POST FALLS - Kathryn Robison has had a lifetime of saluting veterans through music.

"I love to make people happy," the 83-year-old Post Falls resident said. "It means everything to me. They need entertainment.

"When they show you pictures of their family and kids, you've got to put on a good act."

Each Memorial Day, Robison reflects on her experiences of providing music therapy for America's heroes.

Starting at age 14, Robison was playing the accordion for World War I veterans at a Los Angeles hospital and for border patrols along the coast of California.

As soon as she turned 18, she traveled to military hospitals throughout the country as a United Services Organization entertainer.

"This was the time when music therapy was something new for the Army," she said. "I'd go to 17 wards a day and play different rhythms. Whatever they asked for, I'd try to play."

It was a routine Robison continued during the Pacific Command, Korean War and World War II, performing Hollywood varieties at hospitals and "camp shows."

She recalls a World War II soldier in a hospital who hadn't spoken for 18 months.

"I kept playing and playing and finally he said, 'Can you play 'Red River Valley?'" she said. "I did and two nurses started to dance with him. He wanted me to repeat it, so I played it over and over.

"Whatever it broke, he was able to talk after that."

Robison was part of a group of eight entertainers that went to Korea for a five-month tour.

"We put on shows 500 yards from the front line and we slept 1,500 yards back from the front line," she said. "We'd have makeshift stages; otherwise everything would get stolen over night."

She recalls being asked by a soldier to put on a good show before being handed binoculars.

"Way out there, the North Koreans were watching our show," she said. "They were literally watching our show."

In those days, Robison was paid about $100 a month. Transportation, lodging and meals were provided.

"They'd come get me in a jeep," she said.

The toughest part of her service, she said, was knowing that some of the men and women she performed for in the hospitals or medical tents wouldn't make it much longer.

"They started to call me Ms. Waterworks because by the time I got back to my tent at night, I knew they may not make it home," she said. "They go through so much."

Robison said some of her inspiration of brightening veterans' spirits came from her first husband Raymond Haley, who was an Army paratrooper in Europe during World War II.

"He was all for me going (to perform)," she said.

To this day, Robison, even after three strokes, is still entertaining. She plays the piano or keyboard for local senior centers, hospitals and nursing homes. Many of the residents at such facilities are veterans.

"I'll go wherever I'm asked to," she said.

One of her fingers is paralyzed, but a large ring on it still allows her to play without missing a key.

"It's my little crutch," she said with a smile. "You don't give up. I'll play as long as I can."

Robison proudly shows off her Army cap that has pins representing the regiments she performed for over the years.

"It's special to me," she said, handling the cap carefully. "I know a lot of these guys are gone."

Memorial Day is bittersweet for Robison.

"I wish we could bring all of our soldiers home; maybe some day this will happen," she said. "But I've enjoyed helping them any way I could. I'm so grateful for all of them and am proud to have been able to do it."