A former paratrooper and Army Special Forces (Green Beret) medic, Michael McCann knows what he’s singing about in Soldiers’ Songs. Beginning as an album of songs from 8 wars, Soldiers' Songs became a presentation of the music histories of WWI, WWII and Vietnam with audiences ranging from students to seniors. Drawing on his combat experience, military history and a satchel of songs written by and about soldiers, Michael tells powerful stories about these wars from the soldiers’ perspective.
 
“Michael gave a workshop on the soldier songs of World War I to a group of educators at the Yale-Hopkins Summer Institute on World War I. Mike's interactive presentation was well-received and given the highest rating. I would highly recommend it for both student and teacher groups.”
 

Stephen Armstrong
Teacher/Instructional Leader of Social Studies, Manchester Public Schools
Adjunct Instructor of History, Central CT State University
Master Teacher, Teaching United States History Grant, CREC
 
"Thank you for a wonderful performance.  You touched the hearts and memories of each person in our senior center audience.  I could feel the interest of the whole group."
 

Joanne Byrne, Senior Services Coordinator, Town of Orange, CT.

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Memorial Day was once called Decoration Day, a time to remember soldiers who died in the Civil War by decorating their graves with flowers and flags.  The observance is believed to have originated in Waterloo, NY, on May 5, 1866.  As the United States became involved in other wars, this time of remembrance was broadened to include those who died in all the wars of our country. 

The song on the Soldiers' Songs CD that best captures the spirit of this day is “The Wall” by Vietnam Veteran Tim Murphy who received the Silver Star in Vietnam.

 “And every name’s a father or a husband or a son

or a daughter or a brother or a cousin to someone

or a name might be a classmate or a friend you may recall

there’s nearly sixty thousand fallen names

still waiting at The Wall.”

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Copyright 2005, Michael McCann.  All rights reserved.

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