The organization "A Soldier's Child Birthday Foundation" asked me to sing at their Annual Banquet I had a very hard time choosing a song that would honor and celebrate the children of fallen hero's. There are those times as a musician where you are called to sing at an event and you are dumbfound as to what to sing. Likewise, this happened to me when I was asked to sing at the Annual Banquet for A Soldiers Child Birthday Foundation. Given this task, I had a difficult time coming up with a song for the occasion. What do you sing to the parents and children of fallen warriors? The inspiration for “A Soldiers Child” came when Daryl Mackin, Founder & Executive Director of A Soldiers Child Foundation shared why he started this very special non-profit.
Like most of us, life can get busy. Hence, it was while Daryl was preparing for his son’s 6-year-old, surprise birthday party he had a reality check. At this point he was balancing all of the “chores” that had to be done to pull off the birthday celebration. Daryl shared with me he was sitting at his work computer, typing out his son’s invitations in frustration. At this point, Daryl’s eyes landed on a picture hanging on his wall. The picture shows a Marine in uniform handing a flag to a young boy. Meanwhile, the boy in the picture is named Christian. Furthermore he is the son of Daryl's neighbors. Christian's father and Daryl's friend, U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Marcus Andrew was killed in Iraq. Daryl shared “…I looked up at my wall and was immediately convicted in my spirit for my negative attitude.”
Ultimately this photo, by Aaron Thompson won photo of the year. Looking at this photo that day Daryl shared his heart turned to his neighbor’s son Christian Golczynski. Christian who “...will never be able to have a party planned by his dad,” says Daryl. Considering this Daryl who is also a Veteran was immediately convicted to do something for the children of our fallen warriors.
Daryl has these moving words posted on the Foundation’s website: “U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. Marcus Andrew “Marc” Golczynski (Christian’s father) wrote this in a letter to his mother shortly before he died in combat: “We are warriors; we fight and sometimes die so that our families don’t have to; Stand beside us.” “As citizens of the United States of America, we are forever indebted to the men and women who so unselfishly protect our freedoms. It is our objective to communicate through ASC to the children left behind that the memory of their parent will not fade away. We want them to know that there are many Americans that are forever grateful for their parent’s sacrifice.” ~ Daryl Mackin
