Veterans Day program honors vet who inspired song

Sundance High School music teacher Teresa Preisner met with Niles Harris last week in Deadwood, prior to a very special Veterans Day Program this November.

Harris was the inspiration for "8th of November", a song recorded by country music duo Big & Rich in 2006 to honor veterans of the Vietnam War.

The song is about the famous battle referred to by the same name, which took place in 1965 during Operation Hump in War Zone D. The 173rd Airborne Brigade was ambushed by more than one thousand Viet Cong fighters, leading to the loss of 48 men.

The song tells Harris's story as a young man fighting in the battle, when he was "19 and green with a new M-16, Just doing what he had to do", and 40 years later as he remembers it, "Now he's 58 and his pony tail's gray, But the battle still plays in his head".

On November 10 at 7 p.m., the choir will be singing this song in honor of all veterans. The commemorative poster he is pictured with will be on display during the event.