Van of Valor

Lessons from Europe

By Dr. Kevin Wallace 
Van of Valor

NORTH PORT, Fla. – When my wife and I set out across America in a converted FedEx truck – no running water, no kitchen, just a memorial on wheels – we weren’t simply collecting stories. 

We were building an ark. 

Across 27,000 miles and 317 interviews with Purple Heart recipients and Gold Star families, we listened to the voices of those who bled for something greater than themselves. And in those conversations, a theme emerged so consistently it became the very pulse of our mission: the defense of those who cannot defend themselves.

WARNING: The story before you details the mass assaults across Germany and Europe on New Year’s Eve 2015, and may be difficult to read. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35231046

More than 1,200 women surrounded, groped, robbed, and assaulted in a single night. 

The police were paralyzed. 

Victims were left with no recourse, no justice, and only four convictions out of thousands of perpetrators. 

When I first read these accounts, I felt a familiar ache in my chest. It was the same ache I carried most my adult life with memories of the bacha bazi, or worse. It was the ache of watching the innocent suffer while the world stands by.

Every single one of the 317 Purple Heart recipients we interviewed spoke, in their own words, about the same fundamental truth. They’d say that freedom is not simply the absence of chains, it’s the presence of protection. It’s the guarantee that a woman can walk through a public square on New Year’s Eve without being encircled by 30 men and violated. It’s the assurance that when she cries for help, someone will come.

The events in Cologne represent what happens when that guarantee collapses. Police chief Wolfgang Albers called it “a completely new dimension of crime.” But for those of us who have witnessed evil up close, it’s an ancient story dressed in modern clothing. I see a clear case of the strong preying upon the weak, emboldened by numbers and anonymity.

Though I’ve never discussed this case with any, our veterans understood the morality of my argument, and likely do in reading this, instinctively so. Many of them spoke of fighting not for territory or ideology, but for the principle that no one, no woman, no child, no vulnerable soul, should ever be left to the mercy of a mob. 

Brandon, the recipient of the Silver Star and four Purple Hearts told me, “I didn’t fight for a flag. I fought for the person next to me and the people back home who would never know my name.” That is the ethos of the protector. 

Brandon was a Green Beret we interviewed outside Charleston, S.C., and his name remains anonymous in the book.

The news reported a term that should shook me to my core, taharrush gamea, the “rape game.” This isn’t random criminality, it’s coordinated, deliberate, and tactical. Men encircled their victims, sometimes using fireworks as cover, making identification impossible. 

A Cologne police chief admitted he never believed such a practice would reach Germany.

But evil travels. 

It migrates. 

It exploits open doors and good intentions. 

The BBC report stated there was “a connection between the emergence of this phenomenon and the rapid migration in 2015.” 

This isn’t an indictment of refugees fleeing war, our veterans know better than anyone the desperation of those caught in conflict. It is, however, a warning. When systems fail to distinguish between the persecuted and the predator, the predator wins.

Our patriots in the Van of Valor understand nuance. They understand that compassion without discernment is not virtue, it’s negligence. 

And negligence gets people hurt.

So what do we take from this dark chapter in European history?

First, knowledge is armor. 

We must study these events not to demonize entire populations, but to understand how well-intentioned policies can have catastrophic consequences for public safety. 

The women of Cologne, Hamburg, Helsinki, Zurich, and Salzburg didn’t have to become victims. Their suffering demands that we ask hard questions about preparedness, policing, and immigration policy.

Secondly, warrior ethos must extend beyond the battlefield. 

Our veterans came home from war, but the mission never ended. It simply changed form. It did for me. I even drug my wife into the fight, and she fights on our behalf in the halls of the Ivy Leagues at least three times a week.

Today, that mission includes ensuring that our communities remain places where the vulnerable are protected, not hunted. It means supporting law enforcement, advocating for victims, and refusing to look away when uncomfortable truths emerge.

Third, we must be voices for the voiceless. 

The most haunting line in the news that day was that most perpetrators “would likely never be convicted.” 

Justice failed. 

When justice fails, the moral fabric of society tears. 

Our job is to be the thread that holds it together. Some do this through advocacy. We do this through remembrance, and through unwavering commitment to what is right. Lauren and I made a solemn vow to keep this fight in us until we each leave this world.

To the 317 heroes whose stories now live in our archive, your sacrifices weren’t in vain. 

The lessons from Europe prove that the fight for righteousness never ends. It simply moves from one arena to another. 

Whether on the streets of Fallujah or the train station of Cologne, the principle remains the same, our tribe protects the innocent. We stand against the mob. 

Be the shield.

Lauren and I have dedicated our lives to ensuring these stories aren’t forgotten. The first full year of doing that was hard, and cost us a great deal financially. The second year proved worse. But we march on. 

The Van of Valor book, releasing June 30, 2026, will carry these truths forward. But beyond the pages, we call upon every American who loves freedom to become informed, to study events like those described in this story, and to ask themselves: 

What would I have done? 

What will I do now?

The Van of Valor is more than a beat up, old, FedEx truck. 

It’s a promise, a rolling memorial that declares to every would-be oppressor,  “not on our watch. Not against our sisters. Not in our cities. Not ever.”

The patriots of the Van of Valor have learned the lessons of Europe. 

Now, we must teach them to a nation that desperately needs to listen.

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Dr. Kevin P. Wallace is a retired U.S. Air Force senior master sergeant, Purple Heart recipient, Bronze Star with Valor recipient, and co-founder of the Van of Valor. He and his wife Lauren conducted 317 interviews with combat-wounded veterans and Gold Star families across all 48 contiguous states. Their forthcoming book is scheduled for release on June 30, 2026.