Rusty Gear’s Memorial Day Song
“Rest In Arizona” Available To Radio
Soon Memorial Day will be upon us here in America. Literally tens of thousands of families will get together to mark this day. Rusty Gear is an American songwriter/artist and he writes passionately about those that gave all while in the military so that our nation might remain free. On the memorable day in 1941 when Pearl Harbor was bombed the battleship USS Arizona was attacked and sunk. Over 1,100 men lost their lives and their bodies were left within the sunken remains of the ship. A few years ago Rusty heard that many surviving crew members ask that when they die could their ashes be spread at the site of the Arizona’s sinking, now a national monument, so they can rest with their shipmates. This expression of love, loyalty and duty was the inspiration for the song “Rest in Arizona”. The song paints the typical sights seen across America on Memorial Day weekend; the hand held flags, service men and women marching in step, the fire trucks and the men and women slowly mark time in their town’s Memorial Day parade. The song also celebrates the close knit ties that still remain to this day with the survivors of the USS Arizona. Since the song and the accompanying music video were released Rusty has received a number of messages from veterans and their families sharing their appreciation for being remembered in the song. Some twenty years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor a young man named Elvis Presley would do a benefit concert in Hawaii and raise in 1961 dollars, $50,000. All of which went to help fund the memorial that you can see today in Pearl Harbor. One thousand one hundred seventy seven crewmen were killed that day on the Arizona. Their sacrifice along with other dedicated service personnel who died that fateful day are memorialized at Pearl Harbor. Rusty captures the very essence of military brotherhood in “Rest In Arizona” as well as reinforcing the decades long show of respect by America’s citizens on every Memorial Day weekend. May God continue to shed his grace on thee. If you can read and write thank a teacher, if you can walk free thank a vet.