Behind the Scenes: Songs Of Service, an Emmy winning TV Special

Sacrifice, honor, courage, leadership; these are a few of the words that you think of when it comes to those who have served in our armed forces but artistic, creative, musical and beauty may not be what you think of next. When it comes to the U.S. Army Field Band all of these are the perfect descriptors as they are some of the best musicians in the country and also are Soldiers who are actively serving our nation. They are the real heroes of our Emmy award winning TV Special Songs Of Service. The U.S. Army Field Band is not only a large orchestral group but is also made up of other smaller music groups like a jazz ensemble, an a capella group, a rock band and more. If you’ve never heard of them this is their mission statement “to provide music throughout the spectrum of federal and state military operations and instill in soldiers the will to fight and win, foster the support of our citizens, and promote our national interests at home and abroad.” Watch Here if you haven’t seen it yet. The rest of the blog I’ll share a little bit about each vignette and why they were so special.

I’m so honored to have worked with the U.S. Army Field Band on our this Television Special which first aired after the CBS Army/Navy Game in the New York and Pennsylvania markets on December 11, 2021. Our team subsequently received a New York Emmy in the category of military long form.

Songs Of Service is one of my proudest projects that I’ve directed thus far in my career for a host of reasons. Aside from the fact that it’s my first Special airing on a major television station, it also brought together such amazing talents like our host Toni Trucks the star of SEAL Team, John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival, and an amazing group of military heroes from all eras; from the Vietnam conflict, to the beaches of Normandy in World War II, to the first female Army Ranger and so many other wonderful stories.

Songs of Service is my second collaboration with The Army Field Band. We had done a piece the previous year during the dreaded Covid year as a Christmas special called Sound The Bells hosted by Joe Mantegna. If you haven’t seen that one, it has a particularly special music vignette called Christmas 1914, but the whole piece is perfect to watch during Christmas time.

Both of these projects came to me through Chase Milsap and We Are The Mighty, a leading company that specializes in military content led by Mark Harper and August Dannehl. All of us have collaborated on so many projects and it’s fun to be able to make shows like this with friends.

The Songs of Service special is 28 minutes long and opens with the Army Field Band’s percussion section playing alongside the Morgan State University drum line and introduces our amazingly gracious, talented and equally beautiful host Toni Trucks.

Our first musical piece of the Special is called Brass Ceiling - Composed by Laura Karpman (Lovecraft Country, Ms. Marvel, The Marvels, What If…?), performed by the U.S. Army Field Band. Laura Karpman explains HERE about why she was inspired to compose a piece that honors our women service members. Laura is one of the premiere composers working in Hollywood right now and it was such a privilege to conceive a visual interpretation to go along with her beautiful music. We all hope it inspires everyone to remember the deep sacrifice of the many women service members out there past, present and futue.

We were so fortunate to be the first crew to ever film at the Women’s Military Memorial at Arlington Cemetery, which was such an amazing honor especially considering what we were trying to say with the Brass Ceiling vignette. It was a ton of fun to go hang with such amazing female military service members also, not only those in the Army Field Band but the K-9 dog handlers, Blackhawk pilots, Brigade Commanders and CPT Shaye Haver the first Female U.S. Army Ranger and Infantry officer to lead troops in combat, just a few of the women that serve us everyday in our armed forces.

Another really cool short doc vignette we did with CPT Alix Idrache a Haitian immigrant turned Black Hawk Pilot (read a really cool article about Alix’ story HERE). Alix truly inspired me with his story about coming to this country from such an impoverished country like Haiti and working hard to get through West Point and becoming an Army Blackhawk Pilot. His perspective on how we need to remember where we came from is such a good reminder and it was so fun to have him speak with our WWII Veteran Steven Melnikoff and share stories.

Fortunate Son with John Fogerty Featuring the Six-String Soldiers was probably the funnest part of this Special for me. Did you know John Fogerty is a veteran?! Check out his story HERE! I didn’t realize that until we got to hear his story in person back stage at the Wynn in Las Vegas. Of course most know Mr. Fogerty for all of his amazing songs he wrote with Creedence Clearwater Revival, some of the most iconic songs of the 60s and 70s. He was so gracious with his time and I was able to share with him the story of how I made a short film in Afghanistan called Attack On The Fourth Of July and my original soundtrack included his famous Fortunate Son song. Later on Youtube would no allow that song to be on there and I remastered the film but it felt like it came full circle that I got to direct this vignette in Las Vegas with this song, definitely a highlight of my career.

The story of Vietnam Veteran Tom Easton vignette truly moved me. There seems to be a deep bond between the Vietnam Veterans and the Iraq/Afghanistan Veterans. I left my time with him refreshed to get back out there and do the best I can everyday with the life I have left. I also loved his man-cave, gonna make me one of them one day. It was also a cool aspect that I went to the Defense Information School at Ft. Meade many years ago and he said he would have been there guarding the gate, I probably passed by him many times and didn’t even realize it, small world sometimes. Welcome Home Tom!

September 11th 2001 had such a profound impact on all of our lives and was one of the primary reasons I joined the service and wanted to deploy. Filming at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial was also a very unique experience that not many crews get to do. It’s such a poignant and somber place, every aspect has a deep meaning. If you haven’t been able to visit and take time to reflect, you should the next time you are in the D.C. area. So many men and women have sacrificed a lot during our twenty years of the Global War on Terror and we need to never ever forget.

Perhaps one of our most emotional vignettes in this Special was Heroes - Written by Sal Gonzalez, Performed by the Six-String Soldiers . As Toni explains Sal is an Iraq war veteran who was tragically wounded during his combat tour and lost his leg. Like may veteran artists he continues to inspire people with his songs and continues to play in Nashville. We were so honored to use his song and I hope we made a beautiful rendition with the amazing vocals of Kyra Dorn.

Portrait Of Honor composed by Joshua Moshier, performed by the U.S. Army Field Band was probably my favorite segment of the Special. It felt like a once in a life opportunity to be on the World War II, Vietnam and Korean War memorials and talk with such amazing veterans like Steven Melnikoff the oldest living WW II Normandy Invasion Veteran, Richard Price who was wounded in the neck during the Vietnam War, and Daniel Gade who lost his leg in the Iraq War. They are truly heroes and continue to live lives that we should emulate, thank you all for your service and sacrifice!

America The Beautiful, performed by The Soldiers’ Chorus was our last vigenette and I just loved how it turned out. The beautiful Morgan State University campus with all the fall leaves and the amazing voices of the a capella group made this the perfect ending to what I feel like is an amazing tribute to our Country and the U.S. Army.

Our talented team helped fuel a very busy and ambitious shooting schedule and have to give special thanks to all our crew. Producers August Dannehl, Sarah-Doe Osborne and Chris Brown, and our Exec. Producing team Chase Millsap, Bill Deutch, Mark Harper, additionally without our Army Field Band Producers MSG Lauren Urquhart and MSG Adrian Hernandez we would have never been able to make this happen. Our amazing and talented Director of Photography Seth Naugle. Our Editing team led by Editor Joseph Volpe, and Neat Edit’s team led by Courtney and Freddy De LaVega. Our camera team led by Ben Winter with Jeff Ball and Nathan Smith and our grip and electric team! Sound by Matt Ritterpusch and the Army Field Band engineers.

Of course this could not have been done without the U.S. Army Field Band led by COL. Jim R. Keene and the many veterans and service members we highlighted in this piece, thank you for your continued service to this nation and your communities.

Much love and peace to everyone and hope you enjoyed Songs Of Service.