I got this letter today; follow-up and photo added

[OBrien]

I'd like to share this with you. It choked me up a little. I have removed the soldier's name.

Sir,

I just recently got back a whistle you sent to me in Iraq back in 2004. The c tube was destroyed in a blast on my truck in 2006 and one of the guys that cleaned out my room after I was evaced in October of 2009 to Germany for a wound tracked me down and sent it on to me about a month ago. Pretty much from the day I got it till I was evaced your whistle was with me. When I talk to my surviving truck crew, they always remember me trying to learn to play “Down by the Sally Gardens” badly and using it to keep them awake and alert.



Your whistle sounds as good as ever, its all copper now, there’s no finish left on it at all, it has some dings and dents in it, one on the mouth piece from my tooth when I got hit with an RPG while playing it, but its still the best whistle ever made as far as I am concerned. I still suck at the playing aspect of it, but I hope this gives you an idea of how important it is to me.



Now my military career is over, I might actually find someone to teach me after 8 years.





Garry Owen!



Sgt Xxxx

[mutepointe]

I hope he joins the board.

[R Small]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

[Loren]

Doesn't get much better than that for a maker really.

And glad your man has survived and made it home alive, albeit wounded. As another poster said, let's hope he joins us here.

Loren

[cai-shao-yang]

recently,in America's Got Talent TV video (we can see that in china every week. )

i have seen a demobilized soldier,He was wounded in the war ,a little stuttering,But he sing very fluent.
He touched me and all of Chinese people. we all like this guy!

he is strong and hopeful.

i Hope that world peace.

and i also wish Garry Owen will be a well whistle player. he is a nice soldier!

good luck !Garry Owen

[Byll]

Oh my. What a message to start the day. David: Please invite the vet to become a part of us. I, for one, would be honored.

Best.
Byll

[irishharpist24]

Wow, what a letter. How powerful music is, to comfort, energize, and so on.

[OBrien]

A follow-up:

I asked the soldier if he minded me sharing his letter. Here is his response, along with a photo of the whistle. The second paragraph is an answer to a question I asked about Gary Owen. The offer he refers to is to send him his choice of a maple three-piece whistle or a low D.

Sir,

I would be honored for you to share it. I doubt that there has ever been a whistle that has ever been through as much as mine and still sounds like it did the day it was made. Just to give you an idea of what it has been through with me, I was blown up 32 times by IEDs, had 7 RPG hits on my truck ( the 3d RPG is what killed the other tube that you sent in the set) and well over 40 firefights where it had a place in my magazine pouch I attached a photo of her for you.

In 2004 I was actually part of the 69th Infantry ( The Fighting 69th ) and the song of the same title was the reason I wanted to learn to play the Whistle. Our unit battle cry is actually “Garry Owen to Glory!” But since our higher command in Iraq was the 1st CAV Division out of Ft Hood ( parent unit of the 7th) we shortened it to just “Garry Owen” because we confused them. The older civil war cry was “Faugh an Beallach” (Clear the Way}.

We have a very proud history and I think we honored those that came before us while deployed in Iraq in 2004. On our way home we landed in Shannon, Ireland to refuel and someone unfurled our unit colors ( green background with the golden harp of Ireland). We did not have to buy a single drink after that. The pilot actually found some “ problems” with the plane so we got to say for an additional 3 hours and emptied the tapped kegs at the airport bar. I ended up doing 4 more tours after that and actually switched over from Infantry to medic in 2008, but that 1st tour with the 69th will always be the highlight of my Military career and your whistle was always ready to keep my driver or gunner awake, annoyed and mean from my lousy playing was such a big part of that.

I will gladly accept your offer, I don’t know if I will be able to do such a fine piece justice, but will continue to try.

[brewerpaul]

Wow-- that's just terrific. Good for you and your soldier friend. I too hope he shows up here on the forum.
BTW-- in case some here don't realize it, Garry Owen (or Garryowen) is a popular jig:

http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/1372

Among it's many incarnations, it played a prominent role in one John Wayne cavalry movie (She Wore A Yellow Ribbon?)

[tomcat]

i too hope he joins the board. as a proud poppa of a soldier currently in Afghanistan, i long for peace. thanks david for making such a quality instrument which endeared itself to its owner.

[maki]

I'm happy that the soldier survived and returned home.
Thanks for taking care of him Mr. O'Brian.

[Jerry Freeman]

I'm happy that the soldier survived and returned home.
Thanks for taking care of him Mr. O'Brian.

Amen to that.

Best wishes,
Jerry

[aluneau]

Hello to everyone here. after a bit of computer troubles last week i was finally able to create an account and log in. I wanted to thank Mr O'Brian and everyone else that has helped me and other troops out as well as say thank you for the good wishes.

Physically i am doing much better, with luck i will be a civilian again in a month or two. I'm really excited, after 20+ years its a bold new horizon for me. I don't know how much i will be able to contribute here, but i will be readin and learning...

Garry Owen!
SGT Art Luneau

[ytliek]

Welcome... thanks for your military service. You're in a safe place here, well maybe you can step init a little, but it washes off. You can learn an amazing amount of info about the pennywhistle here and its a whole lot of fun. I'm just on the welcoming party, while everyone else will set you right pennywise.

[mutepointe]

Welcome. Please feel free to make yourself at home.