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5/6/09

Yesterday I attended a funeral of a 22 year old ex-marine named Andrew Hengy. Five months ago, friends of Andrew's family had reached out to me because of "Semper Fi", my song about Andrew's friend, a deceased Iraq war vet and former marine named Eric Hall.  Through my contact at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, I tried to help  them get Andrew get back into the VA system for help with the addictions he'd carried as a result of wounds he sustained in Afghanistan.  Plenty of folks did try to help, but the hurt ran too deep. Andrew hung himself last week with Eric Hall's name and RIP written on his chest.  At the service, a choked up young marine in full dress gave the shortest, most heart breaking eulogy I've ever heard. It was something like...

"I wrote out something to say about Andrew but now it doesn't seem right to read from a piece of paper....  Andrew was my best friend. One of the best guys in our company. We were in combat together. We were in hospitals together. He always had a smile on his face. He'd alway pick you up when you were feeling down. The kind of guy who'd do anything for you. He'd help anybody who needed him. Please remember how good he was!"

A documentary about the challenges facing returning combat veterans, especially those dealing with post traumatic stress issues, is currently being made by a woman named Nina Gilberti. I'm honored that because of my song "Semper Fi ", Eric Hall's story will be told in the film.  I've also asked my friend Kris Kristofferson, a vet and former Army helicopter pilot, to appear in the film, and he's kindly agreed.  You can read about the documentary at- http://jamontoastproductions.com/_wsn/page4.html

They've told us for years that you can't be against war and support the warrior. To me that's like saying you can't be against house fires and still support the fire fighters. Politicians set the buildings ablaze and for years now we've  asked these kids to run into the flames. Many of them came out of those buildings on fire  themselves.  Many of them are still burning.