"Soldiers of Today and Yesterday"
" Honor,Dignity & Hope "

I have just finished a new song called "I" dedicated to the troops that are no longer with us.

It is not a sad song but instead written with the intent of giving reassurance to the loved ones and families left behind.  100% of any proceeds from this tune will be going to troop based charities.  Anybody from 1-6 Infantry that has pictures of Sergeant Major McCoy and/or HHC First Sergeant McCall please contact me.  (I think of them often and would love to have pictures of them in this song/video).   I would like to get permission from their families to place their photos in a video comprised entirely of troops.  Also LTC Burner please let me know if you have any family contact with SPC Glenn Jones.   Mindy Swank please help me in getting word out about this new video.

Thus I plan on using as many troop pictures (with family permission) in this video as I can.  It will be tastefully done as a tribute.  I will have an MP3 of the song within 24 hours.  If you would like to prescreen this song please contact me and I will email you a copy.

Please bear in mind that the video will probably comprise of between 30 to 35 pictures.  I will use shadow pictures to fill in if I do not have enough for the tune.

Thank you in advance for your help and consideration!

Sincerely

Tony Diana
Supporting Our Troops Through Music!
www.tonydiana.com

Hey Johnie,

You had wanted a story about how I had come to write the song "Picture of you."

I had served in the Army for about 4 years going through Basic Training at Fort Jackson, then Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning and then on to my Officer Basic Course at Ft. McLellan in Alabama. One of the things I noticed that was common to all the troops, regardless of rank, was the universal importance of pictures and letters. The pictures were everywhere....In Kevlars, footlockers, taped inside the bunks and generally anywhere the troops had some personal space. I observed that the quickest way to make a new place home was for a troop to put up a picture.

Seeing the pictures also gave alot of insight into the non-military side of soldiers. If you asked a question about the pictures, you would find out about their hometown, their favorite fishing spot and the care packages they just received from home. I often wondered why the pictures were so important in that they were a universal constant in the world of M16s, and roadmarches and oporders.

Many years later I heard a motivational speaker ask the question, "If you came home and your house was on fire and cordoned off by the fire department, and you were told it was too hot and they would not let you in....Do you think you could get past the fireman and in the house? Would you be willing to die trying to save your family?"

Everyone in the room raised their hands and said "Yes." This speaker then talked about the symbols and things that motivate us to do the impossible and one of the things he mentioned was carrying pictures of loved ones. This made me remember all the pictures I had seen during my service time. As the saying goes "A picture is worth a thousand words." I would add to that...."A picture answers a thousand questions".....Like, why am I here? What am I fighting for? Is it worth it? Why do I fight now to prevent something that might happen in the future? These questions really don't come up very often in the military because the answers are everywhere...in Kevlars, footlockers, taped inside bunks and in the hearts and minds of America's finest men and women.

Then a few years ago I bought Windows XP with my new computer and I was happy to discover it had a screen saver that would flash pictures like a slide show. But then a funny thing would happen....I would be walking by the computer and I would see the pictures going by and suddenly I would find myself sitting and watching. It happened quite often. One time I walked by and I happened to have my guitar with me. As I reflected on the power of the pictures and my experience in the military the song just seemed to write itself. It really belongs to the troops because they wrote it for me....I just put down the words on paper.

Sincerely, Tony Diana - Orlando Florida 4.13.2005