Thursday, August 14th, I collectively wrote an anthem for Beyond The Yellow Ribbon in Crookston, Minnesota with eleven of their supporters at the Crookston City Hall.
They shared with me the story of how Beyond The Yellow Ribbon began and their commitment to help veterans and their families return ‘all the way back home from deployment’.
These are some of their shared thoughts:
“One of my sons was a gunner, who served in Iraq in the Marine Corp and my other son was in communication. Our youngest son struggles with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD). He’s 26 years old. Beyond the Yellow Ribbon helped him get a Patriot Assistant Dog, which has really helped him through. They also helped us get to Camp New Hope.”
“My reason (to be involved in Beyond the Yellow Ribbon) is to make sure the country doesn’t react to veterans in the same way some did in my era. It was not a comfortable time when I served.”
“When I receive news of another soldier dying in war, I think, ‘It wasn’t my son, but it could have been our son. It could be your kid.’”
“There was no direction for any of us to go when we came home from deployment in Kosovo. We simply didn’t have that direction, but we do now.”
“There were things I did in Bosnia that I still think about a lot. When I came back I ended up getting a job full time and wandered through VA disability programs. It’s been eleven years. I still have issues. If we had Beyond The Yellow Ribbon
when I returned from deployment, I would have had fewer issues.”
“Beyond The Yellow Ribbon points people in the right direction.”
“Before (Beyond the Yellow Ribbon) the returning soldier couldn’t have guard duty for nine months. The soldier had no one to talk to (isolated from others who served). Gen. Larry Shellito saw this as a problem. He asked Chaplin John Morris to ‘build me a program to change this’. Change it they did. Now within two weeks upon returning (from deployment) to Minnesota we had a weekend drill (retreat) with significant other and family. We had over 800 troops gather that weekend. They bought ever motel room in town.”
“Everyone watching out for each other and what can we do to help.”
“Beyond The Yellow Ribbon covers all cycles of deployment. Before during and after. We are here for the whole thing.”
“We don’t want them (Veterans) to be forgotten and lost. We will be there for them for whatever they need.”
“We never walk past a veteran. We always thank them. We always say, “Welcome Home.” We honor those who’ve served.”
“War is hell. We are trained and assigned to disable or kill people. We use methods that us Christian people would not condone. Yet, if you don’t (use these methods), you don’t go home. “
“If you were in your car today and driving down the road and see a kid. You stop. Now you send a young man to Iraq. The first time driving a company down the road. A kid jumps out. You don’t know if the kid is wearing explosives. You can’t stop, because if you did you would put the whole unit in jeopardy. That driver does not forget it. Suppresses it and then it comes back years later to haunt him.”
“The soldier is given a mission to take the life of the enemy. They go out in the morning knowing that. He (their enemy) has a mission, too, and his job is to take care of you. Hope your training is superior to his.”
“Every soldier is our son and daughter. All those troops become a part of your family. We’re the information conduits. We cover a broad range of different professions in our group. We’re a family who takes care of our veterans.”
“Families reach out to us when their soldiers go off on missions. A lady called us, because we were the only civilians allowed to talk with the commander on the ground. Her boy was on the same mission as our son. We heard on the news that people (soldiers) were getting killed. She wanted to know if her son was still alive. Hardest phone call in my life.”
“It isn’t just the soldier that gets impacted. It ends up being us. It’s the entire nation. Either one gone or a hundred eighty-six gone. It’s all the same. A life loss.”
“If the politicians had to wear the uniforms we wouldn’t have a war.”
From these shared thoughts we collectively wrote Beyond The Yellow Ribbon.
Beyond The Yellow Ribbon
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
To prosper, to grow
We need to bring those veterans
All the way home
To be of service
To those who serve me and you
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
Beneath the red, white, and blue
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
With friends and family
Where no one is forgotten
In this community
From those who’ve been deployed
To those deployed at home
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
In body, heart & soul
It’s not just the soldier
It’s me and you
We’re in this together
Together we’ll make it through
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
War is hell! War is hell!
Forced to do the unspeakable
Some stories are hard to tell
We’re here to listen
We’re not here to judge
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons
It’s not just the soldier
It’s me and you
We’re in this together
Together we’ll make it through
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
This one thing I know
We’re standing with you
‘Til you’re all the way home
Before, during, after
We are here for you
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
Beneath the red, white, and blue
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
We are here for you
Words & music by Larry Long
with Bill Cassavant, Jamie Cassavant, Jenny Amon, Jim Buckmiller, Laurie Anderson, Staff Sergeant Mathew Metcalf, Suzanne Staver, Paula Lundgren, Tamy Kraft, Shannon Stassen.
© Larry Long Publishing 2014 / BMI