ST. CLOUD -- A St. Cloud musician released a new song last week in honor of Veteran’s Day. Justin Ploof’s latest song titled “The Weight They Carried,” is a tribute to Vietnam veterans.

In the song, he addresses the experience of soldiers who served in the war which can be a divisive subject in recent American history.

Ploof comes from a long and proud military family and says he wanted to speak up about the poor treatment the veterans received when they returned to America following their service.

Vietnam vets, unfortunately, came home and were really treated really quite unfairly and really poorly just due to people's opposition of the war, and something about that always bothered me. So, I finally decided one day it was like 'well what are you going to do about it?' And I decided that what I am able to possess is a musical ability, and I think the best way to translate feelings sometimes is through song.

Written in first person, the song covers the journey of the soldiers from the America they were born into, through their boot camp and time in Vietnam, and back to the country they signed up to serve.

The last few verses touch on the reconciliation that has been worked towards since the building of the memorial in 1982.

Ploof says all of the proceeds from the song are going directly to national veterans organizations.

So what we're going to do is all of the money that people can donate, basically they can pay whatever they want to download the song, but all the money will be donated to the Vietnam War Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans of America.

"The Weight They Carried" was inspired by Ploof’s friends and family, and the music video features appearances by Vietnam veterans. He says he hopes to honor them with the overdue thank you while bringing education and healing through his music.

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