Today’s post was written by Paul.
I hope any Acorns who are Veterans had a good day earlier this week on the day set aside to honor those who served our country in the armed forces.
I first heard the Late Sam Ensley sing “The Luckiest Man Alive” with his band, Roots & Branches. It didn’t fully catch my attention at the time because Sam performed the song with a fast, straight beat, complete with banjo breaks, and I didn’t take in all the words. Sam wrote many of the songs that he sang, and I assumed that he probably wrote this one. Then, in 2004, the Nashville Bluegrass Band released this song on their Twenty Year Blues album. Forgetting that I had already heard the song by Sam, I then assumed that Pat Enright (who sang the song as a solo) had written the song about his father. That assumption also proved incorrect.
The NBB album lists the composer as “unknown.” I searched Google to find the writer but couldn’t find anything, partly because the search results were overwhelmed with info about a modern “country song” by the same title. Whoever wrote the song, they certainly struck a chord with me. Several parts of the song align well with the veterans that I have been fortunate enough to know. They didn’t talk about their service, especially about combat. They would rather keep those things behind them, and they acknowledge the soldiers who never returned home as the true heroes.
Both Enright and Sam sang the song from the perspective of a son. So that the generational aspect would line up better with the particular wars identified in the lyrics, I sang the song from the perspective of a grandson.
Thankfully, neither of my grandfathers ever went to war. Papaw Wade (Pap’s father) would have been drafted for WWII, but he was released because one of his legs was a couple of inches shorter than the other (resulting from a bad leg break he had while working on a barn or cabin). Instead, he went to Newport News, VA and worked building ships for the war effort. He died at 77 from lung cancer, and I wonder if it could have been from breathing the asbestos used in building those ships.
Though Papaw didn’t go to war, his youngest son, Henry, went to Vietnam, as I have mentioned in previous uploads about Uncle Henry and his guitar playing.
A sweet, quiet, intelligent man named A.J. Martin went to our church throughout the first half of my life. It wasn’t until close to the end of A.J.’s life that I learned that his bad eye (which was always turned the wrong way) was severely damaged by debris from a bazooka blast in a town in France, during WWII.
Another WWII vet and member of our church, the Late Wilson Phillips, had a string of scars up one side of his rib cage from a machine gun that shot him. I never saw the scars myself, but Pap saw him changing his shirt once while they were working, and he told me about it. Both of these men survived despite being “given up for dead” on the battle field.
Through my work as an educator, I came to know a gentleman named Oscar Valdez. Oscar, who passed away on 10/4/25, was a Korean War Veteran who received the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for charging a bunker during a battle. Oscar amazed me in that he never stopped working to help the community. He picked up litter; he helped conduct funeral services for Veterans who passed away; he collected donations and took them to the nearest Ronald MacDonald House. Whatever he could do to be of service, he did it.
Also through the school system, I came to know Mr. Gary Chamberlain. Gary was passionate about helping teach young people about civic responsibility and about the importance of forming good character and work ethic. It was Gary who told me that Oscar had received the Bronze Star. Oscar never mentioned it. Gary never said a word about his own service in Vietnam, but after he passed away from pancreatic cancer, I learned that he saved his entire unit in Vietnam by destroying three enemy bunkers (while wounded) and was awarded both the Purple Heart and the Silver Star. From reading the news account of what Gary did that day, at the age of 20, it sounded to me like he probably should have received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
In this well-written song, saying, “I’m the luckiest man alive,” is the main character’s humble way of keeping the right perspective on his service as a soldier. Rather than “lucky,” all the men I named above knew they were blessed and spared by our Heavenly Father. I consider myself beyond lucky that our country has been blessed through the sacrifices of the many men and women who have served honorably in our armed forces. They deserve our respect, gratitude, and support. Even veterans who never saw combat have sacrificed so much for us (along with their families) and put themselves at risk in many ways, through training, travel, and extreme mental and physical exertion. Veterans Day and Memorial Day are probably our most important days of remembrance after Easter and Christmas. If you know or encounter a Veteran, take time to thank him/her.
Today’s Thankful November giveaway is a copy of the cd I produced Live to Never Die. It has selected original songs written by Jerry “Pap” Marshall Wilson. Pap and I are both featured on the cd. Along with the original songs there are five classic hymns sung by Pap. To be entered in the giveaway leave a comment on this post. Giveaway ends November 20, 2025.
Paul
Original singles released on Spotify.
Thank you for always sharing your family songs and traditions!
Love to hear your music. So many veterans with amazing stories.
Great song Paul! My brother was in Vietnam. He came home and was the luckiest man alive!❤️
My Daddy and Grandpa neither had to serve in the wars, but I had uncles and cousins who did. One was a brave young man who carried a gun before he ever got a chance to carry a son. I am the only one left around to decorate his grave. I canNOT imagine the bravery of service men and women. Gratitude and remembrance certainly are in order. Thanks, Paul, for introducing me to another new song!
Thank you, Paul. When my dad was in WWII, mama said when he came home, he never talked about what all he had seen. I know one of his brothers was also in the Navy at the exact same time, but they were on two different ships even docking at the same area and he got to spend some time with him on a couple of occasions. Once in a while when I was grown, I would ask him about his war days, and he still didn’t say much. I think it was too painful to talk about.
Thank you for this. I wonder if we truly know how important our Veterans are to our country. The sacrifices these men & women had made for you & me.
As always praying for Granny.
I would like to be entered in the drawing for this CD. I really enjoy hearing Paul sing, he has a lot of talent.
Thank you all for sharing stories about the veterans you knew. I just can’t imagine the feelings these vets had when going to war. They were so brave. Hope Granny is having a good weekend.
I tried to post a thank you note from an old GI and a message said I was posting too fast. Never happened and don’t understand what that meant! Too fast for what?!!
Anyway, thanks for remembering us old vets!!!!!
Thanks from an old ex-GI.
Any kin to / or know of a Dan Byers who worked construction in Hilton Head Island in the early 80s?
My dad and five uncles saw combat in WW II. One was killed in France at age 26 soon after D-Day–15 July 1944, to be exact. My service during the Cold War was a piece of cake, more like an extended European vacation at government expense. The others went through the refining fire and bitter cold and awful rains and mud, and almost never talked about it afterward. I was one of the lucky ones. I missed Korea and Vietnam solely because of my date of birth, yet I am proud of what we did to preserve the hard-won peace in Europe in the 1950s..
My generation grew up among World War II veterans. My wife’s dad served in Patton’s 3rd Army and fought at Remagen Bridge. My oldest sister’s husband was in the Navy aboard a carrier that was attacked and experienced horrific fires. He was trapped by the fire and not found and rescued for more than a week. He was even reported KIA, but lived and fathered 6 girls. My grandmother had 14 grandsons in the service during WWII. All returned home but several were wounded; all were battle scarred.
My second oldest brother graduated from high school 3 days after his 18th birthday. Before his 19th birthday he witnessed the liberation of Dachau concentration camp, the first liberated in ’45. He succombed to cancer at 38.
I grew up being taught by these quiet, determined, courageous and honorable men. They numbered in the hundreds in my acquaintance. It is one of the most profound regrets of my life that I never served. I was too old to be called up for Vietnam and too young for Korea. I look back at my life from the middle of my 9th decade and regret not joining the miliary (the Navy) in the Fall after finishing high school.
Those men and women (a recently deceased neighbor was a WAC in WWII) deserve more honor and respect than they ever received. I wish there were some way to impress on today’s youth what they owe to their grandparents and great-grandparents.
Thank you for this post, Tipper and Paul.
My dad was a WWII veteran. I always knew he had been to Japan. I never knew that he walked the streets of Nagasaki just a few days after the bomb dropped. He told me his story on his death bed. It was so painful for him! I couldn’t believe my strong, quiet, loving father had endured so much.. All of us need to honor our forefathers for all of their sacrifices! Lovely posting by Paul!
I don’t recall hearing this song, but nowadays there’s lots of things I don’t remember and some of them happened this morning according to my wife. I didn’t serve in the military but knew many that did. I was too young for Korea and in school for the ministry when our country got involved in Viet Nam. My father was in the Army in WW11 and my daughter was in the Air Force during Desert Storm. I say, “Thank you.” in word and many times in deed when I see veterans out and about.
Thanks for the song and story!
It amazes me that veterans rarely talk about their service, if at all. My dad served in World War II and never spoke a word about it. Fortunately, he wrote mother every day and I have seven 3-inch binders full of those letters. They make me laugh and they make me cry, but I feel so blessed to know about his experiences during the war. Thank you for your post today.
My dad was born in 1903. He was too young for WWI and too old for WWII. He left KY and went to Baltimore MD and worked in the shipyards to work on the Liberty and Victory warships. He became a carpenter and worked as one the rest of his life. I would love a copy of this cd.
Great song!
Blessings to all veterans and their families for their sacrifice!
Great post!
Thank you, Paul! God bless!
Thank you for your wonderful post. I will relate a story concerning an active duty I spent at Travis AFB outside San Francisco. I was working with servicemen who had been caught doing illegal drugs while on duty in Vietnam. My job was to assist the service men from all the branches of the military in their transition home. These servicemen were given Good Conduct discharges. My job was to help theses men in their calling home to tell their families they were returning home but to not tell them they had been caught doing drugs. We were told in a briefing that these service men may never have used drugs if they had not gone to Vietnam. One day these young service man told me before his call that he would be telling his parents the real reason he was coming home. I advised him bot to but during his call he did tell his parents he was being discharged be cause of his drug use. After the call he was in tears because his parents told him they were ashamed of him and that he was not welcome home. I allowed him to make a second phone call so he called his grandmother. When that call ended he was crying tears of joy. He informed me that his grandmother told him that he was welcomed to her house. And that if his parents did not accept him they would have to leave her house. It seemed his parents were living in his grandmother’s house. His grandmother showed the love of Jesus to her grandson. God bless your post Paul. And God bless all our veterans. Praying for Granny.
My father and his brother Wayne served in WW2. Daddy came back with hearing loss that affected him the rest of his shortened life. He was stationed at a gun encampment in the South Pacific where they fired big guns over the horizon at enemy ships passing by. The sound of those guns firing nearby what the cause of his disability. But it was never called a disability, so no metals, no honors, he just went home and dealt with it.
Uncle Wayne served throughout the whole of the War. Although he served mostly in Europe he somehow contract malaria and suffered with it the rest of his life. Same as Daddy, no metals, no honors.
Thank you Paul! Great stories always from you.
My husband is a drafted Vietnam veteran and because of Father God answering so many prayers during those two years, he was blessed to return home to enjoy the people who prayed for him and establish a normal life.
Thank you, Paul, for this heartfelt tribute to all veterans. I had not heard this song before. I appreciate you sharing it with us.
Thank you, Paul, for honoring our veterans and sharing some stories of a few. I had some from my own family: grandfather, uncles and right down to a grandson-in-law who came home with severe PTSD and ended up committing suicide leaving a wife and 3 young daughters. My oldest son went through training and then ended up with a medical discharge because they sent him out one course without proper ear protection causing hearing loss. And I had friends who had also been on the battlefield. Veterans deserve to be honored, respected, remembered and treated/taken care of so much better than how so many are treated.
Oh my gosh, Paul, a chance to win a CD of you and your dad!! I will hope that comes my way! I love listening and watching you and your family singing on Acorn! I hope you and your family and all your followers have a truly blessed Sunday!!
Those are inspiring stories about great men serving our country.
I enjoyed hearing this song . You have a pure country voice. Beautiful!
I love reading your posts Paul. So detailed with so much information. I served 18 years in the NHANG from 1967 to 1985. I could not complete my 20 years due to something I did. I want to relay a story concerning an active duty assignment during the Vietnam War. We were at Travis AFB outside of San Francisco. The Vietnam War was a terrible time in which many young and older servicemen turned to drugs to get through the day. I was assigned to a unit that received members of every branch of the services who were caught using illegal drugs. After being caught the servicemen were put into a two week “drying out” process. After that they were flown from Vietnam to Tacos AFB where they waited for transport home. These men were given Honorable Discharges and were told not to tell their families why they were being discharged. The military didn’t want these men to face any negative feedback. They were also entitled to full veteran’s benefits. On one day I met this very young man who, with my help, would get one phone call to phone home and tell his family he was on his way home. I told him to just say he was being discharged for medical reasons and do not mention his drug use. He said he wanted to be honest with his parents and told them the truth. When his call ended he was crying openly. He told me his parents said they were ashamed of him and did not want him coming home. I asked him if he wanted to call someone else. He did. His grandmother. After the call to his grandmother he was smiling but still had tears. He said his grandmother said he could come home and if his parents didn’t welcome him they had to leave. His parents were living in her house. I will never forget the journey of pain to happiness this young man went through. God bless our veterans and God bless you for your post Paul. Praying for Granny.
Thank you, Paul, for your salute to the veterans, a group that is very much under appreciated and that is tended to be forgotten. As always, I enjoyed reading what you wrote and enjoyed listening to your music. Prayers are lifted for you and your family, especially for sweet Granny.
All gave some, some gave all. It’s easy to see how a surviving soldier could write the words in that song. Paul, you put your heart into that song as if you wrote it from experience. Hearing Pap sing classic hymns would make me thankful in November and at any other time of the year.
Thank you for honoring our veterans. My dad was in the Navy & my husband was in the Army. My late husband always considered himself “lucky” as he was serving during the Vietnam war but never had to go to Vietnam & fight in the war. God bless our veterans…..past, present & future.
I enjoyed that! My dad received the Bronze Star in the Pacific Theater in WW2. I never knew why and he didn’t share but he rarely told stories about his service. I wrote what few I could get.
Thanks for remembering those who served and thanks for commenting about Sam Ensley, who has passed away, I also miss a recently diseased veteran named Bud Akens who was a long time friend of Sam’s, both Sam and Bud, served many functions as volunteers and leaders at the Union County Courthouse in Blairsville,Ga. where I spent many hours both helping to repair the place and enjoying the many concerts. Your recollections brought back many fond memories.
A beautiful column today. I’d love a copy of the CD
I never heard that song Paul but you did a beautiful job singing it and it brought tears to my eyes. My Daddy’s brother’s fought in WWII, one came home but the baby brother was reported missing in action. His plane went down. For four years they didn’t know if he was in a prisoner war camp or dead. The fifth year, my Grandparents got a visit from the war department saying they had found his tags and a bone and they were sending it back to them. He was just a teenager, raised on a farm in NE MS. I read one of his letters home where he said Papa it won’t be long till I’m able to come home and I won’t mind cleaning off those ditches at all. He never got a chance to see his beloved Mother and Daddy or his brothers and sister, BUT he loved the Lord, and is with them all in heaven now. I have many uncles from my Mother’s family that served also. They never talked about what they saw in those battles. God bless all the Veterans who have served and are serving now.
Paul, thank you for sharing your music and this post honoring our veterans. My ex husband was a veteran of the Vietnam war when it began in the early 60’s. Like Gary, he taught attributes of character and civic responsibility to our adult children and others. He passed this spring from cancer. His legacy will be remembered.
thank you Paul, God bless granny, thank you for praying for my brother
I would love a copy of of the CD of Pap’s songs. Coming from a family who sang together I know the value of that gift. God bless you and Granny as well as the rest of the family of musicians.
Paul,
I can’t be absolutely certain, but I believe this song was written by Bill Dale of Asheville,
North Carolina, whose father had been in World War II. I knew Bill back in the 1970s
when I lived in the Asheville area. Bill had a cabin in the Sodom Laurel area of Madison
County where I once met a singer/songwriter who was living in Nashville. Bill and his
wife Phyllis were visited by me a couple of times after they moved to the Tennessee capital.
Bill wrote a number one song for Kathy Mattea, “Going, Going, Gone”. He gave me a tape
with some of his songs on it. One of them was “Luckiest Man Alive”. Sounds like the lyrics
may have been altered somewhat to reflect passage of time and different wars. Bill did know
members of the Nashville Bluegrass Band. Bill, Phyllis, and I went to one of their shows on
one of my visits, so maybe they popularized the song, just my speculation. Anyway, that song
and its punchline, “I’m the luckiest man alive” always stayed in my memory.
Thanks, Paul, for the reminder that there are people all around us whose stories we don’t know. (And neither do they know ours.) It would take a vet (which I am not) to say for sure, but maybe what you did here is a good example of what they would want; a recognition and acknowledgement of service given. They are the ones who know best that freedom is not free.
I have never heard that song. Paul did a great job. We owe a great debt to all our veterans. God bless each of you.
Sweet Paul I searched (It used to be part of my Job at ETSU “To Search” and I am ruthless) and found this by searching with the lyrics of the song instead of the name of the song. It’s called “Luckiest Man Alive” by Bill Dale of Little Laurel Music. I downloaded a version by the Nashville Bluegrass Band and then today, I finally tracked down a version by the songwriter himself. Here is the post with the info you might be looking for. https://tanglycottage.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/musical-saturday/
Thanks for the song and thanks for honoring veterans.
My first time hearing this song. What great lyrics! Thank you for honoring our veterans.
Some of things you wrote, my Daddy was not in the actual WWII War because of one leg being shorter than the other. After being turned down at least twice he was finally drafted in 1944 but the war ended before he had to go fight. I had two uncles in WWII, one was captured by the Germans, he would never talk about, not even his wife and daughter. The only thing I know about the one captured was that his daughter was 4 years old before he ever saw her. I never heard the other one say anything about what he went through. Another uncle was in the Korean War and came home an alcoholic, he overcame this but could never stand to watch or read the news about Vietnam and would not even watch a war movie. A cousin died in Vietnam. I knew these men and worked with others, none of them would talk about what they went through. I simply say and believe this,”the ones that saw the bad stuff don’t talk about it, the ones running their mouth didn’t see much of it.” Thank you Veterans, you are blessed/lucky to have made it back home, I am blessed because of what you did for our country.
Great stories! I didn’t know it at the time, but I grew up surrounded by heroes. Like my grandparents grew up hearing stories of their kith and kin fighting in the War Between the States, I had great uncles, cousins, and my grandaddy (Omaha Beach 6 June 1944) for hearing tales ranging from courageous actions to funny stories while suffering in terrible conditions (cold, heat, insects, hunger, etc.) and just surviving “Army life”. I am sure it was hard for young men from rural areas (especially Appalachians) who had grown up “wild and free” to suddenly be thrown into a regimented life of regulations. Not to mention being crammed into close confinement with more people than one had ever seen. I cannot think of one living WW2 veteran from the area I grew up in today. As an example; we lost our neighbor, Leon Hightower (91) during COVID. He joined the Army at 17 and saw combat across Europe. He still cut his own hay and managed a herd of about 60 cows. He knocked a tank in France with a bazooka and captured the five Germans in it. Leon was one of a few veterans I grew up around and didn’t learn of their bravery and service sometimes till I was an adult myself. I thought they were just fine neighbors.
Thank you Paul for the Wonderful salute to our veterans!
I look forward to Sundays and your music – and especially the history behind it!!!
Mic drop. Well said Paul.
Thank you for sharing this song and the stories about veterans you knew. My two brother-in-laws are veterans, as well as, many uncles and other family members. My oldest granddaughter plays trumpet in her high school band, and marched in a Veteran’s Day parade this year. I have a photo of her when she was younger at that same parade holding a sign she had made saying “thank you” to all veterans. So sweet! May God bless all veterans today and always.
Bless these Veterans soul in heaven.
I need to catalog the music that I dearly love.