Looks of anticipation filled the faces of students as they anxiously awaited the appearance of the upcoming teen star and singer, songwriter Cassidy Diana to the stage at Marshall Elementary School, Wednesday.
Fifteen year-old Diana, whose father retired after 27 years in the Army, spent her childhood around the military. Diana’s father was stationed at Fort Campbell prior to his retirement.
Performers always entertained Soldiers, but Diana felt there was never anyone who came to post to exclusively entertain military children.
“It’s always been my dream to come to Fort Campbell because I went to school here as a kid,” Diana said. “I went to Andre Lucas [Elementary], and it’s always been a dream of mine to come and perform for the kids that are just like me.”
While at Marshall Elementary, she played several songs she has written, but one was specifically for military kids.
“It’s called ‘Wrapped in the Red, White, and Blue,’” Diana said with a smile. “It’s about military children – it’s basically my story in a song.”
Before singing the song, she told the students, “some kids watch their parents go off to work, but we are special – we watch our parents go off to war. We are the children of the United States military,” she said. “This is our story.”
Fifth grade student president Issac Dingus liked Diana’s music.
“It really touched me; it got me emotional,” he said. “I have a little sister and I can just imagine her putting on my dad’s boots and walking around the house.”
Dingus is referring to lyrics in Diana’s song which tell about a little girl who wears her dad’s combat boots.
Diana said the song is dedicated to all military children, and that they are all special.
“Military children are stronger than the average person,” she said. “They have got so much more strength in their pinky than anyone else out there and they should be respected. They should know that they are completely special in this world.”
Dingus agreed. “An Army child has to go through a lot more than a regular child. A regular child watches their dad go off to like a court or something, but Army kids have to sit there and watch their dads get on a plane and fly off, not knowing if they are going to return,” he said.
Dingus said his dad is safe at home, but he has watched him leave on a plane to answer a call that Diana sings about in another song she performed at Marshall.
“This is a song I wrote about [my dad], it’s named ‘The Call,’ and I hope you guys like it,” Diana said to the crowd.
She wrote the song after her father told her about a dream he had.
“He had a dream that he was getting drafted back into the war after he had retired,” Diana said. “I thought, ‘oh my gosh, he answered the call,’ so that was how the name came about.”
Beverlyn Perry, a Marshall Elementary School third grade teacher, said she thought it was compassionate of Diana to perform for the students.
“She grew up in a military Family, but I think it was exceptional that she took the time to come here to perform for our students,” Perry said.
“The Call” is expected to be released in early to mid-February.
Other songs she has written for Veterans include “Salute,” which is available for purchase online, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes, a nonprofit group dedicated to rebuilding the lives of severely wounded Veterans of the Global War on Terrorism.
She has performed at various venues, to include the 2014 Road to Recovery Conference in San Diego for wounded Veterans. She has opened for country music artists like Darryl Worley and Montgomery Gentry.