Tea Are The World
A few Memorial Days ago, I was sitting comfortably on my sofa, enjoying salty snacks and a refreshing sweet tea while watching a program honoring our military on TV. Mary was about to inform me when the charcoals were ready to throw on the steaks. Life was good.
Featured in the TV program was actor and veteran Charles Durning, a U.S. Army Ranger during WWII. Durning won the Silver Star and was awarded three Purple Hearts.
Despite his remarkable achievements and sacrifices for freedom, still moved after all these years, Durning humbly stood at the podium and wept for his fallen brothers. Wow, I thought. Do they make real men like Durning anymore?
After the TV program honoring Durning and other American heroes, the following program honored great American conscientious objectors.
Folks, it was quite annoying watching these conscientious objectors, guys portrayed as superior human beings for pontificating about the evils of war and why they chose not to participate. I thought, “You guys are free to enjoy success, freedom and spout your crap ‘in English’ because brave men like Charles Durning fought on your behalf. How dare you!?”
Fast forward to last year, when I sent out a call to musicians, singers, and bands all across America to come together, record a song titled “Taking Back America,” and donate enough songs to create an album celebrating America, honoring our military, and benefiting — through AmericasMightyWarriors.org — the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Before I tell you about the response I received, let me tell you about Debbie Lee. She’s the mom of Marc Alan Lee, the first Navy SEAL killed in Iraq. On numerous occasions, Marc stepped up, putting himself at risk to defend his fellow soldiers. In response to the death of her decorated son, experiencing firsthand the challenges facing the families of fallen soldiers, Debbie founded AmericasMightyWarriors.org.
Now, about that response. It was overwhelming. From country music to rap by a black conservative, featuring every genre in between, we selected the best 44 songs from hundreds of submissions. Jo Piazza at Fox News cleverly titled the project Tea Are The World.
Now, here is the truly heartwarming, divine providence aspect of the project. We had no money for recording, manufacturing, distribution, or marketing. When asked about such details, my response was simple: “I don’t know.” I felt God only instructed me to put out the call to musicians. He did not fill me in on how it would all come together.
Remember the old Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland movies? A character would say, “Let’s put on our own show!” Another would say, “That’s a
great idea! My uncle has 500 chairs stored in his garage.” They’d rally together and put on an amazing production.
Tea Are The World pretty much came together the same way. Get this, folks — around 100 musicians across America flew or drove, on their own dime, to Deltona Records in Florida to record “Taking Back America.”
Frank Starchak, Deltona Records owner, music producer, and engineer, is famed for recording Tupac Shakur and numerous other celebrities. FREE of charge, Starchak recorded and produced the 100 musicians singing “Taking Back America” and mastered the 44-song double-CD set included in the Tea Are The World package.
Your project sounds interesting. I’ll give it a look.
On the subject of conscientious objectors, you might want to read about 3 remarkable men: Desmond Doss, Thomas W. Bennett and Joseph G. LaPointe, Jr.. All three were conscientious objectors and they earned the Medal of Honor as combat medics, two of them posthumously. I’ve read that quite a few highly decorated combat medics were in fact conscientious objectors. They refused to kill but served with distinction and valor. Not all conscientious objectors are created equally.
I first heard of Desmond Doss when I saw a documentary about him titled, naturally enough, The Conscientous Objector. I can’t recommend this film highly enough.
We should remember them all. Every generation has its heroes, but they are the vast multitudes of men and women who’s names are mostly forgotten throughout history. Sure, we remember the generals and the presidents, but few (aside from close family members) remember the privates and the sargeants, the sailors or the airmen, who actually got the job done. We saw them at Saratoga and Yorktwon during the Revolutionary War, Baltimore and New Orleans during the War of 1812, Monterrey and Mexico City during the Mexican-American War, Bull Run and Gettysburg during the Civil War, Manila Bay and San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War, Chateau-Thierry and Belleau Wood during World War I, Midway and Anzio during World War II, the Pusan Perimeter and the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War, Khe Sanh and Linebacker II during the war in Vietnam, Kuwait during the First Gulf War and Fallujah during the Second Gulf War, and Kandahar in Afghanistan, to name just a very few of the places where some truly great Americans fought (and in many cases died) for this country. We remember them all on this day. It is fitting and proper that we do this, because although we don’t know or remember their names, we can never forget what they achieved.
Correction:
The Purple Heart is awarded for being wounded or killed while engaged in combat with the enemy, among other criteria.
Good friend to me just passed, having won a Bronze Star with Patton in Italy.
In his memory my ideal cabinet would be headed by Bolton Sec. of State, Netanyahu Sec. of Defense, Cain Sec. of Treasury, Bachmann Attorney General, …
Now, who could we hire to make it so?
Good article, but, if I may point out a discrepency? The Purple Heart is awarded not for bravery, not for gallantry but for being wounded in battle. The Silver Star is not simply for “gallantry” which might be misconstrued as that of Sir Walter Raleight spreading his coat (cloak) on the ground so that the queen wouldn’t muddy her feet, but acts of supreme bravery. It is the third highest award for bravery in the United States with only the Distinquished Service Cross, number 2, and the Medal of Honor, number 1, ranking higher.
I remember learning about Durning’s real life military service, around the time he appeared on an episode of NCIS, where he played a veteran, who had served in the Pacific, during WWII. It was a wonderful episode, and Durning won an emmy for it. Due to that, there were several articles about him, that mentioned his service during WWII. He’s an example to us all, God bless him, and all our service men and women.
That was my favorite episode. They really captured the essence of our highest award for valor. The emotions were just so well portrayed. I loved the line, “He stood tall in Hell!”
Small matter? mayhaps, to me and other service people, damned important.
Enlisted USN in 1943, ‘hung around for the following 30. To those of us
that matter, the term Soldier does not refer, in our minds, to Navy folk.
It is what we call people of the Army. Another grating term, combat wounds
being called injuries. ‘Lubberly’? Mayhaps, still important to those in-
volved.
Be well.
JIM LIMERICK U.S.N. (RET)
There once was a man named Jim
Who served in the USN
When it comes to the Navy
He doesn’t get wavery
When he comments at PJM
A limerick for Mr. Limerick.
Wonderful article. I recall New York Giants football star and later coach of the Dallas Cowboys ,Tom Landry was a B -17 bomber commander and flew dozens of missions over Europe. Baseball star Ted Williams was a decorated Marine fighter pilot.
There were many others that we probably do not recognize now whose names are written in the book.
God Bless the USA – Lee Greenwood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNqUORIFV4I
“Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair; the rest is in the hands of God.”
George Washington
The links in this post are interesting. The first is a simple youTube video of Mrs. Lee, the second links to her site where you can find the mentioned 2 CD set in the store (after requests for donations, including a MacBook Air?), the third link is to a video of the post’s author. The whole thing feels scammy and like a way to make a buck. Unfortunately “fraud” in charities to benefit vets is rampant. While I honor the sacrifice of Mrs. Lee, there are plenty of charities with excellent track records which truly benefits vets. These include National Military Family Association, the Intrepid Fallen Heros Fund, the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, among others. Please consider donating to these organizations if you want to honor our men and women in uniform.