In 1991 I was working a midnight shift mill job in PA. The job was extremely monotonous and boring. This is the time in my life when I started writing music.

One night, my foreman walked up to me wearing a POW-MIA t-shirt. As I looked at the image of the young man silhouetted on the shirt, it hit me. I noticed that the profile of the young man was very similar to my own. Suddenly, I realized how many soldiers had fought and died for my freedom.

I immediately wrote the third verse of what is now "What They Gave To Me". I tried to complete the song in the years that followed but I kept hitting the same wall when it came to the first and second verses. I had penned a few variations but none were of the caliber needed to convey the heart felt thanks needed to present to these heroes.

My Grandpa, (Grandpa Fink) was a soldier in WW1, my father was a Navy man and I, too, wanted to serve in the military but my eye prevented it. This song is my way of saying thank you for "What They Gave To Me".