BILL BLOG
Monday, April 20, 2026
Monday morning, and I’m back home in Nashville, where the high will be just 73 today.
THE WEEKEND
Quite the weekend in Anna, Illinois, with Freedom Sings USA. Saturday morning, our guests treated our group of songwriters to a free breakfast inside the old gymnasium at the old High School we are staying in, which has been converted into a very cool Inn.
It does remind me a bit of the old High School that I attended in Elsberry, Missouri, which was a long time ago. This one, they preserved.
They put me in the old music-arts room of the High School, complete with the chalkboard in front of my bed, a small record player, an old Cathedral radio, and some 45 RPM records. Talk about a throwback!
OUR VETERANS
My veteran was Bob Caracker this trip. Bob is from Anna, Illinois. Born and raised, still here with his wife after all these years.
Bob went to Vietnam. He remembers the day his draft letter came in the mail. After opening it, he went to a recruiter’s office to see what he could be. On the wall behind the recruiter was a picture of a Huey helicopter over the jungles of Vietnam. He told the recruiter, “That’s what I want to do”. Be careful what you wish for.
He spent 23 years flying choppers for the Army, with one year of battle over Vietnam. By the time he finished that tour, his chopper had been hit more than 300 times. That was a battalion record back then.
He’d drop soldiers into the LZ, the hot zone, then try to get out as quickly as he could, often taking heavy fire. Bob said he actually got used to hearing the ping of bullets from the Vietnamese rattling around in his chopper.
He made it home after a year, but a lot of the guys he flew with were not as lucky. He’s a man of strong faith and believes that it was God who kept him safe. And so Bob’s song is titled, “By God’s Hands.”
Here’s one verse of Bob’s song.
I survived 300 bullet holes, a record they told me
Two distinguished Flying Crosses, before I got to leave
I didn’t get a Purple Heart, he didn’t want me to have one
And to this day, every day, I swear I feel the touch
Of God’s hand
FRIDAY NIGHT
Our group of 5 songwriters put on a show in the old Davies High School gym.
Steve Dean, Minnie Murphy, Wil Nance, Bill DiLuigi, and I each performed two of our songs, and all 5 veterans with whom we had written earlier in the day were there with their families. One of the co-founders of Freedom Sings USA, Don Goodman, requested that I sing my song titled "Spam". And so I did. I had a few questions about that Hormel product after the show. Minnie Murphy confessed to me that she has never eaten Spam. How can that be!
SATURDAY
After a great breakfast at the Davies Inn…
Our group had a free day, so we made a little trip to the Bald Knob Cross.
The cross is 111 feet high, overlooking Shawnee National Forest in Alto, Illinois.
Pretty impressive.
SATURDAY NIGHT
We had a big crowd for our concert honoring our veterans. The Mayor of Anna, Illinois, was there to give a plaque to each veteran after each songwriter performed their song, written with that veteran.
The weather turned cold, so instead of holding the concert outdoors, we moved it into the gym we had played the night before.
One by one, each veteran came on stage and sat beside the songwriter who had written their story into a song, including mine, Bob Caracker.
We had a great crowd, and each veteran was rewarded with loud applause. A moving experience to say the least.
I'm just happy to be part of the Freedom Sings USA experience.
SONG OF THE DAY
So, I thought I’d share another Freedom Sings USA song today. This one, “Taters in a Sack,” was written with veteran John Side, who was from Missouri, as I am. John was a farm boy who grew up fixing almost anything, and he could drive almost anything.
And that’s what he wound up doing in Viet Nam, driving a supply truck on dangerous roads, trying to avoid gunfire to get the troops the supplies they needed…including “Taters in a Sack.”
John passed away a few years ago, and the VA folks in Arkansas called to tell me that they played him his song one last time before he passed, and that he smiled. I’m so glad I got to know him a bit.
HEALTH NOTES
Experts say that dark stripes and other toenail changes can signal health problems from nutritional deficiencies to skin cancer, and they urge people to check their feet regularly.
New research suggests that ultra-processed foods are linked to a higher risk of knee osteoarthritis.
According to the CDC, tick bites are sending Americans to the ER at the highest rate in nearly a decade.
HERE’S YOUR SIGN
As if we guys didn’t already know that.
GO ON THE GO
China has developed a voice-activated in-vehicle toilet.
Apparently, the toilet slides out from under the seat on command. For those who have to go while on the go. That means, of course, that the back of the car will look like this.
BURGERS
YouGov just listed the 5 Best Fast-Food Burgers. They are:
5…McDonald’s
4…Wendy’s
3…In N Out
2…Burger King
And the best? That would be Five Guys. By far the most expensive of the 5. But I will admit, it’s my favorite.
TOP GUN
Good news for fans of “Top Gun.” There will be a Top Gun 3 movie, and Tom Cruise will return.
Can’t wait.
NEW TREND
“No Phone Dinners.” More and more restaurants are enforcing a no-phone policy while eating, and the trend is growing. Imagine sitting down at dinner, and nobody at the table is looking at their phone. Or walking away from the table to take a phone call. Kind of a back to what we all used to do when we sat down at the dinner table.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
From Ralph Waldo Emerson:
“I dream of a better tomorrow where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives.”
TODAY
Doing some catch-up stuff today, and looking ahead. My next scheduled show will be May 1 and 2 in Shelbyville, Tennessee.
Have a great Monday!
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