Before You Go

For this Freedom Friday, I want to tell you a story about Dr. Sam Bierstock who is a professional musician and entertainer as well as a physician. Dr. Sam formed a musical group in 1996 called "Dr. Sam and The Managed Care Blues Band." This band uses satire, great music and humor to entertain and has performed in more than forty states and sold many thousands of CDs.

Dr. Sam returned from a cross-country trip and arrived at an airport in Florida at 1:00 A.M. in the summer of 2002. He found his car and arrived at the collection booth. There he wished the attendant a good evening. The elderly attendant gave an angry and resentful reply, "I took two bullets for this country and look what I am doing now!" Dr. Sam drove a few feet while digesting what had just happened. He backed up and said to the attendant, "Sir, I have had a wonderful life in this country, and I want to thank you sincerely for what you did to preserve our way of life in this country." The attendant said nothing in response but began to cry.

Dr. Sam was haunted by his experience and started to think of the members of his family who had served in World War II. "He realized that not only would our entire way of life and system of freedom been destroyed, his parents and grandparents would have been killed, he would never have been born and his children would not exist. The same fate would have been met by virtually all other members of minorities, many religious groups, and the disabled. The personal freedoms that we take so much for granted would have disappeared. `How", he thought, `do you thank someone enough for the existence of your children, and for all of the freedoms and opportunities that we all take so much for granted?' "

Dr. Sam wrote the lyrics to a song called "Before You Go" the very next morning. The words came easily to him because they came from his heart, but he had a difficult time finding the right music. It was not until the summer of 2005 that he was able to find someone to write the music - and that person happened to be a new keyboard player in his band. "Before You Go" was finally recorded.

Dr. Sam was aware that the veterans of World War II were dying at a rate of 1,000 to 2,000 per day, and he wanted this song to reach as many of them as possible before they died. He made the decision to put his recording for free listening on the Internet.

My father-in-law was a veteran of World War II and died before I could send this song to him. Please make sure that every World War II, Korean War, or Vietnam War veteran that you know hears "Before You Go" before their time on this earth is gone.