We All Have a Stake in This
The tour advance trip was interesting for me, as I watched Sean go through the emotions of seeing these places for the first time and trying to put himself into his grandfather’s place during the war. He had a very visceral, direct connection to every place we went. I felt more observer than participant- a privileged position to be sure, but only an observer.
Everywhere we went we met with warmth, friendship and open arms. And as we told Sean’s story and how we wanted to celebrate our shared history with the gift of music- literally, a gift to say thank you for how they welcomed and cared for our veterans- the doors opened and this tour became a reality. Not to just perform for them, but to share another experience together- one of two-way gratitude and friendship
And as the trip progressed and we met the same openness and welcome everywhere we went, something became very clear; I too had a stake in all of this. At first, it was only the realization of what our “Greatest Generation” accomplished and at what sacrifice. They set these people free from an oppressive and murderous nightmare of historic proportions. Our soldiers/sailors/airmen were forced to destroy so much of what they rescued, in the villages and cities of occupied friends as well as in the home of the enemy. They lived through horrors some would never recover from. Our American service men and women suffered and died- and when the war end, what did they do? They turned around and rebuilt the very places they fought and died in, including Germany, the former enemy.
They did that. We did that.
And the people of Western Europe remember. They show it in countless memorials and battlefield plaques- not just to armies or units, but to individual fallen soldiers. They show it with US flags displayed with love and respect. They show it in how they receive our aging American veterans and their families with tenderness and adoration. They show it when they adopt and care for their graves of our fallen in the American war cemeteries in their countries.
They were blessed with freedom, rebuilt countries, and the chance to live their lives as they wished. We were blessed with peace, respect, and even now, undying admiration. And we all received an enduring lesson that we must shout out today: that getting to know each other as individual human beings, each with hopes, fears and dreams, can prevent hatred, division, tyranny, oppression, and war from occurring again, now and in the future. This is the greatest gift one generation can give to another- a future without hate.
Sharing our shared stories through music, that wonderful art form that transcends all barriers of distance and language, is a step toward making that gift a reality.
We all have a stake in this.
- David
