Assemblyman Jeff Gonzalez on his military service, veterans advocacy, and America 250 celebration

As Selmaman Jeff Gonzalez, thank you so much for making time for us. Thank you for having me. You are one of *** few veterans that serve in our legislature. Tell us about your service and how that led you to become *** lawmaker. Yeah, you know, I am the only veteran in the state assembly, and there are 4 in the, in the Senate. So all together we make the band of 5 veterans. You know, at 19 years old, I joined the Marine Corps. Someone said while I was going to college, they said there’s no way that you could join the Marines. They’re the hardest ones. And I said, watch me. So I joined the Marine Corps at 19, served, uh, over two decades in the Marine Corps, 4 combat tours, 2 to Iraq, 2 to Afghanistan. I served on diplomatic assignment in Honduras and the Czech Republic, and along with the Secretary of State through her tours in Africa and Europe. And, uh, uh, you know, I saw the world and it was an amazing experience. That’s where I spent my, uh, adult years, uh, is growing in the Marine Corps, but also. You know, I, I saw some, some tragedy. 10 of my marines died by suicide and I was gonna be number 11, uh, but by, uh, what I say is my dental floss of faith, uh, I was able to, to reach deep inside and hang on to my faith and, and thank God I wasn’t number 11, but what that led me to is becoming *** pastor because I felt like if that can if God can save me. Then maybe I can use what I’ve learned to help save my other Marines and service members. I became *** pastor and small business owner and you know here I am today as *** as *** co-founder of the Veterans Caucus in the state legislature. Why was it important to establish this caucus of just *** few people? Look, I, I, I look at the, the Battle of Thermopylae, the, the 300, this, this was *** group, *** small group of people that stood up against, uh, tyranny, and not to say that there’s tyranny here, but this is *** small group of, uh, of people of advocates that come together to not only stand up, speak out, uh, educate and empower, uh, and inform folks about, uh, *** unique, uh, niche group. Uh, of people which are the veterans, uh, military and their families, you know, we’ve been through it, we’ve done that, and sometimes these nuances, uh, mean *** world of difference when it comes to sitting in *** committee talking on the floor or advocating for, for that community. Yeah, and that caucus is made up of Republicans and Democrats in this moment of America 250. I mean from your perspective, is this more of *** bipartisan moment or do you feel like there’s *** lot of division in this country right now? There’s *** ton of division in this country and and you know, people, people like that. They like division because that sells, but in the military. We believe in being united we believe we call it the the the the blue arrow, the unifying, uh, objective doesn’t matter where you came from, doesn’t matter what branch you’re from, we all have *** *** *** *** unified goal to achieve the mission and I take that that very seriously when I come here to the to the state legislature, you know, uh, Senator Caroline Menzevar is *** Democrat and I’m *** Republican, but we’re both Marines. So we come together we leave that party stuff off to the side we say what can we do together to help advocate for our military and veteran community and that’s the that’s the stance that we take that’s the stance that I’ve taken since day one that’s the stance that I’ll continue to take and fight for across the board. People want me to, you know, be far right or far left or in the center. I I I I’m nobody’s anything other than I’m, I’m just Jeff. I’m just *** marine and I wanna do what’s right for my community. And that means putting those things to the side and that’s what America 250 is about is remembering that we came together as *** as *** group of, uh, some might say *** band of misfits uh came together to form this this union, uh, to make it more perfect. We have *** history and it and and some of it is not so good. It has its bumps. But when we can come together. And look to the next 250 and say what can we do to unite us instead of divide us? That’s what America 250 is about it’s about the struggle that got us here but about the future that we have you know my dad is from uh from Mexico, from, from Oaxaca he came to this country with very little and uh. He worked 2 and 3 jobs just to take care of our family. And, and he says I honored him by joining the, the military, but he honored me by, by serving in our community, by working, and I think this is another way that we can look at America 250 years and say we’ve come from all over. And together we can unite. Under, under one flag of, of freedom, one flag of, of celebration, and one flag of future prosperity, of future unity, uh, that’s what America 250 really is about is the, the world coming together, even our first nations, our first people coming together, all of us saying united we stand. And you took the initiative to organize California’s here at the state Capitol, the celebration for America 250. *** lot of people are focused on the federal, uh, nationwide celebrations, but what, what is California’s role in this and why, why was it important for you to highlight that at the state Capitol? You know, uh, the assumption I had coming here was that there would be *** celebration, right? It’s 4th of July, it’s Independence Day. Uh, that there would be *** celebration of, of 250 years. Unfortunately, no one planned it. There was nothing. And you know I got my team together. I said we have to do something and we have to do something big. I want flyovers. I, I want an honoring time, so we asked for the, the rotunda to be lit and they came back and told us. No one’s ever done that no one’s ever lit the rotunda red, white, and blue, so we said, well, we’re gonna light it red, white and blue. We said, well, we want *** military flyover and we want *** celebration military medley and hold on, did that shock you that California’s capital rotunda has never been lit red, white and blue? It shocked me, but I wasn’t surprised. But that’s why the Veterans caucus is so important. That’s why having veterans in the legislature is so important because we have to remind people that. We’re still on the front line we still defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and or domestic, even in this role that I sit here today it’s important that that I am *** an advocate for those who are serving and those who have served so yeah, it was *** shock, but at the same token, not so much. So we asked, all right, then let’s get *** flyover. Let’s, let’s get *** band. Let’s get all kinds of things. Uh, let’s get ***, uh, ***, an artist who can, who can capture the moment while it’s going. And again, no one had planned these things, so my team came together and because of their hard work we’re able to have *** celebration this Wednesday at 6:30 sharp military time. We will have *** celebration of America’s 250 here in California as the fourth largest economy. As *** leader in this nation, I think it’s also important that we be *** leader in celebrating America. And as we do that, as we celebrate this country’s 250th year, what’s your message to Californians, to Americans moving forward as we go into year 251 and beyond? Slow down Slow down To be thankful. Of what *** blessed nation we live in because we could be anywhere in the world and there’s some really bad places that I’ve been to. And we’re not perfect. But slow down In in trying to run for division. And slow down in trying to, to listen to all the rhetoric. But most importantly come together just as neighbors right? as men as women as people as as Californians come together because that’s when we’re the strongest when we’re united right? not because we’re Republican or Democrat or independent or no party preference or whatever in between but because we are united as Californians and united as as Americans that’s what we can do that’s my message is slow down and come together. Miss Suleman, is there anything else you think we should know? We have an obligation We in the legislature and we as constituents. We have an obligation to take America’s history. Battered, bruised, broken. And blessed. And move it to its next 250 now we can choose to let it sit and not do anything, or we can choose to make it better. So I tell people, join me in making California better and making America better. Sloman Jeff Gonzalez, we really appreciate your time and sharing your story. Thank you. Thank you so much.