Sweet Angelene

Hello my friends. This video features another song from my latest CD, "On The Road To Seventy", called "Sweet Angelene". There's quite a story to the picture that I used at the beginning of this video. If you look closely at the soldiers, you will see that most of them, if not all, are old men. My father is also there in the back row. Dad was only sixteen when WW2 broke out, and when he enlisted with his friend, who was killed in action in France. My father lied about his age and was accepted into the Canadian armed forces. Back then, you had to be at least 18 years old to enlist, and not older than 30. It's always the young men who are sent to the front lines to be sacrificed first.

I have a theory as to why my father is there with the older men, and not with his friend. You see, my grandfather Bert Moss, dad's father, served with honor in WW1. He was however, wounded in action and taken prisoner by the Germans, and held in a concentration camp until the end of the war. My grandfather was a very kind and loving man to his family, and he never spoke about his experiences during the "war to end all wars", and I can now understand why.

It was long after pop died that I received a copy of a letter that he was asked to write to the Newfoundland Militia, describing his treatment as a POW in Germany during that time. The letter is a very disturbing account of what he and hundreds of other prisoners went through during their incarceration, but by the grace of God, he survived and made it back home, where he went to work with the AND pulp and paper company in Grand Falls, until he was able to retire.

Now fast forward to WW2, which began on September 1, 1939, and ended on September 2, 1945. My father, like his father before him, enlists to go to war. I can picture him coming home all excited to tell his father what he had done, expecting to receive his approval and blessing, which I feel, based on the love letters that my grandfather wrote to my father, that I only had the opportunity to read after dad passed away in 1997, never came. I'm sure my grandfather was grieved to hear what dad had done, and I can understand why.

I believe that my grandfather, out of love for his son, informed the recruitment centre for the Canadian armed forces, that dad was only sixteen. Like I said, this is purely speculation on my part, as I was not there, and I've never heard my grandfather talk about anything related to the war. But as a father, with sons of my own, I would be horrified if they had to experience what my grandfather went through. I believe that my father was not sent overseas because of his age. Instead, he was allowed to remain in the army, but he was ordered to go Bell Island with the older men, where he served his country until the war was over. My father did not appreciate being left behind as he would often say, but as a soldier, he had to follow orders, and he was ordered to go to Bell Island, so off he went.

A few days ago I met a young man, who is the same age as my oldest son, who is 42 today. He is now retired from the army, after serving seven consecutive years in the middle east and the Sudan, with the Canadian armed forces. He is now back home suffering from PTSD. He served in the tank corp, and he was the only survivor of the crew he served with. His friends were all victims of war. Some were killed in action, and sadly, a few of them took their own lives. I could clearly see the scars of war that he bore on his body and in his mind, and unlike my grandfather, he was willing, although very reluctantly at first, to share some of what he went through, but only after I told him about my grandfather and my father. His story is also one of horror. War is hell, and those who survive, will never be the same. That's just the way it is. One thing this young man taught me is that there are many young war veterans walking the streets of St. John's, and other parts of Canada and the USA, who because of their age, are almost completely ignored by those they fought for. His story was certainly a wake up call for me, and I pray that he and others like him get the support and help that they need, from the country and people that they served.

If you would like to download this song, and copy the lyrics for free, please visit my new website at
https://www.thebloodofthelamb.net, and sign my guest Book at the bottom of the Bio page.

If you like what you see and hear, please share my links with others.
Thanks for watching this video, and please share it with others, if you feel so inclined to do so. Shalom.