This September I lost a beloved friend. In 2011 I met Jacob George at the IVAW convention in Portland, and a few months later hosted him and his companions for part of their bike ride around the country playing music for peace. Since then our time spent together was brief and intermittent, at solemn and playful formal and informal gatherings of war resisters and peace makers seperated by gaps of time and geography. I wanted to get to know him better, but I didnt feel much of a hurry - right away our connection felt intimate, and I always sort of assumed wed have forever to continue to build our friendship. I havent been able to find the words to talk about it... about how much the love, gratitude, curiosity and kindness he showed me and his fellow earthlings - and about the need he voiced and lived for courage and compassion in the shared struggle of living and healing in a society at war - meant to me. At least not in a way that would really do justice to the feelings and the impact he had. so instead Im going to let Jacob speak for himself by sharing the lyrics to his song “Support the Troops,” as well as video of testimony his gave last spring: “We just Need to support the troops” is what they tell me well, This is from a troop so listen carefully, What we Need are teachers who understand the history of this country, What we Need is a decent living wage, so people ain’t cold and hungry, What we Need is bicycle infrastructure spanning this beauteous nation. What we Need are more trees and less play stations, What we Need is a justice system that seeks the truth, What we Need are more books and less boots, What we Need is love for every woman and man, From southern Louisiana to the mountains of Afghanistan. Now, it’s true the troops need support, The support to come home, They need treatment and jobs and love for the soul, See, war ain’t no good for the human condition, I lost a piece of who I was on every single mission, And I’m tellin’ you, don’t thank me for what I’ve done, Give me a big hug and let me know we’re not gonna let this happen again, Because we support the troops and we’re gonna bring these wars to an end.“ Love you Jacob. You are missed. vimeo/66857895
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 18:03:57 +0000
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