"Veteran Like Me" by: Chris Gimm
Channel: dadat47
Date: 2011-10-05

I wrote this song for my son Dan. The images that you see are a mix between his and mine. Dan recently returned from a middle-eastern hitch while my time over there was over 25 years ago. As I state in the beginning of the video "You're not a Veteran until you come home". Well, this is true and it is this thought that was actually the catalyst that inspired me to write this song. You see Dan was in Iraq at the time and I very much wanted him to get back home safe and sound. I wanted him to be a Veteran of this war -- which meant he would have been done with it.
As for me and my experiences I am a Navy Vet who served in the Persian Gulf in 1980 and 1981 during what was called the "Iranian Hostage Crisis". (Interesting fact: The Iranian Crisis launched the show "Night Line") I actually sailed around the Gulf for 63 days in a row once. That's a long time. We had no phones, no internet, no digital cameras. In fact the image you see of a helicopter is my image from the gulf where that Helo was bringing us our mail. You may also notice a white ship in the video. That was my picture as well. That ship was the only white ship in the US Navy and it was white because it was permanently stationed in the Persian Gulf. You see white reflects heat better that haze grey.
I am very proud of Dan as I bet you are. He is now a Veteran of the Iraq war and was in Kuwait and Afghanistan as well. Dan earned the Bronze Star during this tour and that is quite a remarkable thing.
I thank Dan and every Service Man and Service Woman - veteran or active - for their service to this - our country. You are what keeps us free. God Bless You, and God Bless America.