All across America and around the world, this
is Veterans Radio. This is Veterans Radio. And
now, your host for today's program, Dale Throneberry.
Hey, and welcome to Veterans Radio. My name is
Dale Throneberry, and I get to be your host today.
And today we're going to be talking all about
music. We've got a couple of guests on are going
to be talking about their songs. And I'm really
excited to hear we've got one from Operation
Song. And then we've got Lem Genovese, who is
going to be on talking about his music as soon
as we figure out all the technical issues that
are going on here. And before we get into that,
we might always have to make sure that we thank
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much in advance All right, we're going to get
to my first guest here And that is David Kent
and David is working with the operation song
organization and has put together a song So David
welcome to veterans radio Thank you. Thank you
so much for having me on pleasure. Well, it's
great to have you on So tell me how you got involved
with Operation Song. Oh, my goodness. I joined
Operation Song, I'm going to guess, around 10
years ago. It was just a year or two, I think,
after their inception. And a good friend of mine
and an extremely talented songwriter, but more
than that, just a marvelous human being by the
name of Bob Regan started this organization.
I could give you the history, if you have the
time, of how we came upon developing it. I think
people will be interested in that. Alright, well,
he was not a veteran himself any more than I've
been, but he has worked as, he's just an extremely
talented musician, he's worked as a D .O. guitarist,
and he's a fabulous songwriter, and is a mainstay
of the Nashville song community. And he was working,
I believe doing U .S .O. shows or something like
that where he was entertaining troops in Iraq
and Afghanistan, and realized very quickly, just
how incredibly important music is as a language
and as a portal to reaching people is truly an
international language. So many of these active
duty soldiers over there reacted to just having
some music brought to them. Realized how Ian
it was to have him there and when he came back
he thought to himself, you know so many of these
veterans come back after seeing some horrendous
things and living through some horrible conditions
and many of them are wounded either physically
or in many cases emotionally and mentally and
Have not benefited as they as we'd hoped they
would from talk therapy drug therapy, working
with the VA, no matter how hard they tried. And
he thought, what would it feel like if we were
just to take a veteran who was in a bad way and
ask him to open up and tell his story through
song? Even if a veteran said, well, I don't know
how to write a song. I'm not musical. I don't
play an instrument. And he said, well, you leave
that to me. You just tell your story and we'll
make a song out of it. And very, very quickly,
he realized how powerful that whole concept,
how powerfully it worked, and expanded and enlisted
a bunch of other professional songwriters from
here in Nashville to work with veterans. And
it was an incredible first step in seeing the
transformation that some of these people had.
unable to make advancements through other forms
of therapy. But they were not threatened at all
by saying, just tell us their story and we'll
see if we can get them the song. And so well,
and I've been, I was so honored to have been
asked to join them so many years ago and have
seen with my own eyes things that I would never
have guessed have been possible. I've seen soldiers
who have come back, and unable to speak in more
than one or two word sentences or grunts and
sort of shut themselves off from the world. And
yet I personally have worked with people who
didn't go anywhere without their wife, a support
animal, a support person, and were basically
locked up inside themselves. And yet we were
able to crack through. In one case it was a fellow
who had been a medic. And he was in this bad
way and with we worked together we wrote a song
together and After we were done He was so proud
of the song and I learned through the process
that before he joined the service back when he
was a teenager He himself had been on a rock
band and was the lead singer and so I asked him
Normally what happens is we take these songs
and we either go into a studio with some hired
musicians and produce them a very nice demo or
record quality production. Sometimes I do them
here at home in my home studio where I am able
to put down some drums and some keyboard and
guitar parts and sing the thing and turn it into
a very nice presentation. In this case I asked
him if he wanted to do the vocal on it and he
said well he'd be glad to give it a try. He came
out to the house and he sang it and it turned
out better than the version I had done earlier
where I sang it myself. He did a great job. He
became he was so proud of it. He ended up calling
his brother father people He had not been in
touch with him five years And and just said you've
got to hear this song His wife was just over
the moon about how it opened him up and how it
brought him back into society I've and I've that
is only one of hundreds of stories of people
who have been very very near even suicidal situations.
But on one hand, they had a pistol or a bottle.
Yeah. And on the other hand, they had a cassette
tape of the song they had done. And they've turned
around to the point that I don't, you know, you
can take it from here. All right. Well, you know,
Operation Song is an incredible organization
that our audience should know. We've played quite
a few Operation Song songs. and gotten the stories
behind them. So tell me about this new song that
you're involved with. Tell me about that. Okay,
I will be glad to, but before I do, I want to
know if I have a chance to talk about it after
the song plays, because this song has a bit of
a twist and a surprise in it, and I don't want
to give away any spoilers by saying too much
in the introduction thereof. No, no, I'll bring
you back after we play the song. Okay, and what
I will tell you before we play it is I work with
this group in in Murfreesboro the Murfreesboro
Operation song alumni group and by alum they've
been through the program Everyone in this group
of probably a dozen or more people I would say
the both Vietnam veterans, but not all of them.
Maybe sixty seventy percent of the mark They've
been through the program and they enjoyed it
so much and felt like it was an important thing
enough to establish a group that would continue
writing songs all the time. They have two sessions
a year where it's about eight weeks, once in
the spring and once in the fall, where they all
get together with the songwriter and we write
a song every week. It's just a continuation of
the program I had been through in the first place.
And I'm so lucky to work with this group of people.
In this case, guy named Mike and his wife Kathy
who both come to the group regularly and I can
tell you I don't want to tell you too much what
we were talking about but because of what I said
before about spoiling the the twist in the song
but we got to talk about mothering and We actually
thought that this episode of your show today
would be closer to Mother's Day, but it doesn't
much matter. We'll go ahead with it anyhow. And
we talked about mothering, and all I will say
is that this song is about the jobs that mothers
do. It's called That's What Mamas Do, and I was
lucky enough to get my wife, who is a wonderful
singer, but not always... Happy about coming
up in the studio and singing because she's a
little self -conscious about it. I don't know
why because she does a lovely job She's the one
singing on this song called that Thomas do that's
all I'll tell you right now And we'll play the
song and talk about it afterwards. Is that all
right? Okay, right. Here we go. So that's what
mama's do Oh my goodness, look at you Haven't
we made quite a mess? Crackers and tomato soup
All over your favorite dress But I can wash your
pretty face Cause that's what I'm here for All
too soon there'll come a day When you won't need
me anymore But don't you worry, never fear You
know I'm gonna be right here To braid your hair
and take good care of you Cause that's what mamas
do Go speeding by and you'd get lost all on your
own Then I'll draw your bubble bath And dress
you in your nicest clothes I'll pull out some
old photographs How you love to look at those
Tuck you in when lights grow dim And day is through
Cause that's what mamas do It's all in how you
look at things We live, we learn, we grow And
we can curse this damn disease But I see opportunities
To do for you what you did for me Sixty some
long years ago So don't you worry mama, never
fear You know I'm gonna be right here Yes, that's
what mamas do. I learned it all from you. Yes,
that's what mamas do. All right, David. What
a beautiful song. That really is just gorgeous.
And so it was obvious from the beginning that
a mother was talking to the person that she was
taking care of. And we hoped in writing that
would sound like she was taking care of a wee
baby, feeding her and braiding her hair and taking
care of her and dressing her up and taking her
outside. And then the twist in the end is that
you realize whom she's taking care of is her
own mother. who is going through dementia in
her later years. And the mother in this case
is 60 some years old and her mother is probably
in her late 80s and the help to be dressed and
fed and all of that because of dementia or Alzheimer's
or the advanced aging effects that take place
in older people's brains. And so we were hoping
that that twist would make an important switch
and surprise the listener. In this case, it was
Mike's wife Cathy, who I mentioned before, who
had the idea she took care of her mother in just
that long from when she was 18, called Coming
for Ginny. And it was about, it was sung by Tex,
and I don't know if those listeners remember
Tex Ritter. but he was a cowboy. And the song
talked about a guy who was coming down the road
on his hip and he was coming for Ginny and gonna
take her away and how threatening it was and
how could we protect this fair maiden Ginny from
the guy who was on his way to come claim her.
And there are all these references throughout
the song that lead you to believe it's an old
western. It turns out at the end you find out
that The guy who's coming to get her is a little
five -year -old boy, and Jimmy is his little
four -year -old sister or a neighbor, and it's
all in fun. And she always wished she could have
a song that had that same kind of surprise twist,
but dealing with the case that instead of it
sounding like a mother taking care of a baby,
it was a mother taking care of her own mother.
So that's what we attempted to do with this song.
I think we achieved it pretty well. I played
it for people. Of course, about this at the meetings
and then I song with all the information I've
gotten from the group. And so when I play, they
all knew what, there was one guy who hadn't been
at the earlier meeting and he came to the one
where we played the song. And so he was the one
we were looking to, to see if he was surprised
and the twist. In fact, it worked. So we were
all pretty happy with that result. I would I
would think so David Thank you so much for sharing
this long work. Where can our listeners get a
little copy of it? I'm assuming you could go
to operation song comm I think in one way or
another all of the songs are available there
and I know that well over a thousand songs, maybe
close to a thousand songs, I could be wrong,
have been recorded over the last 10 years or
so. But if you contact operationsong .com, a
place at the website where you could contact
them and they could provide you a copy or at
least tell you how to access it online. Yeah,
okay. Well, I mean, I've got it. So I'll put
it on our website so our listeners can listen
to it. And Dave, I want to thank you so very
much for being on our program today. And thank
you for such a really, a really beautiful song.
You know, that's what I want to know. Thanks.
Thanks for being on our program. My pleasure.
Thank you for having me on. You have a great
day. We'll talk to you again soon. All right.
Bye bye now. Bye bye. All right. We're going
to take a real quick break. We're going to do
our Medal of Honor segment. When we come back,
we've got our next guest, Lem Genovese. We just
uploaded some of his songs, so we should be ready
to go. So you're listening to Veterans Radio
and we'll be right back. The Medal of Honor is
the highest award for valor and combat given
a member of the Armed Forces of the United States.
There have been over three thousand four hundred
recipients of the nation's highest award. If
you have a VA claim denied by the Board of Veterans'
Appeals, contact Legal Help for Veterans at 1
-800 -693 -4800. They're experts in handling
cases before the U .S. Court of Appeals for Veterans'
claims. Their number again, 1 -800 -693 -4800.
After completing a hitch on the Navy, Ferguson
got his commercial pilot's license and then joined
the army to fly helicopters. Two weeks after
graduating from helicopter school, he was in
Vietnam. On January 31, 1968, Ferguson heard
that a first cavalry helicopter had gone down
in Hue and another had been badly shot up trying
to rescue them. Ferguson and his crew agreed
to go get them. While refueling, he asked three
Huey gunships if they wanted to accompany him.
They did. The GIs in the compound reported they
were under heavy fire. Ferguson circled until
the fire abated, then began a low -level high
-speed run into the compound. He descended blindly
in a dust storm from his rotors. When he touched
down, he saw there was only one foot clearance
on each side of his blades. The GIs jumped aboard
and Ferguson pulled up. A mortar shell exploded
under his aircraft, spinning at 180 degrees.
One of the Hueys was shot down. and the crew
rescued. The other two were so badly shot up
by the time they landed, they were no longer
able to fly. Ferguson received his Medal of Honor
from President Nixon on May 17, 1969. The Medal
of Honor series is a production of Veterans Radio.
Military veterans touch everyone's life. I'm
guessing right now you're thinking of a veteran,
a close friend, relative. Maybe it's you. Even
the toughest of us sometimes need help, but...
don't know where to turn for support. You don't
need special training to help a veteran in your
life. We can all help someone going through a
difficult time. Learn how you can be there for
veterans. Visit veteranscrisisline .net. Veteranscrisisline
.net. A message from the U .S. Department of
Veterans Affairs. We're back here on Veterans
Radio and we're talking music today. And my guest
right now is Lem Genovese. And Lem is a musical
veteran troubadour. He was in Vietnam. I got
it written down here. What he was doing in Vietnam.
Oh, goodness. He was with the 1st Aviation Brigade.
Hey, I know about those folks. And then he was
a medic during the Persian Gulf War. And this
guy stayed on for a long time, 209th Med Clearing
Company. That's to the 1st Infantry Division.
That's a big red one. He's lived in Wisconsin,
been writing, performing tunes about the Vietnam
War since the early 70s. And he actually contacted
me because he said, hey, how about having a Vietnam
veteran on that's still around that can play
some of his songs? And so that's why we did that.
So Lem, welcome to Veterans Radio. Thank you,
Dale. Always nice to speak with a fellow member
of the Alumni Association of Chicken on a Stick.
There you go, there you go for those of people
who are not familiar with that the The symbol
of the first aviation brigade is an eagle with
a sword hawk It's a golden hawk on a sword landing
go sort of like chicken fricassee if you if you
remember the tail insignia of the American Airlines
back in the 60s and early 70s what the heraldic
artists did was reverse that eagle and a lot
of the patches, a lot of the units basically
had that sword as the center of their shoulder
patch. And so MACV had a broken line of a castle
wall. And First Aviation Brigade, First Signal
Brigade used that same basic design. And we were
the ones that had the hawk landing on the hill
of the sword. I still think it's one of the most
beautiful patches the Army ever produced. It
is awesome. I have a few samples of it around
here. Yeah, me too. But people, you know, obviously
cannot see that on radio. Yeah. But anyway, Len,
thanks so much for joining me. Tell me about
tell me about how you got involved in songwriting.
Well, I was a musician in high school. I started
out on Bongo's Kukanga. And I want to plug the
book because it explains the musical. journey
that I've taken in my life. Uh, this is, uh,
an independent publication only made a hundred
copies, but you can, uh, go to eBooks and I think
Amazon, you can pick it up dirt cheap. And it's
called the Toon Smith Chronicles, a musical history
tour. Smith Chronicles. That's, uh, several hundred
pages. Uh, the original copy is a coffee table
size. with large print for us who are losing
some of our eyesight as we age. Yeah, that's
a problem. But that took several years to write.
But OK, so high school, it was basically acoustic
folk trios through junior college. And then when
I went to NAMM, I picked up the auto harp, which
was a poor man's guitar. Basically press a button
and makes a chord. And so that was my first introduction
to court progressions and I ordered from the
Pasek's catalog a Yamaha guitar and had it sent
home and when I was at the University of Iowa
I was blessed to have so many great songwriters
around that area including the folky Greg Brown
who's if you're from the upper Midwest you know
who Greg Brown is and if you know reggae you'll
know Tony Brown And all of them were in Iowa
City at the same time. And so I'm soaking up
all this information and all these great chord
progressions and how to write a song. And basically
took as many courses as I could in creative writing,
journalism and poetry to hone the craft as it
were. So by the time I got out of the University
of Iowa, I was I become a Vietnam veterans advocate.
I went to National Association of Concerned Veterans
uh, conventions for several years in a row and
entertained there. And from there, uh, a lot
of the guys that, uh, were veterans, uh, campus
reps would book me to play their college for
the veterans and the community at large. And
that's pretty much how it took off. I didn't
start recording though, until the late seventies.
I just didn't feel like I was ready. Well, I
mean, I think it takes a lot of courage to be
a songwriter. I know I was talking to a friend
of mine who was also, you know, in Vietnam at
the same time that, you know, that we were I
mean, I was there in 69. And he played guitar.
And, you know, he said he sat around his barracks,
you know, and he was in the infantry and he You
know to kind of relax he would play that and
he says some colonel came around one time and
said that the filipino band Needed a player and
we know you play so you get up there and you
play with them And so he said no pressure No,
no pressure, but you you know the bands that
we heard Yeah, you know while we were in vietnam
were really kind of really pretty good Yeah,
there was a couple of filipino bands in particular
that impressed me to the point Uh in long been
always getting ready to go home where i'm just
going these guys should be recording, right?
That's how good they sounded exactly like the
record they were copying. Yeah, exactly So my
friend got to play with them and uh, he said
it was an awesome experience for him and he said
He said they they blew me away, you know, they
were so so good Yeah, but there was a lot of
music. Uh, well, I I personally think that you
know it's been referred to as the first rock
and roll war. And I was amazed when I found out
that Toy Caldwell, who is the lead guitarist
and leader of the band, Marshall Tucker, was
a Marine Vietnam vet. He never mentioned it,
but through friends of mine, I found out that
Toy Caldwell was a non -vet. And one of the guys
that played for the Fireballs that had come on
React and then another hit single, he was drafted.
he went over. So there are a few of us. My three
years in San Francisco, I got to sit in with
country Joe McDonald on harmonica, which was
a real kick for me because I can remember watching
Woodstock in 69 before I went over in 70. And
never thought in a million years that I would
get to perform with Joe McDonald. But here we
are, you know, we did benefits for three solid
years all over the Bay Area. and I had a blast.
What an absolute mentor he was for me as a musician,
as a professional entertainer, and as a songwriter.
In fact, one of the songs on the Recon album,
I wrote it in his kitchen and I borrowed his
12th string. You know, musicians, they all jam,
and I think that's what's so great about that.
It's such a giving art form. And it's really
great therapy. So we might as well get into Playing
one of the songs from righteous reconnaissance.
Let me show you here. So At least you've got
I've got a couple of them that way. Yeah I've
got love among the ruins. Yeah love among the
ruins is sort of my answer to if We could have
a conversation with the honored dead of Vietnam.
What would be the one question they would ask
us and Immediately, I thought, what have you
been doing with your life? Right? Yeah. How do
you came to mind? Because, you know, I was combat
infantry trained, I was totally ready to go over
there as a grunt. So I had made peace with dying
in Vietnam before I even went over. I figured
the mindset that I had was a lot like some of
my uncles who had known combat infantrymen in
both the Pacific and European theaters. And they
had that They had that mindset. We're going to
date one day at a time, do the best job we can,
but understand the odds. And I think I think
that once I was made a clerk in a combat aviation
battalion headquarters unit in the Mekong Delta,
I took that aspect of that professionalism with
me my entire tour. I just tried to do the best
job I could every single day for the for the
troops to make sure they had what they needed.
Well, we, you know, Also being within an aviation
company, of course it depended upon the people
back in the company area to make sure that you
know, they knew where I was at the aircraft or
Well, and that's and everything that's that's
exactly my point was these guys work in 18 hour
days 20 hour days making sure they shot up Huey's
the shot up fixed wing bird dogs the the loaches
The Chinook we didn't have Chinooks, but on occasion
one would come in and banged up and we we had
to you know Our guys would on it. So yeah, those
were the guys I dedicated my time to Okay. Well,
why don't we play this song? It's called level
but love among the ruins Yeah, and so this is
a Lem Genovese and Here it is. This is my wall
song Sometimes out of friendship, the strongest
love will grow Sometimes you never notice, and
sometimes you'll never know Believing's not so
easy, when you open old wounds again But trust
them that you have to, and let them start to
mend Without you all my battles Never who will
be won It's easier in silence When all is said
and done They'll never know the difference Between
the passion and the blood Never see the distance
From the water and the mud It's just not the
cheapest It flows the stillest and the deepest
The brightest and the steepest in my life Now
what have you been doing With love among the
ruins? What have you been doing with your life?
for too long sitting on the sidelines searching
for a sign of spring black granite names on the
wall reflecting why this man must sing keeping
track of the present we get so lost in the past
turning my back on that legacy that reads nice
guys finish nice guys finish nice guys finish
last it's the richest not the cheapest those
the stillest and the deepest the brightest and
the steepest in my life now what have you been
doing doing with your life. won't you put me
in the second half it only hurts when i laugh
now coach won't you put me in the second half
it only That was love among the ruins and it's
it's really kind of Unfortunate that those of
us who are doing this thing on zoom. We can't
hear Yeah, all of the great music that yeah,
you know we can either hear the lyrics or sometimes
we can hear the melody and I'm sorry we couldn't
hear you 12 string is that Had I known back in
the early 80s that I would have reenlisted in
the National Guard The the the end of the song
is coach won't you put me in the second half
it only hurts when I laugh It was very prophetic
and I didn't know it at the time but I Ended
up as a combat medic in Desert Storm 20 years
to the day It just blows my mind when I stop
and think about that, that I was in good enough
physical condition and I'd had a break in service
because I was a veteran's advocate for about
12 years. I went in, I think I was 35 or 36 and
then did the rest of it to do the full 20 so
I could retire out. And it's interesting how
much I learned as a Vietnam veteran, as an advocate,
combat infantry training, then became a medic.
Being able to literally see the other side of
the coin where we're liberating a country that
stayed liberated was one of the greatest honors
of my life and So the songs the songs from that
I wrote after desert storm. I think are a little
better balanced and they're a little jazzier.
And I'm sure that's probably, I'm sure that's
the reason the folks from Nashville, from Operation
Song, when I sent them a CD, they had no concept
of what I was doing, because it's just, it's
way different from where they're coming from.
And I'm cool with that. Well, I mean, there are
some, you know, some really great organizations.
I mean, I understand, you know, as a therapy,
it's absolutely perfect. I mean, it kept me from
committing suicide. No. I mean, if I hadn't picked
up the guitar, I wouldn't be here today. I think
that's I've talked to a number of people that
feel the same way. I know there's an organization
in Wisconsin. I think it's called Warrior Songs.
Well, then you've also got guitars for vets.
Yeah, that's around here. I know we've got the
number of chapters all over the United States
now. It started in Wisconsin. Yeah. It's not
too late. Milwaukee. Yeah. Maybe I can still
learn how to play. Listen. I didn't actually
pick up a guitar until I was like 25. And I've
known veterans from Vietnam that once they're
retired, and they've got the time, they're, they're
doing the guitar thing, they're either taking
lessons, or they're part of guitars for vets,
where there's a program where you learn how to
play. Well, the nice thing about guitar for vets
is that, you know, as you learn how to play,
I guess when you graduate, you get to keep the
guitar, right? And, um, it's been really fun
that, uh, one of the best known guitar shops
here in La Crosse is Dave's guitar, Dave's guitars.
And he's got like three other shops in Wisconsin
and he has donated some guitars, two guitars
for vets, which, you know, that's, that's, that's
as good as it gets in my book. There's a guy
that is making good money, uh, since the seventies
and he's willing to do that for veterans. Well,
I think there's a lot more people out there that
support veterans and we then we realize yeah,
and It's a good feeling to know that How much
this country's changed in that regard since Vietnam
and I think I think Vietnam veterans are the
ones that kind of spearheaded that No other generation
is going to get ignored like we did right absolutely
and I feel I feel good about that I just wish
there was some more venues out there that would
at least give me a chance to perform again, but
you know, hey We'll see what we could come up
with you get involved with You mentioned one
of the other songs that you that you wanted us
to play today was the the elegy Yeah, that if
we've only got time for one more list you elegy
for the fallen. I just hope to God the the folks
can hear the 12th string because this is a It's
really interesting that I had the beginning of
it, I borrowed, there's a chapter on it in the
memoir, but I borrowed a chaplain's guitar the
night before the ground war started in Desert
Storm. And I had tried to figure out the actual
introduction and into the first part of it. Then
my wife, who was my daresay for, and Penn Powell
allowed me to buy my first 12 string acoustic.
And one day after the wedding, about six months
afterwards, I was following the court progression
of Crosby, Stills, and Nash's Wooden Ships. The
next thing I knew, I had the second half of the
song ready to go. She's downstairs listening
and she goes. What was that? And I go, I have
no idea. She said, can you play it again? And
I go, let me try it. And she said, you have to
record that. And so this is, this is what happens.
This is Elegy for the Fallen. This was used on
the funeral scene for the one five Marines in
the documentary, Patrol Base Jaker. That's exactly
what I wrote it for. was if you just had an acoustic
guitar, this is what I was shooting for. But
if I had piano, concert harp, maybe a string
section in certain parts, it would be absolutely
perfect for another documentary or a movie about
veterans. So let's give it a shot. Well, let's
give it a shot. Now, again, remember, we're not
going to be able to hear it clearly at all. The
audience out there will hear it all. That's the
thing to remember. Okay, so here we go. that
was Elegy for the Fallen. That song is beautiful
in its own way. And I was reading the notes on
the CD cover and was this dedicated to Gold Star
families? Yes. Like I said, there's a chapter
in the book about it and I always thought Taps
was too short. And there's a reason for that.
And I'm good with it. But gold star families
doesn't matter whether it's in training or in
combat. When you lose a loved one, a family member
in military service, you earn that gold star
the hard way. And I always thought they needed
something uplifting to listen to when that date
comes around. Whether it's Memorial Day, Veterans
Day or the day their loved one actually passed.
This particular piece really kind of resonated
for that to me. That's who I envisioned would
get the best sense of serenity when they're thinking
about the loss of their loved one, which is a
huge, huge milestone in any family's life. It's
something they never forget. Been around those
folks at my concerts in particular For years
and always felt like I hadn't done enough for
them musically. So this is this is my homage
to them Well, it's it's It's a beautiful song.
Thank you. I mean, it's just an Incredibly talented
man, you know, I think that's I'm really jealous
of that Well, I don't, I don't, hopefully there's
more admiration and jealousy, Dale. Yeah, well,
it's more admiration than jealousy. It's only
because I can't, I can't sing and I can't do
any of the instrumental stuff. What you're doing
is very important to the community at large,
my friend. And that's a gift in and of itself
every time you do one. We've got a little time
here to kind of talk about some of these things
And as I said, I wish we could hear because I
wanted to just play I want to play just as a
little bit of the um again, we won't be able
to hear it when we are of the six lazaro Six
lazari lane six lazari lane. Tell me a little
bit about that Surprisingly, uh for a kid from
Des Moines, Iowa. I'm a third generation new
york yankees fan Oh, that's too bad. So Being
Sicilian, not Italian, being Sicilian on both
sides of the family, my grandfather, who was
an immigrant, and my father loved the Yankees.
I mean, they were fanatics about it. And when
the first Italian American to use this real name,
Tony Lazzari, joined the Yankees in 1926, that
pretty much solidified it. You know, prior to
that, you had to use a fake name, believe it
or not. No, I believe that. There was a Yankee
who was a Italian American, but he went by the
name of Ping, just like the golf club, Ping Bodie,
B -O -D -I -E. Francesco Pizzolo was his real
name. Okay. He ruled with Babe Ruth. So when
Tony came around, that kind of broke the ice.
He was like the Jackie Robinson. So, okay, that's
how Six Lazare Lane got its name because of him.
Okay, I just want to play just one minute of
this and just because the drive of this particular
song is amazing. We've only got three, four minutes
left anyway. Well, we're going to play this right
now. Okay, I just wanted to play the introduction
to that cuz that that was just something that
I thought I just put in the car and just drove
with We have some live music That's the part.
I'm sorry. You cannot see this. He pulled his
guitar off of his wall. Thank you. Thank you,
Lem. That was really when I put that in the CD
player. I have an old car, obviously. I put the
CD player and I hit that thing and it was just
like I was pulled back into the 60s and stuff
and just that driving Yep. Rhythm there. Anyway,
Lem. I still love the music from that decade.
You're not the first person to tell me that I
reinvent 60s music. And Six Lasere Lang was a
gift, man. I just I flat out went, OK, if Booker
T and the M .G.'s had met Buddy Holly, this is
what it would sound like. I have to agree. I
have to agree. All right. So we can get all of
this music. We've been talking with Lem Genevieve
today here on Veterans Radio. His albums are
available on Amazon. You can just download them
from Amazon, which is kind of cool. And I think
he's an incredibly talented man. And I'm very
happy to have had him on the program. And I'm
going to ask you to stick around after the program
is over so I can talk to you. Sure. So as we
come up to the end of today's Veterans Radio
program, we always go out on a God bless America
version. And today we're going out under Jimmy
Fountain. And this is one of them. I'm just you
know, I want everybody to understand how much
all of us, no matter where we are politically,
really do love this country. And it's it's so
important for us to realize that we need to get
together instead of driving the way outwards.
We need to come back. Find the common ground,
my brother. Find the common ground. Find the
common ground. He's interrupting my editorial
right here now. So we want to make sure what
we always go out on God bless America. So that's
one of my favorite songs. And so this is what
we're going to do today. And I'm probably going
to have to stretch a little bit because I've
got I don't know how much time left. Just a little
bit more. So all right. Oh, I know. 10 seconds.
Never mind next week is our benefits program.
So if you got a question get it to us So make
sure that so until next week, this is dale thrombury
for veterans radio. You are dismissed God bless
america Land that I love Stand beside her and
guide her through the night with a light from
above. From the mountains, to the prairies, to
the oceans, white with foam. God bless America,
my home sweet. Oh God bless America, my home.