Some of you may have seen this video before.  I think i have but it 
still gave me some chills.

text of forwarded message follows:


>Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time, and
>said that when he and a million other guys first heard her sing, God
>Bless America, on the radio, they all pretended to have dust in their
>eyes as they wiped away a tear or two.
>Here are the facts. The link at the bottom will take you to a video
>showing the very first public singing of GOD BLESS AMERICA.  But
>before you watch it, you  should also know the story behind the first
>public showing of the song.
>
>The time was 1940.  America was still in a terrible economic
>depression.  Hitler was taking over Europe and Americans were afraid
>we'd have to go to war.  It was a time of hardship and worry for most
>Americans.
>
>This was the era just before TV, when radio shows were HUGE,  and
>American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening
>to their favorite entertainers, and no entertainer of that era was
>bigger than Kate Smith.
>
>Kate was also large; plus size, as we now say, and the popular phrase
>still used today is in deference to her, "It ain't over till the Fat
>Lady sings".
>
>Kate Smith might not have made it big in the age of TV, but with her
>voice coming over the radio, she was the biggest star of her time.
>
>Kate was also patriotic.  It hurt her to see Americans so depressed
>and afraid of what the next day would bring.  She had hope for
>America, and faith in her fellow Americans.  She wanted to do
>something to cheer them up, so she went to the famous American
>song writer, Irving Berlin (who also wrote "White Christmas") and
>asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again
>about their country.  When she described what she was looking for, he
>said he had just the song for her.  He  went to his files and found a
>song that he had written, but never published, 22 years before - way
>back in 1917.  He gave  it to her and she worked on it with her studio
>orchestra.  She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would be
>received by the public, but both agreed they would not take any
>profits from God Bless America.  Any  profits would go to the Boy
>Scouts of America.  Over the years, the Boy Scouts have received
>millions of dollars in royalties from this song.
>
>This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio
>with the orchestra and an audience.  She introduces the new song  for
>the very first time, and starts singing.  After the first  couple
>verses, with her voice in the  background still  singing, scenes are
>shown from the 1940 movie, "You're In  The  Army Now."  At the 4:20
>mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an
>office, reading the newspaper Variety; it's Ronald Reagan.
>
>To this day, God Bless America stirs our patriotic feelings and pride
>in our country.  Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song
>to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt  whether she
>realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow
>Americans during those years of hardship  and  worry..... And for many
>generations of Americans to follow.
>
>Now  that you  know the story of the song, I hope you'll enjoy  it.
>Many people don't know there's a lead in to the song since it usually
>starts with, God Bless America. So here's the entire song as
>originally sung.....  ENJOY!
>
>
>
>
>https://www.youtube.com/embed/TnQDW-NMaRs?rel=0
text of forwarded message ends:

John