Tribute
to a Son Twists With New Meaning
By John Kelly
"I wanted to write a song to let Ben know what I thought of him," David
Wayne says.
David's a country singer, all silver buckles, leather fringe, snakeskin
boots and outlaw black. If you frequent the My Way Restaurant and Bar in
But one day two years ago in his
"I just started strumming some little rhythm and started singing."
First a D chord, then an A, then a G. The words came easily:
My boy grew up and became a man/he joined the Army to take a stand.
Fighting for freedom half a world away/so people can live a better day.
The verses told the story of what Ben did, and the chorus told the story of
who Ben was:
He's an everyday hero/just trying to do what's right.
He's an everyday hero/we pray he comes home safe tonight.
"It took less than 15 minutes," says David, 48. "That was the song."
Ben's song: "Everyday
Hero."
David knew when he wanted to debut the piece -- during a special ceremony
at the American Legion Post 66 in
"There's a lot of songs that make you pumped and
charged, and this one isn't really that way," David says. "But it tells the
truth. . . . It kind of puts things in perspective."
But isn't it sad when all is said and done/that freedom was won at the
end of a gun?
But he answered the call when he heard it ring/and Uncle Sam said, "I
need you again."
The mayor of
"Of course he was into the hip-hop and everything, but he knew where I was
coming from," David says.
"I was proud that he shared the song with other soldiers when he went back
to
As far as Ben was concerned, they were all everyday heroes.
Ben got through two stints in
Maybe he came home thinking he was invincible. Maybe he thought if a
roadside bomb or a rocket-propelled grenade couldn't kill him, nothing could.
Last Labor Day weekend down in
It didn't make sense to Suzanne that Ben could live through the horrors of
war and then be taken in an accident at home, but she was sure that if he'd
had to go back to Iraq a third time -- which was likely -- he wouldn't return
home safely.
"I consoled myself that it didn't happen in
And she can console herself with something else.
"I do love that song," Suzanne says. Sometimes she'll listen to it in Ben's
Ford Explorer. He bought the truck -- black, with tinted windows and chrome
rims -- when he returned from
And although it's not easy, the David Wayne Band still plays "Everyday
Hero."
"Quite often I have to do it with my eyes closed," David says. "I look out
and see different people -- or look over at my wife, and I know she's
gonna be crying -- and I'll lose it. . . . It
takes on a whole new meaning from when I wrote it. It's not the same as when
he was alive and he got to hear it.
"In fact, that's usually why we end the set with that song -- so we can
have a break, so I can compose myself."
To hear "Everyday Hero," go to
http://www.washingtonpost.com/johnkelly. To
learn when the David Wayne Band plays next, see
http://www.thedavidwayneband.com/
. Chat with me at
© 2006 The
Washington Post Company
|
|
|||
|
