A Tearful "Thank-You"

[LastManOut]

A tribute and thank you dedicated to our aging veterans of WWII and the Korean War who helped preserve that victory - and a long overdue thank you to the veterans of the Vietnam War...

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 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/Music/PlayBeforeYouGo.php

[27hand]

LastManOut,

Thanks for posting that.
I'll certainly pass it on.

I hope I can get my father in law to watch it.

27hand

[larrymeyer]

Dude;

I hope I'm typing this OK as I'm having a little trouble seeing right now. I haven't even been able to go to the wall as there are to many names I know on it. And I remember them every night. Hate it when the thunder and lighting comes

But thank you for the link

I'm sorry that the people who stood outside when we came home and called us baby killers now have to watch their sons and grandsons go to war. A war that was learned in Nam and that we were never allowed to finish. And the body bags just keep coming home

[schr8er2000]

I too wish to thank you for that.. I was in the Navy in the VietNam era.. not in Nam but lost quite a few friends and relatives there. It is a very nice tribute to those who fought in WW II.... and making those of the VietNam era a little more appreciated for what they did too..

Thanks again