Tony Rice has posted a poignant and heartfelt message to military veterans on his web site. What a shame that we didn’t catch it in time for Veteran’s Day last week.

It is entitled Letter Of thanks To Veterans Everywhere from Tony Rice, and begins with a simple statement:

I want to take a moment and try to express my heart felt gratitude to the veterans of this great land..

I know that it is not possible for me to email, or call you up individually to thank each and every one of you,..

And so, I hope that this letter will in some small way service, to let you outstanding men and women know, my family and I, are in your debt.

Tony also shares some thoughts about how freedom affects musicians, even in the bluegrass world.

I have met so many musicians from communist countries, who risked the odds of death, to come here to the U.S.

To them, possible death by risking escape was a far better alternative, than to be denied the freedoms our veterans insure us.

Other musicians like myself, who felt they had something of value to offer, to the world threw their music..

However unless they could obtain freedom by escaping to come here, they had no vehicle of expression for their music,… it was dead.. useless.

I have been privileged to sit in total amazement, while listening to their stories of how they escaped. The most amazing from Communist Eastern Europe.

Did you know Bluegrass is banned in certain areas of the world? I surely didn’t, until they told me.

You veterans both in the “here and now” as well as those walking the “spirit world” are amazing heroes to them, as well as to myself.

Former and current members of the US military, especially those who are followers of Tony Rice’s music, will want to read the whole piece on Tony’s web site.