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Guest jackdog
Posted

This was sent to me from a good friend in Arizona. I thought that others on the board would like to see and hear it.

Subject: Fw: "Before You Go"

Lest we forget!

(Link at bottom of page)

The elderly parking lot attendant wasn't in a good mood!

Neither was Sam Bierstock. It was around 1 a.m., and Bierstock, a Delray Beach, Fla. , eye doctor, business consultant, corporate speaker and musician, was bone tired after appearing at an event.

He pulled up in his car, and the parking attendant began to speak. "I took two bullets for this country and look what I'm doing," he said bitterly.

At first, Bierstock didn't know what to say to the World War II veteran. But he rolled down his window and told the man, "Really, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you."

Then the old soldier began to cry.

"That really got to me," Bierstock says.

Cut to today.

Bierstock, 58, and John Melnick, 54, of Pompano Beach - a member of Bierstock's band, Dr. Sam and the Managed Care Band - have written a song inspired by that old soldier in the airport parking lot. The mournful "Before You Go" does more than salute those who fought in WWII. It encourages people to go out of their way to thank the aging warriors before they die.

"If we h ad lost that particular war, our whole way of life would have been shot," says Bierstock, who plays harmonica. "The WW II soldiers are now dying at the rate of about 2,000 every day. I thought we needed to thank them."

The song is striking a chord. Within four days of Bierstock placing it on the Web, the song and accompanying photo essay have bounced around nine countries, producing tears and heartfelt thanks from veterans, their sons and daughters and grandchildren.

"It made me cry," wrote one veteran's son. Another sent an e-mail saying that only after his father consumed several glasses of wine would he discuss "the unspeakable horrors" he and other soldiers had witnessed in places such as Anzio, Iwo Jima, Bataan and Omaha Beach. "I can never thank them enough," t he son wrote. "Thank you for thinking about them."

Bierstock and Melnick thought about shipping it off to a professional singer, maybe a Lee Greenwood type, but because time was running out for so many veterans, they decided it was best to release it quickly, for free, on the Web. They've sent the song to Sen. John McCain and others in Washington. Already they have been invited to perform it in Houston for a Veterans Day tribute - this after just a few days on the Web. They hope every veteran in America gets a chance to hear it.

GOD BLESS every EVERY veteran...

and THANK you to those of you veterans who may receive this !

CLICK T HE LINK BELOW TO HEAR THE SONG AND SEE THE PICTURES:

http://www.managedmusic.com/Music/PlayBeforeYouGo.php

If that doesn't work, click http://www.managedmusic.com/beforeyougo.html and keep clicking on "hear the song."

"So let us not become tired of doing good: for if we do not give up, the time will come when we will reap the harvest.

So then, as often as we have the chance, we should do good to everyone, and especially to those who belong to our family and in the faith."

Galations 6:9-10

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Posted (edited)

I myself am a combat veteran. I'm not blowing my own horn...I'm saying that because I know just how much those men gave for me.

My stepfather was one of them. Every one of them gave. You can't say "well back then folks were more willing to give up liberties for their country".

No mother wants to lose her son, like so many of them did. No father cares to outlive his boy.

But those men said "if not me, then who?" and filled the breach with courage...and with their own bodies when necessary...trusting to their buddies, their wives or their family to look after their affairs. They weren't joining for the college fund...nor for 3 hots and a cot. They knew very well what was at stake.

that song DID make me cry. it was a simple song...not very elegant...but neither is combat...nor the way a buddy spends his last minutes. Neither is the look on someone's face when they find out afterwards that their friend who's closer than a brother, won't be in the barracks.

In the Cavalry, we held roll call for those that perished on the battlefield. One of us spoke up and said "I'll answer for him" when his name was called at muster. YOU try that ...see if you just "almost tear up". I can only hope that they find a soft berth and that God, in his infinite mercy, will give them the comfort that they were not afforded down here with us.

We truly owe them a debt that we can't pay..

TOMMY

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o'beer,

The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."

The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,

I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:

O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";

But it's ``Thank you, Mister Atkins,'' when the band begins to play,

The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,

O it's ``Thank you, Mr. Atkins,'' when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,

They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;

They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,

But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";

But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,

The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,

O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.

Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep

Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;

An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit

Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.

Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy how's yer soul?"

But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,

The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,

O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.

We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,

But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;

An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints:

Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;

While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind,"

But it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind,

There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,

O it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires an' all:

We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.

Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face

The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"

But it's "Saviour of 'is country," when the guns begin to shoot;

An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;

But Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!

The more things change..the more they stay the same.

Edited by towerclimber37
Guest jackdog
Posted

Very well put Tower. People who have never been in that situation can never really understand, just what is given or just what is lost. I to cried at the simple song, but my tears were not of shame.

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