An American Veteran Tribute with Lee Greenwood, Steve Eaton and Mike Sanders in concert
WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Jensen Grand Concert Hall of the Stephens Performing Arts Center in Pocatello
TICKETS: $45 for the main floor and $41 for the upper. Purchase at Vickers Western Stores, at the Stephens Performing Arts Center Box Office, or by calling 282-3595. They can also be purchased online at www.isu.edu/tickets
MORE INFORMATION: Proceeds will be used to help veterans with traumatic brain injuries and post traumatic stress disorders.
POCATELLO — Lee Greenwood is still proud to be an American.
And, though it has been nearly 30 years since the original release of his signature song, “God Bless the USA” he still embodies the themes of patriotism, freedom, and service to others that made the song a nationwide hit.
It makes perfect sense then, that Greenwood would be the scheduled headlining performer for an upcoming fundraiser to benefit local veterans. Well-known singer/songwriters Mike Sanders and Steven Eaton will perform together as the opening act for the show.
The “An American Veteran Tribute” concert will be held on Saturday, November 30 in the Jensen Grand Concert Hall of the Stephens Performing Arts Center in Pocatello. The doors will open at 6 p.m. and the concert will start at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets are $45 for the main level of the hall and $41 for the upper level. Purchase tickets at Vickers Western Stores in Pocatello or Idaho Falls, at the Stephens Performing Arts Center box office, or by calling the box office at 282-3595. They can also be purchased online at www.isu.edu/tickets
All of the proceeds from the concert will benefit local veterans by sponsoring treatment in the Hyperbaric chamber at the Idaho Doctor’s Hospital in Blackfoot. The Idaho Doctor’s Hospital is co-owned by Bingham Memorial Hospital. The Hyperbaric chamber there is the largest multiperson Hyperbaric chamber in the region.
Mike Sanders says the hospital is helping to further the research of Hyperbarics and how it can help injured war veterans with more than just their physical pain.
“Thirty hospitals were picked across the nation to do studies on traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress syndrome through hyperbarics, and Bingham was chosen,” he continued to say that Bingham has had the highest number of participants of all the hospitals picked, mostly because the hospital has opted to foot the bill for the veterans seeking the treatment.
In Hyperbaric chamber oxygen therapy, the patient is placed in an increased pressure chamber and breaths 100 percent oxygen for about an hour. The patient can go through as many as 80 treatments. Because the treatments need to be consistent, the person receiving the treatment must be able to live near the facility or be able to travel there.
The funding from this concert will help pay those costs.
Sanders hopes that the successes of the treatment of war veterans through Hyperbarics at Bingham Memorial Hospital will raise awareness for the need for similar programs across the country.
Lee Greenwood shares Sanders’ passion for aiding veterans when they return home. Greenwood is involved in many charities that benefit soldiers. He is the spokesman for Operation Never Forgotten.
“ONF is a company that takes care wounded soldiers when they come back through winter and summer sports out there in Big Sky. The resorts all donate their facilities, we fly them in and their entire families for three and four weeks and just give them a reason to exist, to get back into American life, and that is a really good thing,” he says.
He also works with Products for Good, an organization that raises money for the United Service Organizations (USO) and HelpingaHero.org, which builds homes for veterans.
“I think we all have to do something. There are so many of them that have been wounded. And yet, I think to a man or a woman who’s been wounded, their head is up, they’re confident they can continue on. It is just really thrilling to be able to help,” he says.
Mike Sanders agrees.
“I have been with the POW*MIA and the veterans for a long time, and they hold special meaning to me. We are excited about it, and for more than any other reason, the money is going to support local veterans.
Many people in the community are coming together to support this event.
Gary Chisum, owner of Pro Builders, Inc. is buying tickets for all of the veterans at the Idaho State Veterans Home who are able to attend the show. And, an autographed CD and a copy of Lee Greenwood’s Book, “Does God Still Bless the USA?” will be given to a local serviceman was recently injured overseas.
This concert will be a sort of reunion concert for the performers, who all have ties. Most notably, Steve Eaton and Mike Sanders performed together as a singer/songwriter duo for 15 years. Now that Eaton resides in Boise and Sanders is still working in Pocatello as a musician, concerts with the two performing together are far and few between.
And if you are a fan of music trivia, here is a tidbit for you: Steve Eaton wrote Lee Greenwood’s song “I’ll Be Loving You,” which was released in 1989 on the album “If Only for One Night.”
To learn more about the Idaho Doctor’s Hospital and the hyperbaric chamber, go to www.binghammemorial.org. To read more about Lee Greenwood, go to www.leegreenwood.com
Benefits of Hyperbaric chamber oxygen therapy
A hospital in Oklahoma is another of the 30 that have been selected to participate in the study of the benefits of Hyperbaric chamber oxygen therapy when treating veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and traumatic brain injuries. The therapy has been so successful that a resolution has been given to the Oklahoma State Legislature to fund the hyperbaric treatment through the state.
With the Oklahoma hospital participants, researchers have found that participants experienced reduced photophobia, sleeplessness and cognitive malaise, a 39 percent reduction of post-concussuive syndrome (headaches as a result of a concussion), a 30 percent reduction of PTSD, 51 percent decreased depression and a 96 percent improvement in emotional control.