Liberty native to ride for Wounded Warriors

October 9, 2011 at 12:01a.m.

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

A Liberty native will begin a cross-country bicycle trip Monday to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project.

Devorah Gottesman, a singer-songwriter based in Washington state, will leave from the Hollywood American Legion Post in Los Angeles for a 13-week, 3,000-mile ride to Jacksonville, Fla., where Wounded Warrior is based.

She’ll make 13 stops along the way, mainly at Legion and VFW posts, Veterans hospitals and military bases, to deliver her message to local media.

With individuals making per-mile pledges and several corporate sponsors also on board, Gottesman has set her goal high for Wounded Warrior, which provides aid to U.S. servicemen who have been injured physically or mentally in combat. Tens of thousands of ex-soldiers are living in the U.S. with missing limbs, post-traumatic stress disorder and other disabilities.

“I hope to hand them a check for a million dollars when I get there,” said Gottesman, who was in Youngstown last week. Wounded Warrior hopes to make the current crop of returning soldiers the most well-adjusted in U.S. history, she said.

To underscore her efforts, Gottesman has written a powerful song, “Wounded Warrior,” that expresses her admiration for servicemen wounded in defense of their country and respect for their selflessness and sacrifice. She’ll perform the song at stops during her bicycle trip.

“As a child, I was always told to walk a mile in someone’s shoes,” said Gottesman. “After I started writing the song, I got stuck, and I couldn’t finish it, because I’ve never been in the Army and I don’t know what it’s like. Then I realized that I couldn’t possibly walk a mile in a soldier’s boots ... and that said it all.”

Gottesman’s level of respect for U.S. servicemen, and compassion for those wounded in action, was apparent as she sung the song for a reporter. Emotion overtook her demeanor at times as she played.

Frank Stallone, the musician-actor brother of Sylvester Stallone, will be among a group of celebrities who will be present at the send-off ceremony Monday in Hollywood for Gottesman, who will be accompanied by a chase car to hold her gear.

Gottesman has been a professional musician for all of her adult life, earning critical acclaim for her 2008 pop album “Irrepressible.” She still occasionally serves as a cantor in synagogues, singing sacred Hebrew music. Her most recent album, “5770,” is a collection of both modern and ancient Hebrew chants.

Gottesman’s upcoming cross-country bicycle ride will not be her first. In 2009, she rode alone from Seattle to Hollywood, Calif.

That trip, she said, opened her eyes to the true spirit of America. She was warned that it wouldn’t be safe to ride alone, but was met with open arms every where she went. “I was everybody’s daughter,” she said. “That is America, and that is the message I learned: We are all in it together.”

She returned to her home in Friday Harbor, Wash., after that trip, flushed with optimism and wonder, and looking for a cause for which to devote her life and music. Almost as if on cue, a vehicle pulled up, and out came a soldier on vacation. As Gottesman and the serviceman talked, she realized his unsung heroism. “How can anyone take a bullet for me, for this country, I thought.”

The soldier suggested Gottesman get involved in the Wounded Warrior Project.

“I never questioned him, and my life has never been the same,” she said.