The Oak Ridge Boys Photo Credit: Jarrett Gaza

It’s one thing for the video of a current hit to rack up views on the web by the thousands. But it’s particularly impressive when a song that was never intended for the commercial mainstream lands more than a million hits. That’s exactly what’s happened to a live Oak Ridge Boys video that apparently struck a chord with military families around the globe.

Joe Bonsall, the lead voice on the group’s best-selling single “Elvira,” delivers a solo in the concert clip of “G.I. Joe And Lillie,” a song that encapsulates the story of his parents’ relationship, which began when both were serving during World War II. Written by Joe, the song traces their first meeting, her support through the Senior Joe’s continued battles with war wounds, and their eventual hospitalization in their later years.

The song appeared on the Oaks’ album Colors, which came out in 2003, the same year Joe published a book about his parents, G.I. Joe & Lillie: Remembering A Life Of Love And Loyalty. Joe and his bandmates — Duane Allen, Richard Sterban and William Lee Golden — were all a bit stunned when their performance of “G.I. Joe” on a red, white and blue stage started racking up mass viewership on YouTube.

“Something incredible happened about a month ago when many military web sites discovered the video and began to embed the link into their homepages, citing it as an example of patriotism and inspiration,” Joe says. “The whole thing blows me away.”

His parents both died in 2001. They’re tied nicely in the video through family pictures and photos of their tombstones in Arlington National Cemetery. To date, the piece has amassed more than 1.2 million viewings.

“If my mom only knew that young soldiers of today are reading her story or hearing her song, it would make her very, very happy,” Joe notes. “She loved every one of them with all her heart.”

The “G.I. Joe And Lillie” video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lQk27hPzZs.

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