MEMORIAL DAY EDITION

WALKING THE WALL

On this Memorial Day you will find millions of Americans visiting U.S. Memorials and national  cemeteries or family plots to honor the fallen men and women who died in various wars to ensure the continuing existence of the United States of America. Places like The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. It’s a place so dramatic and moving you will never forget  the experience of walking the wall.

Being the son of a WW II veteran, Edward G. Haislop, and the brother to Viet Nam veteran, Major Edward G. Haislop II, I made it a point to see the Vietnam Memorial Wall the first chance I got.  My brother, who flew helicopters and airplanes in Vietnam where he survived having a chopper shot out from under him, did not die in Vietnam, but was killed a few years later in a plane crash while on duty in Italy.

Nonetheless, I felt I had to honor those who were as brave as my brother and father who had served their country....that’s when I decided to walk the wall and try to read as many of the names chiseled into that massive wall of black marble cut into the earth like a gash in our collective soul.

After looking up the names of a couple of college mates I heard had died in Vietnam, I began the walk.  At first, there are just a few names on the lower panels. Each panel then quickly includes dozens, then hundreds of names, then thousands by the time you reach the deep mid point of the panels where the top of the wall is so high you must bend your neck backward to read the names at the wall’s  highest point.

It was there, looking at the thousands of names on the two tallest panels at the center of the wall, that I was overwhelmed with the magnitude of all those names that represented 58,195 Americans who died for their country, our country, my country, my family and me. I didn’t think I could take much more when I was just halfway through looking at the lists of name, panel after panel, but I kept on until I had climbed out of the depths and the weight of 58,195 names and the individual American each name represents.

It’s impossible to explain how that really feels  unless you make that walk. It’s even more impossible to think that sometime soon we will have to dig another space for a wall of remembrance for another generation of brave men and woman who are dying  in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, combat that has now cost us more than 6,000 deaths and thousands more wounded physically and mentally by ten years of war and unprecedented numbers of re-deployments to the combat zones in the Middle East...making the generation now serving among the bravest America has ever known.

So, if you manage to visit a place that commemorates America’s fallen veterans today or  soon, spend some time there reflecting on the honor of those enshrined there...and the real cost of making war.

And, the next time you find your way to Washington, D.C., don’t pass up the chance to Walk The Wall.

 

TOP STORIES


BRAD PAISLEY/wALABAMA move up one to #1 this week with “Old Alabama,” while...

RASCAL FLATTS’ “I Won’t Let Go” let go of the Top spot slipping one to #2 for the week...as...

KEITH URBAN’s “Without You” climbs one to 3rd place...while...

TAYLOR SWIFT’s “Mean”...means business as it moves up again up a notch to #4...
leaving...

BLAKE SHELTON’s  “Honey Bee” buzzing up three big ones to round out the Top 5 at #5 this week.




REBA WORKS HARD…AND THEN CHILLS

Reba McEntire’s annual vacations have taken her a bunch of family and friends to exotic islands to Europe and a bunch of places in North America. This year Reba is staying a little closer to home because of her father’s recent stroke. Reba plans to enjoy just chilling out. “I read. I play games. I get in the water very little. I find a shade

tree and my book, and I just chill.” Sounds like a good time! Reba is hitting the airwaves with her current single, “When Love Gets a Hold of You.”



BRANTLEY GILBERT EDGES JUSTIN BIEBER OUT OF “MOST-DEMANDED‟ #1 RANK

Brantley Gilbert reached the fan-requested #1 spot on Eventful as the most in-demand artist across all formats  – beating out Justin Bieber.

Brantley doesn't take the accolade lightly and praises his fans for extraordinary achievement. “Look what ya'll have accomplished! We really can't take credit for this. Thanks to each and every one of you, y‟all are more than a blessing, and words can't express how much we appreciate that everywhere we go feels like home... Country Must Be Country Wide!”

“We love being able to help a great artist like Brantley connect with his fans through the Demand it! platform,” said Jordan Glazier, CEO of Eventful. “It's an example of how artists can utilize social media to drive awareness and ticket sales for their live performances.” Brantley has a Top 35, and rising, hit with, “Country Must Be Country Wide.” He is on Willie Nelson‟s Country Throwdown Tour.




RASCAL FLATTS ―WON‘T LET GO OF THEIR MESSAGE

...that is their single, ” Won‘t Let Go” has  enjoyed quite the ride over the course of the past week. Not only did it jump from fourth place to the top spot on  the Mediabase/Country Aircheck chart, but it also played a huge role in one of Oprah Winfrey‘s farewell shows.

The song, which was used to say goodbye for now to the TV talk show queen, has affected people in many different ways. ―When I first heard the song when it was pitched to us, I could hear God saying that to me. Joe Don

[Rooney] thought of his kids, and that‘s just after the first listen,” says lead singer Gary LeVox. ―So, it‘s just one

of those things where you go, Gosh! This is a song right here that will touch the masses, and it‘s a message that

we‘ve got to get out there.‘‖ The Flatts‘ Jay DeMarcus agrees, adding, ―I think that‘s what makes the song so

magical.‖ The guys are set to kick off their Flatts Fest tour June 18th in Bristow, Va. Check out the band‘s performance of ―I Won‘t Let Go‖ this week on the Oprah Winfrey Show here.”




OTTO BRINGS FANS TO FRONT ROW
 
James Otto has found a way to bring his LIVE show straight to his fans’ living rooms through a popular new site StageIt.com.  Fans will have the opportunity to purchase a ticket for a virtual ‘front row seat’ to James’ CMA-Fest kick-off acoustic show on June 2 at 7 p.m. CDT, which will be broadcast LIVE from his home studio. Otto will give an exclusive sneak-peak of his brand new music that hasn’t even been recorded yet, and fans will also have the opportunity to chat with him via web. Tickets, which are limited, can be purchased for only $5 by clicking HERE.
 
“I know lots of you crazy Ottomaniacs will be in Nashvegas for CMA Music Fest. However, I also know there are some of you that can't make it--so I wanted to do a live intimate concert for ALL of you,” said James.



EDENS EDGE ARE MORE THAN READY FOR H20 II TOUR

Edens Edge  are getting ready to hit the road on Brad Paisley‘s H20 II: Wetter & Wilder World Tour later this week, and one of the things they‘re most worried about is the headliner‘s reputation as a superior prankster. They band, who are heading up the country charts
with their debut single ―Amen,‖ been accepting suggestions to hold in their back pocket on the off-chance Brad decides to unleash his pranks on them. ―Everyone we‘ve talked to, we‘re like, 'Help us think of pranks! Tweet us!

Send us Facebook messages with ideas so we can start plotting what we‘re going to do to him,laughs EE‘s Cherrill Green. 'Cause we don‘t want to get caught, you know, without something good to pull back on him if he does something to us. The H20 II trek kicks off in Virginia Beach, Va., June 3rd.