On this day, 90 years ago, our buddy and beloved tenor Dan Gillespie was born. The years that have followed have been nothing less than legendary. An active member of our chorus for many, many years, Dan has been a staple of barbershop harmony here in Savannah.
When I first started with 13th Colony Sound, Dan was the tenor in one of our most prominent chapter quartets--Driftaway. As I began to settle into my new-found hobby of barbershop singing, Dan's sly smile and witty sense of humor were among the ever-present mainstays affirming that this is the hobby for me.
Not long after I began singing with Dan and the other 13th Colony Sound members, I learned something else about this remarkable man. In WWII Dan didn't fight in Europe. He didn't fight in the Pacific either. Dan worked on the Manhattan Project. His responsibility was making the initiator mechanisms for the first atomic bomb in human history as well as the one used on Nagasaki--the one which ultimately ended the war.
At that time, my own grandfather was preparing to invade Japan--a task he doubted he would live to see to the end of; a task that, thanks to my buddy Dan, never began. And so, I count it among the greatest honors of my life, that I have not only gotten to meet this man, not only gotten to sing with him, but have also gotten the privilege of naming among my friends my dear friend, Dan Gillespie.
So, Dan, we, your friends and fellow barbershoppers, wish you the greatest and happiest 90th birthday ever!
Happy birthday, Dan!
Nathan P. Daniel
VP Marketing & Public Relations
13th Colony Sound
When I first started with 13th Colony Sound, Dan was the tenor in one of our most prominent chapter quartets--Driftaway. As I began to settle into my new-found hobby of barbershop singing, Dan's sly smile and witty sense of humor were among the ever-present mainstays affirming that this is the hobby for me.Not long after I began singing with Dan and the other 13th Colony Sound members, I learned something else about this remarkable man. In WWII Dan didn't fight in Europe. He didn't fight in the Pacific either. Dan worked on the Manhattan Project. His responsibility was making the initiator mechanisms for the first atomic bomb in human history as well as the one used on Nagasaki--the one which ultimately ended the war.
At that time, my own grandfather was preparing to invade Japan--a task he doubted he would live to see to the end of; a task that, thanks to my buddy Dan, never began. And so, I count it among the greatest honors of my life, that I have not only gotten to meet this man, not only gotten to sing with him, but have also gotten the privilege of naming among my friends my dear friend, Dan Gillespie.
So, Dan, we, your friends and fellow barbershoppers, wish you the greatest and happiest 90th birthday ever!
Happy birthday, Dan!
Nathan P. Daniel
VP Marketing & Public Relations
13th Colony Sound
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