better world we have lost the appetite to listen to each other attentively we seem to always want to inject our own thoughts and comments and voice and beliefs on each into each other and we’re no longer

20:39 capable of taking a step back and absorbing what someone else potentially different of opinion is of all about and so of course I want you to go out there and serve your community as best as you can things that are you’re passionate about isn’t you know it can be uh painting a

21:02 home or working in a homeless shelter or going to a children’s hospital and reading books to kids or picking up trash on the side road absolutely but why don’t we just go back to the basics and let’s learn to listen to each other again my goodness if we could just do that things would turn around so much faster and this animosity that we’re feeling

21:24 and not just in our country you got to start opening up and look at the world what’s happening around the world as well uh would more than likely dissipate a little bit uh just because we would just in this case act more like what we’re supposed to how we’re supposed to act as human beings and respectful members of society is there anything else that you want to say or have I kind of given you the right chances to get

21:45 that out I am absolutely grateful and humbled that this country gave me the opportunity to serve uh its Nation where its colors and most importantly be lead and be led by some of the finest men and women that I’ve ever met and that’s something I don’t take for granted so as an immigrant I appreciate the fact that I can call myself an American I

22:06 just hope that everyone that’s you know who is American um kids take a step back and and really appreciate how lucky we are um and uh bless we are hello thank you very much absolutely thanks Dan