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The Captain's AMERICA

BRADENTON, FL (TheCaptainsAMERICA) -

Sometimes a song comes along that you've just GOT to share with everyone you know. This IS one of those songs...

To all of the Families with sons or daughters serving in the Military, "So Brave," is a song written by a very special Mother who has a son serving with the 82nd Airborne in Iraq...

Her name is Angela Lashley and her son is named Jonathan. Together they are what America is all about and I'm proud to be able to share this beautiful song with all of you...

My son, Michael, is now back in Iraq for the 3rd time. Mike's reason for wanting to go back was to make 'Major' this time around in the U.S. Marine Corps. His goal is to retire as a General...

To Michael, his Marines and ALL of our Brave men and women serving our Country wherever they may be, I wish you and your Families the very best of Holidays always in ALL ways...

'The Captain'

"The Captain's AMERICA" Radio Show

To Get A Copy Of 'So Brave' -

Go To: www.sobravesong.com

The video.....

SOLDIERS' MOMS,..."the beautiful majority"  
                
 
CLICK HERE:

http://www.eaglesup.us/Flash%20Video/Soldiers_Moms_EU.html
                             
God Speed,

Angela Lashley… Jonathan’s Mom                                       
                                                    
                                                             
CLICK HERE:

http://www.gotchasong.com/index.php?cPath=21_48     

                                                                                                             
'SO BRAVE',
             
It was my memories of the childhood displays of courage, and his decision to join the military that inspired me to write the song SO BRAVE about my son Jonathan...
 
He is on his second deployment....in Iraq...
 
Thank you for having embraced the song and writing to let me know that such memories are common to the mothers of every soldier.”
                                                             
God Speed,

Angela...Jonathan's Mom 
                  
“With SO BRAVE, Angela is doing a great thing not just for her son, but for all soldiers in this war and she has my support."
                                                                                                             ...Gary Sinise... 
 

This site is Gunny Approved





FRONTLINE MOM...
 
by Angela Lashley
 
NASHVILLE, TN (NS/AngelaLashley)
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  "Never again will the mothers of this country,  tolerate or forgive
the ill-treatment of sons and daughters returning home from war".
                                             Angela Lashley....Jon's
Mom
 
 
Recently while sitting on a bench outside an airport in Washington
D.C. I became engaged in conversation with a stranger.Sporting a "no
war in Iran" pin on his tam, and clad in the fashions of the 60's, I
would guess his age to have been about 55 years old...
 
I was waiting for a flight home to Nashville. On my shoulder I carried
a tote bag boldly printed with the logo of Families United for Our
Troops and Their Mission, www.familiesunitedmission.org ...
 
It was September.  Merrillee Carlson, director of this organization,
invited hundreds of Americans to come to Washington for good
purpose...
 
Representative of the vast majority of American citizens, members and
guests of Families United Mission had been seen on the Hill, at the
White House, and all around D.C. for days. Proudly, I had been among
these people...
 
Looking back now on that conversation at the airport, I am confident
this "stranger" took issue with that red white and blue logo on my
bag. That is at least one explanation for what turn a chat between
this man and I into the public display I will probably never forget...
 
It was my 3rd trip to Washington in 6 months,and after days of dealing
with disinterested congressional aids, mean spirited women in
"PROTESTER PINK", and the YELLOW T-SHIRT gang, my Christian patience
had been worn thin...
 
The "stranger" asked politely, "So what brought you to D.C.?"
 
It took him about 2 minutes to gather all the intelligence he needed,
including the fact that I was the mother of a soldier somewhere in
Iraq...
 
So,...about the war...did you know?! Did you know?! Do you know?!
 
Like Jeckle turned Hyde, he transformed into an arrogant self -
appointed barker of what he called "THE TRUTH". His lack of
consideration about who he was talking to, "a woman with a SON in a
WAR ZONE", and his endless inaccuracies finally triggered my less than
dignified response...
 
I jumped up stomping a foot, probably looking like a tantruming 2 year
old. Then, admittedly, I nearly screamed it, "Stop saying that those
who support the troops are in some minority, and please don't talk to
me about TRUTH..everything you've said...is a lie!"
 
The reaction that followed proved to me that nearly everyone who had
easily overheard our exchange, was in agreement with what I had just
said. And when the soldiers' mom who'd also been sitting on that
bench, rose to give me a supportive hug as she ran to catch a plane,
my tears were all it took to set the stage for what happened next...
 
Policemen, porters, and a variety of travelers,..each shot him a look
of disgust.  I stood there thinking of my son in Iraq. The old porter
who had my luggage, offered his arm and escorted me the few feet to
the shuttle headed for my terminal....whispering as we walked,  "God
Bless your son Ma'am"...
 
The "stranger", still on the bench was working rather hard trying to
deflect the eyeballs of people boring holes through his self esteem as
my shuttle pulled away...
 
Very recently, my son Jonathan arrived home  from his second
deployment to Iraq. All who love him, are grateful to God for his safe
return...
 
For a second year in a row, he has made it home from Iraq safely, and
in time for Christmas...
 
During his absence, at the invitation of the GOE, and actor Gary
Sinise, I have gone to Washington to sing 'SO BRAVE', the song my son
and his best friend Brandon inspired...
 
The boys have both spent the better part of the last 2 years serving
in Iraq. SO BRAVE, a mother's, song is about hope, and courage.
Through it, I have come to know military families from all over the
country...
 
There is concern about a renaissance of the Viet Nam style  ill-
treatment of soldiers returning home from war. Fortunately, the
majority of Americans are dedicated to building the morale of this
country's military,so I am encouraged that ultimately, all will be
well...
 
So for those who are not beneath trying to "orchestrate" a repeat of
that despicable and unjust atmosphere here at home, I have a message
for you...
 
The women of this country who have raised the American soldiers
serving in our time want you to know. "This is my child, he is a
valiant...deserving of the respect of his countrymen. Never again will
the mothers of this country, tolerate or forgive, the ill-treatment
of sons and daughters returning home from war"...
 
Someday I may sit down with my son and share all that I have
experienced while he has been 6,000 miles away. But I am not sure if I
will ever tell him that for reasons I do not understand, his mom was
called  "mother of a baby-killer" by a protester in a yellow
moveon.org t-shirt, outside a recruiting office in D.C...
 
Having witnessed the lifelong conduct of my son, I know this was the
greatest of all lies I have heard from self-absorbed people while in
Washington D.C...
 
It will be a long time before I forget the many strange encounters and
hard lessons in humanity that have contributed to the emotional days I
have lived during my season as a soldier's mother.
 
                                 To you and yours,
                                 God Speed,
                                 Angela Lashley...Jonathan's Mom
 
 
ADDITIONAL INFO:
 
In 2004 after raising their 2 children in Wisconsin, songwriter Angela
and her husband Jeff Wisniewski, moved to Nashville.Their son
Jonathan's decision to leave school in 2005 to enlist in the Army
inspired Angela, and Grammy nominee Byron House, to co-write the song
SO BRAVE...
 
It is based on her memories of the displays of courage she witnessed
throughout her son's youth...
 
While Jonathan has been to war, Angela's experiences during her 2
years as a soldier's mother, have inspired the writing of other songs
in tribute to the military and their loved ones...
 
In September of this year, her release SOLDIERS' MOMS was launched by
Ivy Music International on Music Row in Nashville...
 
Available on ITUNES, the album is a celebration of the American
service member and those who raise them...
 
Angela describes the sisterhood of the mothers' of soldiers, as "The
beautiful majority" in the UTUBE video, SOLDIERS' MOMS a song by
A.Lashley....a video by Mike Connelly...
 
 
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