Aug 27, 2009 9:10 am US/Eastern
Brotherly Love: Del. Musician Sings For Veterans
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
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A Delaware musician is helping our newest veterans, those who are coming back from the Middle East scarred and battered inside and out. His inspiration was a Marine he never got to meet.
CBS
A Delaware musician is helping our newest veterans, those who are coming back from the Middle East scarred and battered inside and out. His inspiration was a Marine he never got to meet.
John Flynn sings: "This Marine served his country, then his country turned its back."
John Flynn isn't a Marine, but he is on a mission, singing about a young man he never met—Marine corporal Eric Hall.
Eric served in Iraq and Afghanistan before being injured in 2006. He settled in Florida, but he couldn't leave the war in his head—post traumatic stress, flashbacks
Becky Hall, Eric's mother, said, "He'd get up and he'd look out. He had his gun, he checked his gun. There was no gun."
One day last February, Eric disappeared. Police searched for days and came up empty. So veterans like Sgt. Charlie Shaughnessy volunteered.
"We just had it in our hearts that he had to be around somewhere," Charlie said.
Weeks later, Charlie found Eric's body in a drain pipe, too decomposed to determine a cause of death.
In their grief, Eric's mom and vets like Charlie started a fund to build safe houses for vets. The story reached far and wide.
Delaware songwriter John Flynn heard the story and wrote the song in Eric's memory.
"Semper fi, always faithful, tell me why we lost track," John sings.
"Oh, I love the song," said Eric's mother. "I love the song."
John Flynn will perform at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia Saturday to raise money for more vets like Eric Hall.
"We gotta say, if your body's injured, if your mind is injured, if your spirit is wounded," said Flynn, "we'll take care of you, whatever it takes," to help all the others suffering after war.
Related Links:
http://johnflynn.net/
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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