'Worthy': Musicians and veterans mark a decade of storytelling through Operation Song

Some veterans said their stories, sadly, even their lives, didn't matter. Their experiences weren't worth a song, they told Bob Regan.

Regan didn’t agree. He heard songs when the veterans talked. Regan also heard emotion therapeutically being expressed.

After a decade of listening and creating, Regan was on stage at the Franklin Theatre, leading a backing band and other songwriters in the foot-tapping "Boo Koo Dinky Dow” that Regan co-wrote with Vietnam War veteran Bob Pierce.

The audience at the Operation Song 10th anniversary Monday night show jumped to their feet, applauding the song, derived from a phrase mashing up French and Vietnamese that means  "very crazy."

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Minutes later, the famed frontman of rock band Creed, Scott Stapp, performed his song “Worthy” for the first time.

“Are you worthy of the glory of the red, white and blue,” Stapp sang in his impassioned style.

Stapp, a Williamson County resident, was inspired to write the song after conversations with his congressman brother-in-law, a former Green Beret.

Veteran Terry Gould, of Murfreesboro, explained why Operation Song works and why all those who serve are worthy of being memorialized in music.

“Somehow they have this way to connect with us,” said Gould about songwriters. He compared the musicians to prospectors, sifting through hours-long, therapeutic conversations for “nuggets.”

“They came up with this magic and this story of each vet, and it happens every time,” Gould said. “I became an instant believer the first day I went through the program. I don’t want to be over dramatic but it is life changing.”

Operation Song: How it started, how it helps

“In the beginning, I didn’t have a name for it, I didn’t have any idea I would be starting a nonprofit that would last for this long,” said Regan about Operation Song.

The idea for helping servicemen and women started years before while Regan was playing on Armed Forces Entertainment Tours at military bases worldwide alongside country musician Thom Shepherd. Regan, a longtime Nashville singer and songwriter, played eight tours in all.

During meet and greets, Regan would have conversations with the soldiers.

“A lot of people would express curiosity about the songwriting process and say, ‘It must be cool to write a song, but I could never write a song,’” Regan said. “We would talk a little more and they would tell us these mind-blowing, jaw-dropping stories.”

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He also understood that many soldiers faced difficulty transitioning back into civilian life.

Regan had an idea. Maybe music could help.

He contacted a music therapist at the Alvin C. York Veterans' Administration Medical Center in Murfreesboro, and they set up a small group session. The veterans would open up about their feelings and experiences, and a song would emerge.

“Almost immediately it was apparent that the veterans loved it,” Regan said.

Regan repeated the songwriting sessions with veterans at Fort Campbell.

“In three or four sessions of doing this," Regan said, "it became obvious this was very effective.”

He said "yes to everything” after forming Operation Song, Regan said. He reminded himself, he was a songwriter, not an administrator. So he brought in help.

As Operation Song grew, Regan met Gould.

Gould at age 19 was in a car wreck while in the Navy in Pennsylvania. His injuries, which included a concussion and fractured skull, orbital bone and vertebrae, took 15 months to heal. He felt guilty for not being able to serve during the Vietnam War.

“I kept it in, I buried it for such a long time," Gould said. "(Operation Song) became another family. They literally took me into their arms and told me I was one of them."

Gould explained what that family can mean.

“(A veteran) was going to commit suicide the night before, but he wrote his song down and read that out loud,” said Gould about one of their meetings. “We were so moved by that.”

He said that veteran is now attending law school.

Stapp: 'I was inspired'

Musicians told the backstories for songs they performed Monday. Among them was Nashville songwriter Jason Sever explaining how his friendship with 103-year-old Army Ranger veteran Tommy Gwynn of Tullahoma inspired the song "Devil Don't Want Me."

During conversations, Gwynn, who was wounded 12 times while serving during World War II and the Korean War, commented that the devil didn’t want him.

Stapp’s song poured out after a 15-minute Zoom call with U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz, a former Green Beret and Stapp’s brother-in-law. Also telling her story to Stapp was sister-in-law Julia Nesheiwat, a veteran and American national security adviser.

“I was inspired,” Stapp said. “It only took 15 minutes for me to say, ‘Hey, I got it.’”

Stapp connected with Nashville rock songwriter and producer Marti Frederiksen, and they wrote the song in about three hours, he said.

“I was just honoring them. I wanted to make them proud,” Stapp said. “I think that’s what Operation Song is all about, is letting veterans know that you can get together with songwriters ... and share your story. And memorialize it.”

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Songwriters and veterans mark 10th anniversary of Operation Song