Two weeks after D-Day, American soldier Jackie Roy Tuner found himself within shooting distance of a lone German sniper. Instead of pulling out a gun, he pulled out a trumpet.
We at HeadCount are constantly searching for words to articulate why music works as the perfect springboard for actions that make the world a better place. We can point to its cultural value in healing, as evidenced by the Gulf Coast and fictionalized in HBO's Treme. We can point to our own voter registration totals and exclaim loudly and proudly that our audience is listening. But perhaps the value of music can best be articulated by a man who doesn't know Phish from Fish and probably couldn't name any members of the Grateful Dead.
Listen to this World War II veteran explain how music may have saved his life. And further, how the global language of music was able to somehow convey the necessity of surrender and the agony of sacrifice.
Each year, the Greatest Generation's numbers dwindle. Keller Williams urges you to "Celebrate your youth." How about celebrating the wisdom of age and experience?