Soap Box

Posted on 04.12.2021

Profiles in Courage: Shepherd’s Men - Soapbox Jr.

Thursday, mom, myself and several members of the CDB/ Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project family attended a fundraising event in Atlanta for an organization called Shepherd’s Men.

This event was the first since 2019 since COVID shut everything down last year, but previously, dad had attended, performed and helped raise money for an incredibly worthy cause.

Chris Young stepped up in dad’s absence and auctioned a guitar that he had played and a trip to watch the creation of a song from inception to writing to recording which three people were bidding on, and all three ended up winning. Then Chris stepped up and matched the combined bids. 

Pure class.

Chris is a patriot in the mold of my father, in fact, Chris was the recipient of the Charlie Daniels Patriot Award at one of dad’s Journey Home Project Palm Dinners a couple of years ago.

Thank you, Chris.

It was a great evening and a great cause. It also felt pretty normal - as in pre-pandemic - aside from the obvious void left by dad’s absence.

Shepherd’s Men was founded in 2014 - around the same time as the Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project – by Travis Ellis and Troy Campbell, and the goals of both groups cross each other’s path.

Travis and Troy noticed the jump in veteran suicides in the aftermath of long deployments of post 9/11 vets from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. PTSD was out of control, one out of five heroes returned home with Traumatic Brain Injury and suicides among our veterans hit 22 per day.

The Shepherd Center in Atlanta which specializes in spinal cord injuries and rehabilitation launched the SHARE Military Initiative in 2008 which has transformed countless lives of veterans.

The work of SHARE inspired Travis and Troy to launch Shepherd’s Men. One of their primary fundraisers has been the Shepherd’s Men Run where participants run 22 kilometers a day starting on May 22 while wearing 22 lb. flak jackets to bring awareness to the 22 lives lost to veteran suicide every day.

The 2019 run stretched from New York City to Atlanta through seven cities total.

As dad has said numerous times, we owe these heroes an unpayable debt of gratitude for their service to protect our nation and our way of life, and being able to help these brave men and women who are struggling, and the least we can do is try to bring that number of 22 as close to zero as possible.

Some of the stories told that night were heartbreaking, but there were also those in attendance who most likely would not have been there had it not been for Shepherd’s Men.

There were living success stories there, thank God.

Dad was absent from this event which was near and dear to his heart, but his presence was definitely felt, and Chris Young even played dad’s “Drinkin’ My Baby Goodbye” at the festivities for good measure.

Along with dad’s The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project, Shepherd’s Men and SHARE are doing their best to help ensure that as many of our veterans as humanly possible don’t succumb to the thoughts of suicide which run rampant among them.

Please help them continue the fight.

“I learned at an early age that only two things protect America, the grace of Almighty God, and the United States Military.” – Charlie Daniels

Donate to Shepherd's Men: http://www.shepherdsmen.com/donate/
 
Donate to The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project: https://www.thecharliedanielsjourneyhomeproject.org/donations/
 
What do you think?

Pray for our troops, our police, the peace of Jerusalem and our nation.

God Bless America!

#BenghaziAintGoingAway

—  Charlie Daniels, Jr.

 

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Check out "Geechi Geechi Ya Ya Blues" from Beau Weevils - 'Songs in the Key of E'

 

 

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Our Heroes
Two outstanding organizations, Jr. I've known and talked with veterans from many wars as a Patriot Guard Rider ... WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. They all have one thing in common, A patriotism and love for this country that is unmatched by those that have not worn the uniform. Unfortunately, though they might carry physical scars, they also carry mental anguish that many of us can not begin to comprehend. We owe these brave men and women every resource at our disposal to assist them in coming to grips with the horror of war that they have seen. Whenever I see politicians trying to cut their benefits in order to make a quota or to divert those needed funds to other causes that have no business receiving any type of assistance on the taxpayers dime, my blood boils! We as a country owe a debt to these warriors that we can never hope to repay. The least we can do is to take care of their needs after the great sacrifices for all, that they have made. Mark in Shelbyville
Posted by Mark
Never Enough
Amen, Amen & Amen Charlie Jr. The Charlie Daniels Journey Home Project and Shepherd's Men are two outstanding organizations filling the gap the for reasons unbeknownst to me. Why is it that the swamp and commie sympathies like Joe Obiden, Commie-la AKA ho in tow, Schumer, Peolsi and the gang of nitwits would rather steal our tax money and bring in more illegal aliens, along with MS 13 gangbangers, Muslim terrorists, and the rest of their ilk. When their duly elected duty is to defend the Constitution, not defund the police. Their concerns should be for homeless and hurting Vets before refugees from outside our borders.Just like the great society of LBJ, welfare of blacks was not their concern, they took the chains that were on their bodies and put them on their minds to hoodwink them into voting for the party of the KKK, destroying the family unit in the process. They now see the Latino vote as critical to staying in power, therefore they will throw every law biding american under the bus for Latino vote. I hope you and Miss Hazel did not have to fly Delta whose CEO believes that you need an ID to get on one of their airplanes but it is racist to require an ID to insure that those casting votes are citizens 18 years of age. Besides our own heroes Obiden has resumed the anti Israel policies of his boss Obama and is pledging US Tax dollars to the Palestinian Authority . In closing I'm glad to here some things are trending towards normal....nuff said, signed...never mask, irredeemable, deplorable, clinger Plowboy
Posted by Plowboy
Responding to Plowboy
Georgia’s voting law does more than just require ID to vote. It’s many of the other things in that law that’s screwed up. Are these things racist? Do they target any specific group of people? Maybe. But regardless, they make voting more difficult than necessary, and that’s also wrong. And THAT’S why there should be a boycott of Georgia. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * There’s been a lot of talk of how a boycott would hurt the economy of Georgia, making things difficult for those who live there. Even democrats in Georgia are saying this. But guess what? Those of us in the other 49 states have OUR economies to worry about. When the All-Star Game was moved, it was a loss for Georgia’s economy, but a boost for COLORADO’S. So I won’t cry for Georgia. Instead, I’ll celebrate for Colorado. Major League Baseball made the right decision. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Also, I’d rather see boycotting than rioting, or even demonstrating. Demonstrations often turn violent, even if they’re not intended to be. At least boycotting is genuinely peaceful. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * When Brian Kemp was Georgia’s secretary of state and running for governor, he manipulated the state’s voting laws to his advantage. This manipulation was racially biased, but even if it wasn’t, it was still corrupt. This corruption caused the democrat backlash in Georgia lead by Stacey Abrams. Blame Brian Kemp for Georgia turning blue. -- Tru Cola
Posted by Tru
Another Interesting Fact About BC and AD
The new politically correct terms, BCE (before common era) and CE (common era) are STILL based on the approximate birth of Jesus. Political correctness itself has countered the liberal intent, by defining the “common era” according to Jesus. -- Tru Cola
Posted by Tru
Boycotts Are Personal Choices
Tru, I have no problem with boycotts but I think they should be personal choices, not like a bunch of mask wearing sheep lining up for their Covid shot. I have nothing against anyone getting the shot, but as Rand Paul stated, "Fauci continues to ignore 100 years of vaccine science... If you’ve recovered or been vaccinated - go about your life. Eat, drink, work, open the schools. Enough with the petty tyrants!" He has also stated "If you think voter ID is racist, but a vaccine passport is just fine, you need some serious help thinking through public policy." As we live Tru we must be accountable for our own actions.. The bottom line is that boycotts in general do not work. I assume this one will hurt MLB, Coca-Cola and Delta far greater than it will hurt the good people of Georgia........nuff said God Bless Plowboy....PS "The South's Going To Do It Again" says "A Simple Man"
Posted by Plowboy
Serving and Saving Heroes
Some excellent organizations doing great work that don't get the attention (or probably donations) they deserve. My hat’s off to them and of course to all those they help. That is the true spirit of America. But after that to read a political comment, I just have to add this. The other day the left started a campaign on social media to defend Antifa. (after burning the Apple Store) They compared them to military soldiers, specifically WWII vets. Then they claimed the military soldiers were original, real Antifa. To that narrative many shared their family members who served in Europe in that war. Even a former staffer of Schumer carried the line. Nothing could be further from that twisted reality they are creating. I was stunned but sickened our military heroes would be used in such a way, as apologists for a radical Marxist group which has more in common with our enemies than any soldiers. But the above article is a great mission. Sorry ~~ NIMOC
Posted by Jeff
Responding to Plowboy
“I think [boycotts] should be personal choices[.]” If a business owner wishes to boycott with his own privately owned company, that’s fine with me as long as the company won’t force this on their employees. If a company wants to join a boycott, and some of its employees counter this boycott, that’s fine with me, too. But I will say that we need to support small businesses. We want our businesses to be smaller and more numerous. We don’t want a few big businesses to have too much influence. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I said this before. I might as well say this again. Georgia's voting law does more than just require ID to vote. If the issue was just the ID requirement, that would be different. But that’s not the case. -- Tru Cola
Posted by Tru
Books
I read a selection a day last year of “Let’s All Make Today Count” very inspirational. I recently finished “Never Look at the Empty Seats” and passed it on to my sister and her husband. It may be the best autobiography I’ve ever read. Today I begin reading “Ain’t No Rag” Blessings Dan Haskins
Posted by Dan
Fire On The Mountain
Good morning, just wanted to see if there were any future plans to release the album, "Fire On The Mountain" on vinyl again. I had this record as a kid and I would really love to have a new copy of it (I do not want a used copy) for my collection. Thanks for your time to read my request! *NOTE* That would be up to Sony who owns the masters. I'm hoping to persuade them to do a 50th anniversary remixed/remastered version which would lend itself to a vinyl rerelease, but that is up to them. - TeamCDB
Posted by Richard
Byron G Day
My husband Byron G Day passed away 2010. He was a member of the NRA also. My mom Shirley Myers died Dec 8, 2020 From Gatlinburg. Loved Charlie May they Rest In Peace
Posted by Kim
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