Via Mlive:

Even though they’re not familiar with his songs, I hope the Vietnam vets attending the Kid Rock concert Tuesday night at Van Andel Arena receive an acknowledgment from the star of the show — and maybe a few of the fans at the sold-out event. It’s been more than 40 years in the making. To understand the significance of what is happening Tuesday, we need to go back to the mid 1960s, when Grand Rapids resident Rick Falls joined a handful of other teenage and 20-something soldiers from around the country to fight an unpopular war in jungles on the other side of the world. They returned to their homeland only to be shunned by some, dismissed as baby killers by others, and left to wonder what had been gained by the loss of 58,000 American lives. In the absence of parades and motorcades, the troops simply tramped home and did their best to be re-absorbed by a country still flustered over the role we played in that foreign country. But on Tuesday, Kid Rock — a passionate supporter of our troops and veterans — could take a moment between songs to reverse some of that and give a handful of Army vets goosebumps that might never recede. Rick Falls and three or four of his buddies who haven’t been together since 1968, will be attending the show thanks to the folks at Beam Global Spirits and Wine Inc., best known for its bourbon Jim Beam.

Good for Mr. Rock. — Greg Pollowitz