Nearly 100 high school teens from the American Legion's Boys Nation program today visited the Pentagon as part of a week-long tour of Washington.
As part of their visit to the Defense Department headquarters they met with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who discussed with them his leadership role at the DOD and the importance of their own roles as leaders within the United States.
"One of the missions I've appreciated of the American Legion for a long time is the mission of Americanism, of love of God and country, of fostering that spirit amongst the next generation," Hegseth said. "I'm looking out at [an] incredible group of young men here who have a chance to be a part of shaping that next generation."
In the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes, Hegseth addressed the teens who act as "senators" representing their states within the Boys Nation program, and who for a week in the nation's capitol learn about how the federal government works, to include attending lectures and forums and making visits to federal agencies, national shrines, institutions, memorials and historical sites. On Capitol Hill, Boys Nation participants also met with elected officials from their home states.
Within the halls of the Pentagon, however, Hegseth explained the role of the Defense Department within the greater context of the federal government but also where those responsible for defending the nation come from and what is required to commit to military service.
"We're in the business of wearing uniforms and making sure we're as strong and ready as possible to defend the United States of America," Hegseth said. "The precursor to that job is ensuring we have young people who understand what a special country we live in. The United States of America is the exception to the rule in human history."
For much of history, and even today in some nations, Hegseth said, most never experience the freedoms that exist in the United States.
"Most men and women who've grown up, grew up under autocrats or kings or dictators or command and control economies," he said. "They didn't grow up with the kind of opportunities and freedom that we have in this country, where anybody from any background, regardless of where you grow up – it doesn't matter – you have an opportunity in America to achieve the American dream and succeed."
What America provides to citizens and what the Defense Department protects, Hegseth said, is reflected within the U.S. military itself.
"We don't care what your gender is, we don't care what your race is, we don't care what state you come from, we don't care what your background is," he said. "We just want the best possible Americans serving our country."
Already, Hegseth said, the participants in Boys Nation are involved in public service, something he encouraged them to continue to expand on.
"You're already on that path, in whatever path you take; and I hope it involves public service," he said. "At a minimum, it should involve service to God and to your family and to the country – in whatever path you take."
Still, Hegseth, an Army combat veteran who now leads the U.S. military, put in a plug for recruiting – to augment the already successful recruiting efforts underway now by the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Space Force.
"I'm a little biased in believing that military service is a pretty damn good route to go. It is about the purest manifestation of selflessness, of testing yourself and of giving back to your country," he said. "I hope you'll think about the Army, the Air Force, the Marine Corps, the Space Force, or the Navy, any one of them ... they're all fantastic."
Before taking questions, the secretary thanked the young men involved in Boys Nation for their commitment to service now, and for their future commitment to service to the nation.
"Thank you for what you're doing," he said. "Thank you for the support you give us, that your communities give us, that your churches give us, that your prayers give us. We feel it and we believe it. We're right there alongside you. And thank you for taking the time to come to Washington and learn about our incredible country that is still leading the way for the world. And it's going to be your job when I'm long gone to continue to lead the way for us and keep us good and free and strong."
Before meeting with the secretary, Boys Nation participants toured the Pentagon and laid a wreath at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial.
While Frank Diorio, a Boys Nation representative from California, said he doesn't plan on military service, he did say he plans to serve in other ways.
"My plan to serve this country, in the nation that I live in, is to advocate and to speak up for those whose voice is too small, whose voice is too little to speak up for themselves," he said. "I think kindness comes a long way, and wherever I am 10 years from now ... I intend to fully be a kind person and truly have a kind heart ... and I feel like even if that's one person a day, that's a new heart I would have reached, and hopefully a new person that themselves will be kind in turn."
Diorio's father is a Marine and the teen said his father's military service has influenced his own choices in life.
"For me, the military is very near and dear to my heart," Diorio said. "My dad's a United States Marine ... he is my hero. He's a combat veteran ... He served all over the world. But more than that, he showed me what it means to be a leader and to be a young man, and what it means to respect others and to be kind to others."
Cooper Castle, a Boys Nation representative from Tennessee, plans on military service and hopes to apply to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He said his family has a history of military service and it's something he wants to pursue for himself.
"My family has been living in this country since before it was a country, and we have fought in every major war that this nation's been in," Castle said. "My heritage is something I look up to, and I would like to continue that heritage. I'm trying my best to apply to West Point. That's my dream."
After military service, however it happens, Cooper said he plans to continue to serve the nation.
"I would love to serve, whether it be in the local or federal House or Senate of my state," he said. "I believe that it's very important for us as Americans to maintain our American values and make sure that that's carried on to our children. And whatever I can do to defend that, whether it has to be in a fight or whether it has to be political or even just on a conversational basis, I want ... to make this nation the best that it possibly can be ... because I believe this is the greatest nation in the world and I want to do everything I can to preserve it."