Dear Friends,
There are times in life that a "haunting" follows you wherever you go and is in your face in intrusive repetition, and how to handle it is up to you to either let it destroy you and disrupt the lives of those you encounter, hurt the ones you love and subsequently make things worse. OR you can turn it into something creative and I daresay, beautiful.
I have had the honor of serving my country with boys that were not yet men that believed in doing something special for our country whether it was right or not, as it was an adventure and just hope and pray that you emerge unscathed.
Since I composed "For my Friends" which I really like. I believe I have the creative license to change, alter and even rename a piece to suit the current circumstances. and so, it has come to my attention that an individual I served with, after all these years, 1965, has surfaced on social media in a YouTube interview that I believe along with others, his Silver Star should have been The Medal of Honor. We both were meters apart in the same battle in our "baptism of fire" and his actions of bravery were outstanding, (I was nearby having my own problems, lol) I recommended this action along with those that were there in a letter to the MOH association...... I will stop here.
Stoni has recommended that "To my Friends...." should be longer and so I have come to compose this tribute to the boys' turned men called "The Boys of Autumn". This is great therapy for me. Being married to a lover that has learned to understand or at times tried to, was instrumental in my being able to reciprocate in kind. I am in the foreground with two of my buddies, in training (how to drink, lol.) at Fort Benning a few weeks before we shipped out.
Thank you for hearing and listening to me.
CHRIS