Music makes the world go round. November is a special time to remember people who serve, or have served in their country’s security forces. I was listening to some British WW2 veterans chatting about their war and was humbled to hear them talk about the Germans, the “others”, at the time.
War, by definition, is about sides. Those old soldiers spoke about the opposing side with a great fondness that surprised me. They were all really mostly boys just caught up in the choices of the power that directed their home at the time. When Germans were captured, the young men on both sides got talking. One of the prisoners had worked as a waiter in a top London hotel before the war. They all just wanted the madness to end.
We celebrate all things Kris related here so thank YOU, Kris, for your service. God bless you and all of our troops – and God bless America.
On November 8th, 1965, the 173rd Airborne Brigade on Operation Hump, War Zone D in Vietnam were ambushed by over 1200 V.C. Forty-eight American soldiers lost their lives that day. Severely wounded and risking his own life, Lawrence Joll, a medic, was the first living black man since the Spanish-American War to receive the United States Medal of Honor for saving so many lives in the midst of battle that day. Our friend, Nialls Harris, retired 25 years, United States Army (the guy who gave Big Kenny his top hat) was one of the wounded who lived. This song is his story. Caught in the action of ‘kill or be killed’ – ‘greater love hath no man to lay down his life for a friend.’
Reservoir Media (Publishing)
Hear Kris Tell It
Tom Ghent
Hear the legendary Tom Ghent telling his truth
Clem Tholet
Clem Tholet is a songwriter from the then Rhodesia. The bush war raged for years but it is largely forgotten by everyone except those who experienced it.