One of the greatest singers of all time died this morning at 96 years old.....Mr. Tony Bennett.

Frank Sinatra said that Tony had the best set of pipes in the business.

During WWII, what were the chances? Thousands of miles from home, in a foreign land devastated by war, old friends bumped into each other on the street.

It was Thanksgiving Day, 1945, when two U.S. Army soldiers met unexpectedly in Mannheim, Germany. Part of the occupation force in a conquered city that had been leveled by Allied bombing during World War II, they had sung together only a few years earlier in a musical group back in high school in New York City.

The young men decided to spend the rest of the day together, attending a church service and then having a turkey dinner. At least, that was the plan. Their impromptu reunion was cut short just before the meal.

An Army officer blasted the two soldiers — one Black and the other White — with a hate-filled rant for being together in public. In the segregated military of the day, the two men were not allowed to socialize. Back then, the punishment for Black and White soldiers associating with one another was more severe than if they fraternized with civilians in occupied Germany.

The bigot officer cut off Tony Bennet's. corporal stripes, threw them on the ground and spit on them.

This White soldier’s experiences in the Army had a profound effect on him. The 19-year-old corporal — who also survived the horrors of combat and witnessed unspeakable atrocities while liberating Nazi death camps — vowed to become a pacifist and to work for racial harmony.

Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga recorded a version of "Night and Day" for their 2021 collaborative album Love for Sale.

This is the version I am singing with an incredible backing track singer.