Dave Bray USA “The Constitution is something that I swore an oath to…”

Interviewed by WTK Hannah & Rachel Ann.

David Bray  “The Constitution, to me, is something that I swore an oath to… As a military guy, you swear an oath to that Constitution, to the law inside of that Constitution. When you swear that oath, you swear it for life…..I keep the pocket Constitution on me when I travel; I keep it with me. It’s something that I like to go to and just reflect on the ideas of America and why it was successful. Like I said, I am honestly concerned about the well being of this country.”

I had the opportunity to interview Dave Bray with the patriotic rock band, Madison Rising, along with my cousin Rachel and my Grandma! It was so awesome! I was blown away by Mr. Bray’s passion for what he does and how much he cares for people. He sends a message of freedom and liberty to the youth of America through his rock music. He genuinely cares about what he does and for “We The Kids”! He is a great inspiration and DAVE BRAY USA is awesome. Mr. Bray is reviving the greatness of America! Hannah – 16

 

Thank you so much to Dave Bray for taking time out of his busy schedule so that Hannah and I could interview him! From what I could see, Mr. Bray is an amazing man with strong feelings for this country. If nothing else, Mr. Bray opened my eyes a little more to the importance of our country and every person in it. It’s not all about the people with money and power. Our country is alive because of the people- all of us, including kids. All of us make a difference! Not only does Mr. Bray play amazing music, but he is very brave, intelligent and honest. I am honored to have been given the chance to interview him and I am insanely excited about DAVE BRAY USA! This is the best interview I have done so far, Mr. Bray is so awesome and he made it fun! Rachel Ann -16

Reviewed & edited by Author Mrs. Tricia Raymond 

Author Dave Bowman  What Would The Founding Father’s Think?

Transcribed by Sally Slaughter-TX ~ THANK YOU MISS SALLY!

 

 

Mr. Dave Bray of DAVEBRAYUSA Interview

with Judy, Hannah & Rachel

Mr. Bray: Ok, so sorry I’m late, I apologize. You know, chasing kids but we’re here.

Judy: That’s absolutely fine. We were just going over things and getting ready to start the interview. The way I’m going to do this is to introduce you to my granddaughters. I have Hannah on the phone and Hannah is from Brentwood,Tennessee, and I have Rachel Ann on the phone she lives in South Bend with me. I’d like to tell you briefly about both girls because they’re both just cool people. Hannah and Rachel are both straight A students. You are a straight A students, right Hannah and Rachel?

Hannah: Right now, yes.

Mr. Bray: You’d better be or I’m hanging up.

Judy, Hannah and Rachel (Laughing)

Mr. Bray: Just kidding.

Judy: And, unless you have something to say, Mr. Bray, they’re ready to go.

Mr. Bray: Thanks, first and foremost, thank you for taking interest in what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and the importance of pop culture and how to affect, hopefully in a positive manner, pop culture. But secondly, I wanted to ask you a question, both of you; this is for Hannah and Rachel. You know of all the things you’ve volunteered for and put towards school which ones would you recommend for friends and which ones would you recommend for the youth growing up? If there was one that you felt was the most important? Can you tell me in a few short words was it the rabbits, was it more of your studies, your studies of God, was it towards the church or was it towards school? Just give me an idea what you felt was the most important and why you feel it was important for you.

Hannah: I feel like, well for me, being involved in the church was the most important thing and something that I think is I help out during summer day camp at our church.  I get to be on the team and be a junior counselor for the children there and it’s like a really sweet experience to get to see them and to help out with that.

Mr. Bray: Awesome! And, Rachel?

Rachel: I would have to say that for me it’s kind of between the church and the 4-H. I do a lot with the 4-H and I’m helping the younger kids with responsibility and stuff like that. My archery instructor and I have worked a lot together and it’s really fun but it teaches responsibility. I think that it’s between the church and the 4-H.

Mr. Bray: Well, it seems like for the both of you it’s been your ability to relate to kids that are younger than you and to be able to sort of give a little advice along the way as well as to be a mentor. I think that’s kind of in a way what I feel is some of the best parts of what I do. That’s cool. I’m glad to know that you’ve found sort of a neat niche and a way to be that in your community and for the other kids around you. That’s really awesome. So, if you guys want to start firing questions my way I’m not running for any office so I don’t really hold or pull any punches about anything. You know, if anything comes out too negative I’m going to hold you fully responsible and if I run for Senate one day and you hold any of this against me, I don’t know, we’ll talk about it then.

Judy: You know where to find them.

Mr. Bray: I know where to find you first and foremost but I’m also going to need people to help run my campaign, too, so we’ll figure out a spot for you.

Judy: Ok, go ahead and get started.

Hannah: Alright. First off, where were you born?

Mr. Bray: I was born in Harrogate, England, in Yorkshire, actually. My father was working for the NSA at the time and my mother was born in England and they met on a blind date and fell in love and made me and I was born in Harrogate. H-A-R-R-O-G-A-T-E, Harrogate, England.

Hannah: And, did you grow up there?

Mr. Bray: I lived there for about 5 years until my father got transferred to Fort Mead which is right around Washington D.C. and then he worked in Washington. I grew up in southern Pennsylvania the rest of the time since I was 5 until I was about 17 and then I joined the Navy.

Hannah: Ok, cool. So, when did you join the Navy or go in the service?

Mr. Bray: Yeah, I joined when I was seventeen. I spent my last year in high school in the delayed entry program is what they call it. I was basically signed up and ready to go, just waiting basically to graduate high school and finish up. Another thing, it gives you some time to learn a little bit more about the military and what you’re getting in to.  It also gives you time to recruit other people to hopefully join the military beside you and in turn, for that recruitment service, they give you pay grade advancements. When I first went into boot camp, I was already an E3 and was already at an E3 pay grade compared to everybody else who was mostly just like an E1. I actually had an injury that postponed me from going into the Navy right out of high school. I broke my ankle and I was really down in the dumps and that’s kind of when I sort of turned to music. I was laid up and couldn’t do much on my feet so I picked up the guitar and starting playing. I started playing with a band and some of my friends would come over and play for me. I would sing and learn guitar and things like that so that was kind of how I started in music.  I actually went into the Navy about three months later than the time I thought I was supposed to go and so it postponed me a little bit but it was not so bad.

Hannah: I think Rachel is going to ask you the next few questions.

Rachel: My turn. Well, what was it like to be in the Navy.

Mr. Bray: It was a great experience.  One where I was very lucky. I was really sort of a part of the Navy and I wasn’t a part of the Navy. Because I was in the medical field, I spent a lot of time around the hospital for the first couple of years after I graduated from school and my boot camp. My first duty station was at Naval Hospital, Charleston.  My only regret about enlisting was that I should probably gone in as an officer. I should have gone to school first and I should have set my bar a little higher. I was gung ho to get into the military and I didn’t want college to get in my way. I just thought that I wanted to go in and I wanted to go fight. That’s what I wanted to do. So, I wish I would have taken a little step back. You know, my dad was an enlisted Navy guy and my brother was an enlisted Navy guy and I should have probably taken a step back and said, ok, well let me really think about this. I wanted to go in and I probably should have done a military academy and gone into the military as an officer.  I wish I would have done that differently.  Also, some days I wish I would have stayed in.

Rachel: Do you have a family and children?

Mr. Bray:  I’m a father. I’m a husband first, you know. I’m a husband and a father first, in my life, I try to be the best dad I possibly can be. I have two sons; they’re three and five. You know, it’s one of those things that I’m very new at. Even though I’m five years into it I’m still learning how to be a better parent. Even on a daily basis you question sometimes if you’re doing it right and there’s no handbook for it. And sometimes you feel like you are maybe too stern and sometimes you feel like you’re too lenient and you try to find balance in the chaos. It is one of those things I really, really have enjoyed learning and adapting to because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to do it. I realized very quickly that you don’t have a choice. You’re going to be a dad and you need to make it happen.  I try to be the best father I possibly can be when I’m home and even when I’m away, I try to let my children know that I’m still here and watching over their every move. I enjoy the family life very much. It’s great. It’s a great balance to the chaos of music and the music industry.  I need  something at home. You need a strong home foundation to return to. I look at some of the guys that are in the band and, you know, they don’t have families and they come home and they say to me, “man, I really envy what you have and I envy the fact that you stay dedicated and you stay true to that because it’s definitely worth while.”  You know, you leave your house and you’re on the road for weeks at a time and that’s all you think about and then when you get home it’s tough. It’s a tough transition for everyone.  The family really brings it into, I guess, perspective of the importance of what I do and why I do what I do. So, it’s a blessing, it truly is.

Judy: Excellent Mr. Bray! Ok, Hannah, are you ready?

Hannah: I’m pretty sure that you answered the next question but just in case, I’m just going to go ahead and ask it.

Mr. Bray: Sure.

Hannah: So where did the idea of the patriotic band come from as opposed to, like, a regular rock band?

Mr. Bray:  You know our manager, Rich, was a published author. He had done a bunch of op-eds. He’s been in a bunch of different publications but he’s also written a few books. He shows genuine concern for the well being of this country and he basically brought the idea to  light.  He said, “You know, it would be really great if we got together a rock band that had a really awesome message of patriotism, Americanism, freedom, liberty, exceptionalism and faith.”

It’s my firm belief that without God, there is no country. I think that this band and what we do and what we stand for exemplifies what this country should be. We should be more open to being patriotic. If you don’t love this country to death, with all of your heart, you know, then get out!

Judy: Rachel, would you tell Mr. Bray how much you kids like the Star Spangled Banner.

Rachel: Oh, my. When we first heard that song it automatically became one of our favorite songs. My little brother, just turned 7 on the 6th – and that is his all time favorite song. He’ll go around the house and he’ll just randomly start singing it. He and I sing it all of the time together and as we go through the house all of a sudden we’ll hear somebody else start to sing it. Brendan even sings it in the bathtub.

Mr. Bray: Isn’t that cool? That’s exactly why we wanted that song to be fresh. We wanted it new, we wanted it to get some wings and fly again and soar the way it was meant to because this country needs that – it needs that fire igniting their passion to this country. I get wrapped up in that sometimes and I forget, honestly, that there are a lot of people that really aren’t passionate about America and they’re not passionate about freedom.  A lot of freedom has  been sucked out of us. A lot has been sucked out of our society. This thing is going to play out like a Scorsese film or something; it’s getting to  be a ‘people are choosing sides’ kind of mentality.

I don’t say that I fear the outcome. I think passionate patriots will succeed no matter what. I do think that patriotism is sort of like the sleeping lion of this nation. I think the youth today, are definitely the sleeping giants. Once the youth realize that their numbers and their strength gives them power, they will be a powerful player in this whole political game.  If you guys can figure out ways to communicate – and now we have the internet, so this should happen. The youth of today’s America, I think are going to save this country from what I fear could be the end. I have a lot of faith in you guys. I have a lot of respect for our youth and I try to make sure that comes through with what I do and the message that DAVE BRAY USA pushes forth.

Judy: You have just summed up, Mr. Bray what our goal is with WE THE KID’S teens. We want to get kids involved in learning our country’s history, government, The Constitution and to become responsible voters for 2016.

Ok, Hannah, let’s go back to you.

Hannah: That’s a perfect segue to the next question because the next question is: What message are you wanting to send to America and its youth?

Mr. Bray: Well, I think that’s exactly it. Know your rights, know your Constitutional rights – fight for them. Here’s the thing: I think a nation that does right by its children has no other choice but to do right for its country. When I say do right by its children, I’m saying do right by them by giving them the opportunities they deserve and the rights to those opportunities. I don’t think that our government has any reason to say what goes in your mouth, or where you go to school, or what you will be forced to learn. You guys are being home-schooled so you’ve probably been given a greater education than you would have gotten in a public school. I guess my thoughts on what I want to get out to the youth is awareness – awareness, knowledge and to know how to use the system. The system is working against all of us.

I think that the smartest of our youth will figure this out and they will learn how to empower themselves at a young age instead of waiting until in your 30’s.  Realize that you need to be concerned with politics and that you need to get involved, I think that’s the message. 

The message is, “Wake up, get involved, learn as much as you possibly can, know the laws because our laws makers are literally building a wall of laws around this country that are unconstitutional and it’s done in half truths and with the wrong intentions. They think they are doing the country good by creating these laws. Unfortunately, what they’re forgetting is that certain laws take away parts of our God given rights that the Constitution puts on our plates when we are born or become citizens. I have to disagree and there’s no – let me think about this for a second – there’s no – oh, how did I put it – I guess there’s no room for humanitarianism within the Constitutional law. As soon as you start worrying about how people feel, I think that’s when laws get misconstrued and “political correctness” starts to break down our God given rights and the pursuit of happiness. It doesn’t mean that happiness comes with a silver spoon in your mouth.

It used to be God fearing Christian families and the church in their communities were the ones that helped. Our government has taken that job over. Our government says we will be the ones who make sure everybody’s ok, don’t you worry about it and don’t you and your church worry about the homeless people in your community. That to me says something about the direction that we’re going as a country. I’m sure you’ve heard plenty of antidotes like “you can’t lift a bucket while you’re standing in it.”  “Once people that are pulling the cart realize that the people riding in the cart are just as able, but are not willing, then they stop pulling and everybody jumps in the cart and then the cart doesn’t move at all.”…….. I don’t even know what the question was but I’m sort of rambling.

I think it’s up to the youth to dig in, work hard, learn the laws and be proactive.

Judy: Okay…….That’s alright. Everything you just said is very true. Hannah, I think you have one more question and we can finish up. Rachel you have the last three questions.

 

Hannah: What does the Constitution mean to you and why is it important?

Mr. Bray: Well, I think we’ve covered some of that in the last question. I keep the pocket Constitution on me when I travel.  I keep it with me. It’s something that I like to go to and just reflect on the ideas of America and why it was successful. Like I said, I am honestly concerned about the well being of this country. When I see parts of the Constitution being reinterpreted or reinvented or amended that shouldn’t be – the right to bear arms, for example.  You go to New York and you can’t own a pistol or have a concealed carry unless you’re friends of the upper class, high society, big wigs. It seems a little lopsided to me. In my opinion, if I were to take my family I would want something to protect them because it’s literally a concrete jungle. If you think gun laws are pulling the guns out of the hands of criminals, you’re plain stupid.  You’re ignorant to that fact and all you’re doing is empowering the criminal instead of empowering the citizen. I don’t understand why parts of our Constitution are being misinterpreted by certain states.  It seems wrong to me. So, the Constitution, to me, is something that I swore an oath to. As a military guy, you swear an oath to that Constitution, to the law inside of that Constitution. When you swear that oath, you swear it for life. You don’t swear it only until you get out of the military.  You don’t de-oath.  You don’t un-oath yourself. I never de-oathed. I still carry that oath. That Constitution is the freedom of my children and when people start messing with it, I get a little upset. So, that’s what it means to me. I know it’s just a piece of paper, but I’ll die for it. It means the world to this country and if it goes then this country goes.

Judy: Hannah, I am pleased that you asked that question about the Constitution.  Mr. Bray, I appreciate your answer.

Rachel: Ok. Why do you think its important for you to Skype into the schools?

Mr. Bray: Well, again, I try to go back to when I was in school.  First off, anything that was a break from the norm always took some of the redundancy out of the day. I went to public school.   I didn’t go to any crazy school, and I wasn’t home-schooled. We had a paper mill in our town.  So when we went to school it stunk like rotten cabbage.  Going into that town was terrible. I think anything that was a break from the norm was really cool. When your teacher teaches you about the “Star Spangle Banner” and what happened that night, it can kind of get lost in a lot of the other stuff that goes on. I think as kids learn history, they kind of question why they need to know this.  I think when they see somebody, I don’t know, maybe that looks like me that does what I do caring about history, caring about that night; I think it says something. If I can tell that story to the right kid and his or her first experience feeling patriotic came from a rocker dude hundreds of miles away over a computer, and then they go do more research to really find out what happened that night, I have done my thing! If kids listen to the Star Spangled Banner and, through researching it, find out what kind of battle it was, who was there, the people involved and what was happening in Washington – just the entirety of that story and that night, I think it’s very poetic and romantic.

It’s like a great movie or a great book. It’s actually surprising that nobody has ever done a movie about it that’s really good. I kind of feel like when I tell that story, I really get into it.  I embrace it!  It’s one that I’ve learned a lot of very small details about.  I can speak about it and really hopefully captivate some ears and captivate some kids.  I think it’s a neat thing to do because we didn’t have it when I was growing up.  We didn’t have people Skyping and that kind of teaching.  I guess the best way to put it – we didn’t have that capability. I think that’s why it’s important, and obviously, to get the message out there and hopefully get more kids to listen to Madison Rising.

Judy: Rachel, do you want to put your last two questions together so we can wrap it up?

Rachel: Yes, I was just thinking about doing that because they seem like they would go together.

Mr. Bray: Ok.

Rachel: If you could be one historical person, who would you be and why? And, who is your favorite person in history?

Mr. Bray: You’re killing me.

Rachel: (Laughs) Judy & Hannah (Laughs)!

Mr. Bray: I think there’s a lot of really cool attributes about our founding fathers. Although it was a different time, if you look at Thomas Jefferson and his role in general and how much trust the most brilliant men of our time put in that guy.  These were people that were hanging out with Washington and Madison.  I think when you really take a step back and think about what they were doing: they were building a country from scratch, from zero!  You look at that and the role that he played, Thomas Jefferson – you kind of threw part of it, you said. What was the question one more time?

Rachel: If you could be one historical person, who would you be and why? And, who is your favorite person in history?

Mr. Bray: Oh, ok. So I think, obviously, Madison was great but I think Thomas Jefferson was probably a little cooler. I don’t know why, I get in my mind that he was just like too smart for pretty much everybody so he was probably the coolest guy to hang around.

If I could be anybody in history, I think Nikola Tesla was a pretty cool dude.  I always kind of wanted to have that secret laboratory growing up so I was inventing all kinds of cool stuff and trying to re-animate animals and make crazy stuff.  I don’t know. I guess Nikola Tesla was probably the most fascinating to me because of the technological gaps that he bridged.  It’s almost like he was visited by aliens or something – he’s just amazing. If we go back through the history of this country or just even the history that we know, I think we find some really, really great people.  I’d love to be a bunch of them, but I just think the whole Nikola Tesla thing has a real romantic kind of sound to it…  some creepy guy sitting around making cool stuff.

Judy: Alright, I think that concludes our questions Mr. Bray.

Mr. Bray: Thank you again, so much, for taking the time.

 

 

 

 

WTK has made arrangements to bring DAVE BRAY into schools and would like to invite your school to participate in this exciting project. Dave is willing to visit your classroom via Skype for more information contact wethekidsteam@gmail.com

 

 

https://www.davebrayusa.com/

 

WHAT DO YOU THINK GIRLS IS HE NOT COOL?

  Rachel and Hannah… OH YEAH!!

WE THE KIDS would like to thank our most Patriotic “Cool” Rock Band.. DAVE BRAY USA!

Thanks Mr. Bray

We The Kids Teens 2020 THE NEXT GENERATION!

Hannah and Rachel have attended public school and also been home schooled.

Hannah loves, history, math, plays the guitar and the ukulele. Hannah is a good student and makes straight A’s. She is very involved in church activities and her relationship with God is most important to her. In the past, she has interviewed John Lyons who is America’s most trusted horseman and The Pillow Mom.

Rachel loves history and government, is very involved in the 4-H Rabbit Club where her mini rabbits have won best of breed for two years in a row, she is the WTK’s Teen Photographer, she is involved in archery and sings in her local church. Rachel is also a good student and makes straight A’s. In the past Rachel has hosted a visit with South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg where 30 kids and parents got to visit with the mayor and ask questions, she has interviewed Jackie Walorski when Jackie was running against Congressman Joe Donnelly in Indiana and she also had the opportunity to interview and Elkhart Truth reporter.

GREAT JOB WTK TEENS!