To Keep Us Free

Bill's daddy always said he paid an arm and a leg
To buy their piece of heaven.
Bill turned eighteen and never dreamed he'd ever leave their land
But then came 9-11.

And the rest of my song tells the story of how Bill enlists to go fight terror in Iraq, gets hit by an IED, and literally pays and arm and a leg -- to keep us free.

And then he spends the rest of his life learning how to live with missing body parts, psychological trauma, and the realization that war is, indeed, hell.

Not all heroes pay the "ultimate price" that dead soldiers have paid and get honored for on so many holidays. We set at least a couple of days specially for the dead.

What about the still-living soldiers who now must face a lifetime of disability and challenges beyond anything most of us can imagine -- with even greater courage and determination than it took for them to go to war?

They deserve honor and tribute. Not just on a holiday or two, but something lasting. So I wrote a song. As far I can tell, it hasn't been done yet -- at least not that someone has made popular so people actually THINK about these great people.

Heroes -- not in death -- but for the rest of their lives.