Wounded Warriors know what service really is
When the Association of Country Music in Alberta asked singer-songwriter-performer Robert Larrabee to donate his time for the August 2014 Wounded Warrior Weekend at Slave Lake, Larrabee was quick to say yes. As he drove past hundreds of people lining the roads and streets, cheering for the soldiers, he realized this was something very special.
By Robert Larrabee
I witnessed service men and women with prosthetic limbs jumping out of planes, putting up tents and stages. I was struck with the profound sense that I really didn’t have a clue what service work was.
I met one soldier, Joe Gunny, and her friend Belt Drive Betty in the hotel lobby where I was staying. I was sitting on a couch playing my guitar and singing a song I had just written. These two women approached me and sat and listened. They liked my music.
Joe asked me what it meant to me to be part of Wounded Warrior Weekend and if I knew much about it.
I had to admit I didn’t know anything really and, as far as me being there, I was just part of the entertainment.
Then Joe, who is one of only three females in the forces who can operate the big machine gun on the armoured vehicles, began to tell me about PTSD and Beachwood cemetery, and all the struggles veterans go through.
I asked if I might write a song about it. I told her I was the opener at the bandstand the next morning and if I finished the song in time I would sing it then.
The next day I sang Warrior Will Survive. Then another lady named Shelly, whose husband is a deceased Wounded Warrior, asked what I was going to do with the song. I said I wasn’t sure. She said, “You must record it and I’ll pay for it.”
So the tune is now in Nashville and my producer, Dave Bechtel, has it almost done. The tune will be finished by the end of January.
It is a beautiful touching song of hope. We have a marching snare, bagpipes and bugles playing The Last Stand.
I’m planning on doing as many shows as I can and I’m contacting all the legions and asking if they will host the show. Anyone else who has a venue and a desire to give back to these warriors is welcome to host my show.
I will be performing some of my own music and ending the show with the new song, Warrior Will Survive, which will be downloadable on iTunes by the end of January. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Wounded Warriors.
It’s been a life-changing experience for me and it is my hope that there is a life-changing experience for many Wounded Warriors who I might be able to help with the support of the public. These are truly men and women who know what service really is.
Robert Larrabee has travelled across Canada as a country music artist as well as performing in tribute shows, including his own one-man act An Evening With The Legends. But Robert is also a songwriter and it has been his life-long dream to be recognized as an original artist. For more information about Larrabee’s support of Wounded Warriors, visit www.legendshow.net.
