Two Veterans, Two Wars, One Album: Freedom Sings USA Releases “Heyworth IL Sessions Vol. 1”
Two Veterans, Two Wars, One Album: Freedom Sings USA Releases “Heyworth IL Sessions Vol. 1”
Freedom Sings USA, a national nonprofit that pairs veterans with professional songwriters to turn their life stories into original music. Each track on the album is written with the veteran, drawn directly from their own spoken memories, and performed by either the veteran or a collaborating artist.
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A 99‑Year‑Old WWII Veteran Tells His Story in “Since the Beginning”
At 99 years old, Paul Petri is one of the last living members of the generation that fought in World War II. His song, “Since the Beginning,” appears as Track 2 on the album and was recorded in Waynesville, Illinois, where Petri both sang and performed the piece himself.
The song reflects Petri’s Army service beginning in 1944, the year he entered military life as a young man during the final phase of the global conflict. While the specific details of his wartime assignments are not publicly archived, the themes of the song follow the Freedom Sings USA tradition: a veteran recounting his own journey, in his own words, shaped into music that preserves his story for future generations.
Petri’s presence on the album represents not only his personal history but also the rapidly disappearing voices of the World War II era. His contribution stands as a living bridge between the past and the present, reminding listeners that the stories of 1944 still echo today.
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Vietnam Helicopter Pilot Captures His Mission in “Angels on Assignment”
Track 3, “Angels on Assignment,” comes from Cpt. David E. Henard, a Vietnam War veteran whose service is well documented through museum archives, oral history interviews, and his own published memoir.
Henard served as a UH‑1 Huey helicopter pilot with Diamondhead 10, Company B, 25th Aviation Battalion, 25th Infantry Division. His combat missions included support during the Tet Offensive, one of the most intense periods of the Vietnam War. His experiences are detailed in his 2008 book, Victory Stolen: The Perspectives of a Helicopter Pilot on the TET Offensive and Its Aftermath, published under the name Earl Henard David.
“Angels on Assignment” reflects Henard’s time flying dangerous missions in Vietnam, where helicopter crews often served as the lifeline for soldiers on the ground. The song follows the Freedom Sings USA model: a narrative built from the veteran’s own memories, shaped into a musical tribute to the men he served with and the missions that defined his year in combat.
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A Shared Album, A Shared Purpose
Though Petri and Henard served in different wars, in different eras, under vastly different circumstances, their songs share a common thread: each is a firsthand account of service, sacrifice, and survival. Freedom Sings USA’s Heyworth sessions brought these stories together, preserving them in a format that reaches far beyond military archives or personal recollection.
The album includes 13 tracks written with Illinois veterans, each one a collaboration between the storyteller and the songwriter. The result is a collection that documents lived history through music — a record of voices that might otherwise fade with time.
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A Community Effort Rooted in Illinois
The Heyworth sessions are
part of Freedom Sings USA’s ongoing work in central Illinois, where veterans have participated in songwriting retreats, concerts, and recording sessions over the past several years. The organization’s mission is simple: to help veterans tell their stories and to ensure those stories are heard.
With the release of Heyworth IL Sessions Vol. 1, the voices of Paul Petri and Cpt. David E. Henard now join that growing archive — two men separated by decades, united by service, and preserved in song.
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