Search the archive:
YaBB - Yet another Bulletin Board
 
   
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send Topic Print
a tribute to out WWII vets (Read 744 times)
Feb 7th, 2006 at 11:11am

F-16Viper   Offline
Colonel
Uno Ab Alto

Gender: male
Posts: 1067
*****
 
i dont exactly know where to put this, this seemes like the best place. I got this from an E-mail


(Read this and then click the link below)

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 every veteran in America gets a chance to hear it.

GOD BLESS EVERY veteran...
and THANK you to those veterans who may receive this !

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

http://www.managedmusic.com/beforeyougo.html









I don't know how old old is, but it's older than I am!!!!

 

...&&&&Civil Air Patrol Member since July 2005&&C/CMSgt       www.cap.gov
IP Logged
 
Reply #1 - Feb 7th, 2006 at 12:17pm

Theis   Offline
Colonel
Always somewhere, sometime..
Rødovre, Denmark

Gender: male
Posts: 6116
*****
 
Now that is a great tribute!

It reminds me of my fathers father, that was in the danish resistance force under the war.

Cheers Theis
 

... Bar by Mees
...
IP Logged
 
Reply #2 - Feb 8th, 2006 at 11:41am

Saitek   Offline
Colonel
UK

Gender: male
Posts: 7555
*****
 
That was lovely. Very moving. Cry
Thanks for that.
 

Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 2GHz
GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2) DDR2 6400C4 800Mhz
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
2 x 22" monitors
200GB Sata
Be Quiet! Straight Power 650W

Flying FSX with Saitek's pro flight range:
Radio
Switch panel
Auto-pilot
Yoke and throttle quad
Pedals
IP Logged
 
Reply #3 - Feb 10th, 2006 at 5:35am

Saitek   Offline
Colonel
UK

Gender: male
Posts: 7555
*****
 
 

Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 2GHz
GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2) DDR2 6400C4 800Mhz
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
2 x 22" monitors
200GB Sata
Be Quiet! Straight Power 650W

Flying FSX with Saitek's pro flight range:
Radio
Switch panel
Auto-pilot
Yoke and throttle quad
Pedals
IP Logged
 
Reply #4 - Feb 10th, 2006 at 7:33am

Romulus111VADT   Offline
Colonel

Gender: male
Posts: 5521
*****
 
As a veteran of Vietnam, for my uncles and grandfather that served during WWII. I thank you for posting this and I thank the creators of such a moving tribute.

Grin
 

"I have a place where dreams are born, And time is never planned. It’s not on any chart, You must find it with your heart."

Albert Einstein - "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."

Martin Luther King Jr. - “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - “There is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.”

Mark Twain - “Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”
IP Logged
 
Reply #5 - Feb 10th, 2006 at 11:17am

Saitek   Offline
Colonel
UK

Gender: male
Posts: 7555
*****
 
Here are the lyrics if you want them. Grin

Before you go.

Quietly you all turned grey,
You did the job you saved our way,
Our life and freedom you preserved,
We’ve thanked you less than you deserved.

You never boasted bragged or asked,
For adulation of your past,
You did the job you knew was right,
And quietly, you cry at night.

For bodies maimed and comrades lost,
For sights beyond our furthest thoughts,
For what you’ve lived, felt and seen,
For what the cost of freedom means.

You have us blessed with every breath,
That cost you arms, legs and death,
You won the worst and greatest war,
We owe you more, we owe you more.

Thank you for your wondrous feats,
For open speech and quiet streets,
For worship as we choose to pray,
For preservation of our way.

Before you go we need to show,
That in your silence we need to know,
What you accomplished and what you did,
For who we are and how we live.

So go with love from wives and sons,
And daughters for a job well done,
From kids who've never seen a tank,
We give you thanks, we give you thanks.

Thank you for your wondrous feats,
For open speech and quiet streets,
For worship as we choose to pray,
For preservation of our way.

For homes and jobs and baseball games,
For many colours, many names,
You've saved our lives and we're still free,
From shining sea to shining sea.

Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.

Thank you ... go in peace.
 

Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 2GHz
GA-P35-DS3L Intel P35
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2x2) DDR2 6400C4 800Mhz
GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
2 x 22" monitors
200GB Sata
Be Quiet! Straight Power 650W

Flying FSX with Saitek's pro flight range:
Radio
Switch panel
Auto-pilot
Yoke and throttle quad
Pedals
IP Logged
 
Reply #6 - Feb 21st, 2006 at 10:43pm

beaky   Offline
Global Moderator
Uhhhh.... yup!
Newark, NJ USA

Gender: male
Posts: 14187
*****
 
Nice tribute.
It's rare indeed to hear a WWII combat vet gripe about anything; the few I've met were pretty serene. After what they went through, the rest was pure gravy... and they didn't mind if nobody thanked them; they were just happy to see America and its allies pull through and go on to better things.
But I can understand it; a lot of those guys didn't quite get what they were expecting, after tossing their dreams aside to go help save the civilized world.
 
As these warriors fade away, the rest of us need to make sure people remember what they did, and why.
That's the saddest part of this whole WWII-vet die-off: that their stories will fade with them.
 

...
IP Logged
 
Reply #7 - Feb 22nd, 2006 at 5:21am

Hagar   Offline
Colonel
My Spitfire Girl
Costa Geriatrica

Posts: 33159
*****
 
Quote:
Nice tribute.
It's rare indeed to hear a WWII combat vet gripe about anything; the few I've met were pretty serene. After what they went through, the rest was pure gravy... and they didn't mind if nobody thanked them; they were just happy to see America and its allies pull through and go on to better things.
But I can understand it; a lot of those guys didn't quite get what they were expecting, after tossing their dreams aside to go help save the civilized world.

Quite. No offence but like Bjorn I never understood this trend for thanking WWII veterans. Some volunteered but many of them had no choice in the matter. They had to go where they were sent & do what they were ordered to do. Many of them were killed or badly injured but they all lost the best years of their young lives when they would have preferred to be doing something else. Remember them & honour them yes but I'm not sure they want thanking. Most of those I've met didn't want to be there & prefer to forget the whole thing. I respect that & these are the real heroes, not the ones that are always bragging about it. If you care to ask them I suspect that most would say that the 'land fit for heroes to live in' they were promised on their return turned out very different from what they expected or hoped for.

RAF Battle of Britain ace Bob Doe put it nicely when asked about it on a TV documentary. He said; "I didn't hate the Germans or want be a hero, I simply wanted to stop them bombing my Mum's house." "Nobody has the right to do that." "We don't want thanks just as long as people remember what we did & why we did it."
« Last Edit: Feb 22nd, 2006 at 6:25am by Hagar »  

...

Founder & Sole Member - Grumpy's Over the Hill Club for Veteran Virtual Aviators
Member of the Fox Four Group

Need help? Try Grumpy's Lair

My photo gallery
IP Logged
 
Reply #8 - Feb 23rd, 2006 at 4:30am

Scorpiоn   Offline
Colonel
Take it easy!
The Alamo

Gender: male
Posts: 4496
*****
 
I have to say I'm inclined to agree.

Also, would you thank a German veteran?  Japanese?  Like you mention Hagar, many veterans would rather forget about it, so how does thanking them for things they found unenjoyable improve things.

I would say it's a choice of words.  I respect these veterans for everything they went through.  Respect beyond all measure.
 

The Devil's Advocate.&&...
IP Logged
 
Reply #9 - Feb 28th, 2006 at 6:06pm

Ijineda   Offline
Colonel
Vienna, Austria

Gender: male
Posts: 1007
*****
 
Quote:
a tribute to our WWII vets"


well not a tribute for "our" veterans I presume...but anyway, they were just krauts, right?
 

Intel Quad Core 2 Extreme Q6600 @ 2.60GHz - Radeon HD 4850 - P5N-D - 4 GB RAM
IP Logged
 
Reply #10 - Feb 28th, 2006 at 7:14pm

Scorpiоn   Offline
Colonel
Take it easy!
The Alamo

Gender: male
Posts: 4496
*****
 
Quote:
well not a tribute for "our" veterans I presume...but anyway, they were just krauts, right?

My thoughts exactly.
 

The Devil's Advocate.&&...
IP Logged
 
Reply #11 - Mar 31st, 2006 at 11:36am

ryan2005   Offline
Colonel
I love YaBB 1G - SP1!

Posts: 48
*****
 
It is a nice tribute but at least the WWII vets were treated well when they came back. The Vietnam veterans were treated horrably and it wasent right that they where treated so badly just because Veitnam was an "unpopular war" they fought and died for our country.
 
IP Logged
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: 1
Send Topic Print