Before you go

This was sent to us today from our civilian director at the Pentagon...just thought I'd share.

Al


Many of you have parents that belong to the "Greatest Generation" or those that fought in Korea, Viet Nam, etc.

Here's a very real history lesson.

Please read to the end and then click on the website.

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 had 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," the 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 very veteran in America gets a chance to hear it.

GOD BLESS every EVERY veteran...


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



Before You Go



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

[ms_tapestry]

It's a great tribute, isn't it? Thanks for posting it. . .

[Scabbydoo]

Thanks Al, reminds me I have to get back to see my cousin again. Didn't just give me my first ride on a Harley but fought in the Pacific and Korea. He is one of the Great Ones.

My father-in-law served as a machine gunner in the 101st Airborne during WWII. He enlisted at the age of 15, after forging his birth certificate. Highly decorated, he was at Bastogne and was chosen as a guard at the Nuremberg War Crime Trials. He guarded all of the major Nazi officers including Goering, Hess, Spear, Radar and others. He exercised them, conversed with them and escorted them to and from meals. Also, he was present at the executions and assisted in cutting them down. Having the presence of mind he got 15 of these guy's autographs, which we have yet today. He died in July, 2002.