The tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001 has spurred many people to reflect on the tragic events of that day. Misty Armour is a Belmont alumna who has used her reflection on the events of 9/11 and the subsequent war to contribute to something incredible.
Armour was contacted “out of the blue” by Brian Crabb, a man she had met years earlier while working at the Fiddle and Steel Guitar Bar. Crabb explained to her that he was organizing a project called “Never Forgotten” and wanted her to be involved. “Never Forgotten” is a tribute album dedicated to America’s fallen heroes. All of the money raised from the purchasing of the album goes to charities involved with the military and those affected by 9/11.
Crabb asked Armour, a music business major, if she had ever composed a song dedicated to the military. Coincidently, Armour’s husband is a Marine and fought in Iraq following 9/11. She had begun a song after her husband returned from Iraq but never completed it. Crabb had no way of knowing Armour’s relation to the war in Iraq and so she calls it “fate” that he contacted her for the project. “It’s an honor to be a part of something so historical. I am thankful for my freedom and this project gives me a chance to show my pride as an American,” says Armour in regards to her involvement.
Misty Armour was a recent graduate of Belmont University in 2001 when the terrorist attacks occurred. Like many people who were alive during the attacks she remembers viewing the events on television. She sat for hours with her sister and eventually had one important conversation with her boyfriend (now husband) who was an active duty Marine in the military.
“It hit me like a ton of bricks when I heard his voice and knew he’d be going to war if this was a terrorist attack like the TV was alleging it was,” she recalls.
Amour’s husband, Chris, did go to Iraq and was a part of the Echo Company 2nd Battalion 4th Marines. His company was nicknamed “The Magnificent Bastards”, and experienced some heavy casualties while in Iraq – 30 men in just four months. Processing her husband’s experience inspired Armour to write “How A Hero Lives”. Writing this song was challenging for Armour. “I was nervous about how my husband and military buddies would react,” Armour says. The song-writer spoke to other wives of the Echo Company and learned that each of their husbands seemed to be struggling in a similar way.
“They were hailed as heroes on the news and when they returned home, but somehow that’s not how they felt after having lost so many friends and comrades and they didn’t want to talk about it,” said Armour.
She realized that mothers, wives, families of the FDNY and NYPD and first responders were probably dealing with the same things following 9/11. The question arose of how people go on after tragedy and so the song “How A Hero Lives” was born.
The second song Armour wrote for this project is titled “She’s a Warrior Too”. The song is about women in the military, specifically mothers that must leave their children to defend America. Armour worked with an all female team on this song specifically and calls the process a “blessing”. Her mother had the idea for the song and Armour, working with a friend Wendie Newkirk, had less than a week to actualize it. The song-writer asked singer Sherilyn Phillips to provide vocals. Phillips has a sister as well as a brother who are Marine’s and understands what it is like to have family away and in the line of danger. The women hope that the song will inform listeners to the experience of mothers who serve.
“[It’s] a song that hopefully sheds some light on what mothers go through when they are caught between raising a family and serving their country. We hope the song reminds listeners that women play the same role in defending our country and often suffer the same fate as their male comrades,” says Armour.
The album mentioned in this article , “Never Forgotton,” can be found on the website thankyouheroes.org. All proceeds go towards the charities listed on the site. Misty Armour is a Belmont University graduate and a Nashville singer and songwriter who writes in the country-style.
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