Beyond The Yellow Ribbon
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 âall the way back home from deploymentâ.
These are some of their shared thoughts:
âOne 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). Heâs 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.â
âMy reason (to be involved in Beyond the Yellow Ribbon) is to make sure the country doesnât react to veterans in the same way some did in my era. It was not a comfortable time when I served.â
âWhen I receive news of another soldier dying in war, I think, âIt wasnât my son, but it could have been our son. It could be your kid.ââ
âThere was no direction for any of us to go when we came home from deployment in Kosovo. We simply didnât have that direction, but we do now.â
âThere 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. Itâs 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.”
âBeyond The Yellow Ribbon points people in the right direction.”
âBefore (Beyond the Yellow Ribbon) the returning soldier couldnât 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 âbuild me a program to change thisâ. 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.â
âEveryone watching out for each other and what can we do to help.â
âBeyond The Yellow Ribbon covers all cycles of deployment. Before during and after. We are here for the whole thing.â
âWe donât want them (Veterans) to be forgotten and lost. We will be there for them for whatever they need.â
âWe never walk past a veteran. We always thank them. We always say, âWelcome Home.â We honor those whoâve served.â
âWar 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 donât (use these methods), you donât go home. â
“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 donât know if the kid is wearing explosives. You canât 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.â
“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. Weâre the information conduits. We cover a broad range of different professions in our group. Weâre 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 isnât just the soldier that gets impacted. It ends up being us. Itâs the entire nation. Either one gone or a hundred eighty-six gone. Itâs all the same. A life loss.”
“If the politicians had to wear the uniforms we wouldnât 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 whoâve been deployed
To those deployed at home
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
In body, heart & soul
Itâs not just the soldier
Itâs me and you
Weâre in this together
Together weâll make it through
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
War is hell! War is hell!
Forced to do the unspeakable
Some stories are hard to tell
Weâre here to listen
Weâre not here to judge
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
Mothers, fathers, daughters, sons
Itâs not just the soldier
Itâs me and you
Weâre in this together
Together weâll make it through
Beyond the Yellow Ribbon
This one thing I know
Weâre standing with you
âTil youâre 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