Ten Favorite Soldier Songs: More Than a Name on a Wall (#10)

Tweet

Happy Independence Day, America! God bless her, land that I love (as Irving Berlin so eloquently put it in his classic song). Thanks to @TRBRocks420 and his current countdown of "patriotic songs," I'm counting down ten songs about soldiers. We didn't just shake hands for this independence we're celebrating today: many people have had to pay with their lives to keep our enemies at bay. Now, let me tell you up front, these songs cover "both sides," if you will, the patriotic side and the "war is hell" side. They're two sides of the same coin, but this isn't for political discussion, even though there's some of that here. And, deservedly so (dealing with the Vietnam war). But I'll address that later. Here's the first song on the list. #10: More Than a Name on a Wall - Statler Brothers Yeah, let's start with a song I can't stand to listen to. It may sound too simplistic to be a proper war memorial, but I don't think you'll ever be the same person when you leave The Wall as you are when you walk up to it. All that stares back at you is granite and names, showing that war is hell. No matter how necessary the war is, it's hell. The "new" Statler Brother, Jimmy Fortune (who replaced original member Lew DeWitt, who suffered from and eventually died of Crohn's disease), took those sentiments and put them in this gut-punching song. It tells of a man watching a mother walk up to The Wall to trace her son's name, one of over 54,000 listed. She says, "He died for God and country in a place so far away." As she walks away, she personalizes it in a heartbreaking way, praying, "Lord, could You tell him he's more than a name on a wall?" I've only been to The Wall once. The day after some friends of mine, the Whitstein Brothers, did a concert in Washington, DC we went sightseeing. Charles, his wife Ida, and I went to The Wall, where Charles wanted to find the name of his best friend from high school who died in Vietnam. (Both Whitstein brothers enlisted in the Marines, but Charles stayed in the Reserves and was never called up. Robert did two tours in Vietnam.) I've seen Dailey & Vincent perform this song. A couple of years ago Fortune was on a "Country Gold" show at our State Fair and did the song. Just the mention of the title gets me. More Than a Name on a Wall Written by Jimmy Fortunte and John Rimel Recorded by the Statler Brothers Released as a single, 1989 This song isn't easy to endure, at least for me, so fair warning: