St. Joseph mother puts war fears into a song

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- A local mother found herself on a strange ride when her son, a U.S. Army soldier, received orders to Iraq.

Now Sharon Bryant has taken the experience and woven it with her father's letters during the Korean War, turning it into a song called "A Mother's Heart."

"This song was written from the depths of my soul during my son's deployment to Iraq," Bryant said. "Minute to minute, day to day, the fear is unbearable. Every time the phone rings, my heart jumps. In my mind, I know that my son made his own decision to join the Army, but in my heart I feel as though my baby has been ripped from my arms and thrown into a situation that means certain death."

The song includes the thoughts, fears and concerns of her son, Spc. Joel C. Bryant, as he tries to ease his mother's worry during his time of deployment. Joel Bryant is a 2003 graduate of Benton High School.

He served at Fort Leavenworth in Leavenworth, Kan., and the Forrest E. Peden U.S. Army Reserve Center on 36th Street before his unit was activated and sent to Kirkuk, Iraq. A 13-month deployment turned into 18 months before he returned in March.

"'A Mother's Heart' is written around actual conversations between Joel and I while he was deployed," Bryant said. "Words taken from his letters, his phone calls and his e-mails."

Bryant also incorporated letters from her own father to his mother 56 years ago, when he was serving in Korea.

From a mother's perspective, both were talking about the same things even though there is 50 years between the two wars, she said.

The song has been receiving some attention on Georgia radio stations, especially near Fort Benning, Atlanta and Savannah.

Some people say they don't want Americans thinking our children are scared, but other mothers say "thank you" for writing the song, Bryant said. And she's heard everything in between those two extremes.

Her goal is to give the proceeds from "A Mother's Heart" to the families of wounded soldiers that served in E Company, 51st Infantry, with her son in Iraq.

Bryant has been a church musician most of her life. She began writing Christian songs seven years ago for her local ministry. Arrangements are ongoing with KKJO radio to play the song on the air and with Hastings Books, Music and Video to carry the compact disc.

Her son leaves Dec. 21 to redeploy in Iraq.