Nashville hitmakers work with metro-east veterans to put their war service to music

Through song, Freedom Sings USA will share local veterans’ stories in Shiloh this Friday and Saturday.

A two-day music arts therapy event, which is certified by the Veterans Administration, will feature Nashville hitmakers Steve Dean, Don Goodman, Bill Whyte, Wood Newton and Wil Nance, plus special guests.

Hosted by the village of Shiloh, the songwriters’ retreat takes place at Klucker Hall, culminating in a free live concert at 5 p.m. April 15 at the Yorktown Golf Course.

A Meet ‘n Greet with veterans and songwriters begins at 5 p.m. Friday, April 14, in Klucker Hall. Private songwriting workshops will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 15, at Klucker Hall.

Sue Quitmeyer, Shiloh events coordinator, said the program is about sharing, connecting, and finding balance through music.

“We have four local veterans who are going to tell their story and the Nashville songwriters will put them into songs,” she said.

Participating veterans are Ed Finlay from Shiloh, Joe Friedman from Belleville, John Black of O’Fallon and Ben Wocken, formerly of O’Fallon. They will meet the songwriters Friday.

“Freedom Sings USA is a wonderful organization of songwriters from Nashville, Tenn., that support our veterans by offering classes and workshops to connect, share and develop paths towards healing,” Quitmeyer said.

“Through songwriting workshops, creative expression, group meetings and peer-to-peer sharing, Freedom Sings USA provides free life-long access to classes and resources for military veterans of any age,” she said.

Freedom Sings USA

Freedom Sings USA is a nonprofit based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Its vision is to help as many veterans throughout the country and provide the model for the ongoing dependable support they need until they feel they can experience all that life has to offer them, said Bobbie Allison-Standefer, co-founder and executive director.

She said songwriting, along with peer support, helps provide veterans and their families the tools necessary to cope with trauma or readjust from military service.

“Our mission is to also promote public support, education, and appreciation for the sacrifice the veterans and their families make serving our country through the hearing of their stories as told through song,” she said.

“We hold weekly ongoing classes on Wednesday mornings and Thursday nights in Chattanooga, Tenn., and sponsor events and group retreats throughout the U.S. Those we serve need no musical background, only the desire to tell their story,” she said.

“The songwriters are all award-winning Nashville pros and will put on a fabulous show. Bill Whyte is in the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame. He does comedy, which really adds to the show. However, he is a great songwriter in his own right,” she said.

“Don Goodman wrote ‘Ol’ Red’ and Blake Shelton made it famous and now there are restaurants going up all over the country. He also wrote ‘Angels Among Us’ for Alabama and that is about to be re-released by another artist. Steve Dean wrote the song of the decade, ‘Watching You Dad’ by Rodney Adkins. He has also written number one hits for stars,” Allison-Standefer said.

“They now all write to help heal our veterans from the trauma of combat or military experiences. They are the best in the business and are great men who want to give back to our country. It will be an amazing show,” she said.

“The city of Shiloh is doing a great service to your regional veterans and the community by sponsoring Freedom Sings USA, and it is a great lead-in to honoring all those who gave it all in service to our way of life,” she said.

“In a typical session, the songwriter listens and encourages the participant to lay out the ‘puzzle pieces’ of his or her experience.

Together, they arrange those pieces into verses and choruses. The result is a complete song that they can call their own, then as alumni they have the support every week of other veterans who are alumni and to support new veterans just writing their songs,” she said.

Veterans Sharing Stories

Joe Friedman, 90, joined the Air Force during the Korean War, on Dec. 19, 1951.

“I spent my first Christmas in a tent,” he said.

Originally from southeast Missouri, he has lived in Belleville for 67 years. He spent his career as an aircraft mechanic, working at Scott Air Force Base after his military tenure was over, and was in the reserves for 20 years.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, he was called into service for 30 days, he said.

“We were going to Fort Campbell to pick up the troops, but thankfully, they moved the missiles out of Cuba,” he said.

As for serving his country, he said: “I count my blessings every day.”

He and his two brothers Cletus and Clarence were selected for an Honor Flight on May 27, 2017, together. Cletus served in the Navy and Clarence was in the Army.

“That was something else. A lot of tears were shed because of appreciation,” Friedman said.

His wife, Phyllis, said he has so much empathy for what veterans have done serving their country.

“He gets emotional about it,” she said.

Meeting with the country songwriters is something he looks forward to doing.

“I can’t sing. But my wife and I, we’ve been married for 66 years, and we’ve done a lot of dancing to their music,” he said.

Ben Wocken joined the Air Force in 2009 and served in the 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron based out of Scott. He was stationed in Afghanistan during 2012-2013.

“Our motto was ‘Aerovac brings them back.’ I was ground support,” he said. “We took wounded warriors from Kandahar to Ramstein Air Base in Germany.”

The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center there is a Level II trauma center, the only one outside the U.S. and one of three in the Department of Defense.

They also transported soldiers to the Navy Role III trauma facility in Kandahar, known as the “Taliban’s Last Stand” building.“We really saw the cost of the war in blood,” he said.

Now working for the Veterans Administration, Wocken said he saw a flyer for the event and inquired about participating.

“I’m pretty excited about it, to be able to turn our storytelling into songs,” he said.

He said that military service affects lives in an impactful way. “Our life stories are part of the national story,” he said.

Ed Finlay, who lives in Shiloh, spent “22 years, 5 months and 8 days” in the Air Force as a military police officer. He began his career in Alaska, during the Vietnam War, in 1971 and retired in 1992 after serving in Desert Storm. He met his wife in Minot, North Dakota and served in Germany, Oklahoma, and at Scott Air Force Base, besides traveling around the world for work.

Finlay, 70, said he currently does aerial and drone photography for the village of Shiloh. He thinks the workshop/concert, as well as the Goalby-inspired golf activities at Yorktown Golf Course, are exciting for the village.

He hasn’t talked to a songwriter yet – “we’re going to meet them Friday,” he said – but looks forward to discussing his life service.

For more information on the local event, call (618) 632-1022, ext. 119, or visit the website, www.freedomsingsusa.org.

For more information about the songwriters:Steve Dean, www.stevedeanmusic.comDon Goodman, https://secondhandsongs.com/artist/76822/allWood Newton, https://nakedvibes.com/wood-newton-grammy-winning-songwriter-live-music-conversation/Wil Nance, https://www.backstagenashville.net/wilnance