NASHVILLE (AP) — In a life filled with milestones, Irving Locker celebrated a new, unexpected one last week: He became a published songwriter.

One day before his 101st birthday, “If Freedom Was Free” was released by Big Machine Label Group and CreatiVets, the Nashville-based nonprofit that helps veterans work through their traumas by building something new through the arts.

CreatiVets teamed Locker, a World War II veteran who landed at Utah Beach on D-Day, with veteran mentor Bart Crowe and duo Johnny and Heidi Bulford, who also sing on the track. The chorus — “If freedom was free, there wouldn’t be a mountain of metal and men under Normandy” — includes the message Locker has used in lectures from classrooms to the White House. Freedom, he says, is not free. People should be thankful for

See Full Page