Dan Mayhak, Vietnam Veteran, songwriter...bringing hope to America

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It's a big difference from another war fought on foreign soil more than 35 years ago.

Still, the transition from battleground to hometown will not be an easy one for many returning veterans.

Two older Vietnam veterans are standing up for today's men and women returning from Iraq.

Their class is in session in Spenard at "Big Mitch" Tubman's studio.

Big Mitch, as he's known around here, has sung professionally for nearly 40 years. For the last 16 he's taught hundreds of kids how to sell a song.

Dan Mayhak is hardly a kid. At the age of 58, he's just beginning to find his voice.

As it turns out, Big Mitch and Mayhak have more in common than music. Both served tours of duty in Vietnam. Mitch spent four years there, while Dan spent two.

"I remember coming home from Vietnam, Mayhak said."I literally got down on my hands and knees and kissed American soil. It was such a blessing to be alive and be home."

Since they are brothers in arms, Mitch gives Dan the voice lessons for free. And a few months ago, Dan gave Mitch something even more valuable - a song.

"He read it to me and the words just got to me, right there," Big Mitch said pointing at his heart? "We're both Vietnam vets, disabled Vietnam vets, and the words just grabbed me."

"I said in the first lines of the song, 'There's a lot of people talkin'. Nothin' to say. Lookin' real busy at lookin' the other way. Cost of freedom still remains the same,'" Mayhak said.

The song is more than a tribute to America's new generation of soldiers. For Mayhak, it's a wake-up call for everyone else.

"You better remember to never forget
'Cause they're still out there
And it ain't over yet."

"There's people that came before us, World War II, Korea, that paid a price with their life," Mayak said.

Mayhak says the young soldiers fighting in Iraq have shown tremendous courage so we can be free.

"That really rings true in my heart and that's what this song is about, this is not free. Amen. There's a price paid," he says.

The musicians, studio time, and video production are all donated.

Big Mitch gave voice to the song, but its heart is that of Dan Mayhak, a Vietnam vet who came back from the war an alcoholic with post traumatic stress disorder.

He's a survivor of clinical depression and suicide attempts - married four times and unable to hold a job for the first 20 years back home.

Mayhak is a survivor who doesn't want to see history repeat itself.

"When I came back I asked for help and I got shuffled around but I got no help. It was just the same old bureaucratic shuffle," he said. "Years later you go through the same thing and see it happening again. And if we can spend money and billions of dollars on wasteful government stuff, why can't we take care of our GIs?"

Big Mitch and Dan Mayhak are now hoping their song becomes a hit. The proceeds of the song will go toward building homes for the returning wounded.

Earlier this month, Big Mitch sang the song at a vocal competition in Los Angeles that he sends his students to every year.

As he hoped, the song caught the ear of a producer, who told Mitch he has the perfect artist to make the song a hit -- Pat Boone.

They're veterans of a war that's been over for 35 years, who are still fighting for their brothers.

And through a song, perhaps they're finding their way home.

Dan Mayhak used to work out at Powerhouse Gym in Anchorage, Alaska. Mayhak, in his 58, says he used to suffer from severe alcoholism and depression and that bodybuilding helped him recover. He had hopes to win a national master's championship and become a motivational speaker.



couple of pics from 2004

Dan Mayhak served in Vietnam. He went through hell, many guys did that part of Dan’s story isn’t unique. Dan returned home to a country that didn't much love him at the time. Injured, physically, exposed to severe levels of Agent Orange, (due to an accident at his barracks, that is still causing trouble to this day) and injured mentally.

Dan couldn't have dreamed that coming home was only the beginning of the trouble. Severe alcoholism and depression, anger and God knows what else haunted Dan for quite some time. Several failed marriages, bouts with cancer and other health problems brought on by his service to his country seemed only too heavy the burden. Poor treatment from his fellow citizens, from the DAV, VA and Government as a whole didn't help the matter.

You would think Dan would've given up a long damned time ago. You would think Dan wouldn't be of much use to society today. Well, you'd be thinking wrong.

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