Operation Song
This is the “Operation Song“ page. I have written more than 100 songs with this organization. Each one is a collaboration between me and a veteran or active duty military man or woman …and our purpose is to tell their stories. Some are fun, some are intensely heartbreaking, and some are merely historic accounts. Here are just a few of my favorites.
This one I wrote with a 100 year old World War II veteran about a year before he passed away. I spent hours on the phone with him and his family members as I learned his life story. His request was to have it done in the style of The Andrew Sisters, so, that’s what we did. It is sung from the point of view of his wife who preceded him in death by about 15 years and waits for him in heaven. It is performed here by Claudia Crook , Cynthia Kent and Cathy Hardy.
This one was written with a group of veterans who suffer from PTSD after serving in different conflicts, including Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. They all agreed that cannabis is the best temporary treatment for the horrible episodes they endure, and yet, the veterans administration will not prescribe it to them… in fact, they feel that they have been denied services just for requesting some or for admitting past usage. This is their plea for gaining access to a little bit of much needed pot.
This one I wrote with a Vietnam vet who was accidentally dropped, with 100 fellow soldiers, behind enemy lines and soon found themselves surrounded. Only about a dozen made it home. They agreed to meet every two years to keep tabs on each other and to check on each other‘s well-being. This is a song about those meetings.