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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWWII Veteran Leonard G. “Bud” Lomell recounts his D-Day actions captured in painting<\/p>\n
A LOOK BACK: Toms River’s Leonard G. “Bud” Lomell recounts his actions on D-Day depicted in a painting titled “Point Du Hoc, Rangers Lead The Way.”<\/p>\n
Thomas P. Costello, Asbury Park Press<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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These veterans have a song to sing.<\/p>\n Vets from the Soldier On residences at the Gordon H. Mansfield Veteran’s Community in Tinton Falls debuted a new song called \u201dWe Made It Home (The Journey),\u201d Monday, Nov. 10 at the Music for All Seasons’ Voices of Valor event at the Hopewell Valley Vineyards in Pennington.<\/p>\n The song is a tuneful mid-tempo folk-rocker delivered from the heart. Check it out here on YouTube<\/a> or below in this story.<\/p>\n The Jersey veterans had in-person sessions with Voices of Valor musicians Ron Haney and Dave Rimelis to write the track. They were joined remotely by vets from Soldier On in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and the song was recorded at the Lakehouse Recording Studios in Asbury Park.<\/p>\n \u201cWe Made It Home (The Journey)\u201d was released virtually on Oct. 29.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Voices of Valor songwriting program has always been powerful and transformative for the veterans participating in the nine-week cycles,\u201d said Music for All Seasons director Rena Fruchter via email. Fruchter is also an author and concert pianist who has performed around the world. \u201cIt\u2019s a moving experience to see the changes that take place as they write original group songs expressing their feelings and experiences through words and music.\u201d<\/p>\n Veterans Christopher DeDomenico, Valerie M. Johnson, Thomas Fraley, Anibal Rivera, Steven Young Fry, William Rossin, Steve Greeley, Joseph Treiber, and Darwin Nicholson performed on Monday. They were backed by musicians Haney, Rimelis, Julio Fernandez of Spyro Gyra, Rob Harari, Benny Harrison and Ilya Stemkosvky along with singers Jennifer Lampert, Matt Orlando, and Ged Dagot.<\/p>\n Music For All Seasons, founded by Fruchter and late husband Brian Dallow, was founded more than 30 years ago in Scotch Plains and has been at the forefront of the arts in healing and wellness movement. More than 80 songs have been written and recorded by veterans, each group working with two professional musicians and a psychology mentor, since 2011 in the Voices for Valor program.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a confidence builder, especially when you’re emotionally wounded, physically wounded and your confidence is real low and your esteem is real low,\u201d said Jeffrey Clyburn, an Army veteran who grew up in Metuchen previously to the Asbury Park Press. \u201cIt’s something that can involve you with the creative arts as well as putting your soul into it. It brings the healing process to you internally.\u201d<\/p>\n