Soldier Strums Guitar, Writes Songs From His Heart
(February 10, 2011) |
|
|
U.S. Army Cpl. Jamie Gold, an all-wheeled vehicle mechanic and Pearcy, Ark., native, plays his guitar and sings on Forward Operating Base Fenty in eastern Afghanistan Feb. 6, 2011. Gold, assigned to the 426th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, is on his fourth combat tour. He is scheduled to redeploy to his home station in Fort Campbell, Ky., in the spring. |
|
NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan (Feb. 7, 2011)
– He grew up in the small town of Pearcy, Ark.,
in a family of five and, as a teen, he found his
love for music and has been playing, song
writing and entertaining ever since.
His
name is U.S. Army Cpl. Jamie Gold and he's an
all-wheeled vehicle mechanic assigned to the
426th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade
Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
“The first real interest in playing music was
when I went to a football game, and I told my
mom I would like to play music,” recalled Gold.
“I heard the high school band play at halftime
and that is when it all started.”
When
Gold and his identical twin brother Jimie were
given the option of buying a car or buying
instruments, the choice for them was simple.
“We got some money for a car and bought a
Memphis bass |
|
guitar and a five-piece CBMAX drum set for
$600,” said Gold. “I started out with the bass
guitar. She was my baby, and her name was The
Rebel, that was the sticker that I put on it. It
was perfect for the crimson red color of the
guitar.” |
|
After high school, Gold met who he calls “the woman of my
dreams,” Misty Burks, in downtown Hot Springs, Ark. They
dated for a year and married, Sept. 22, 2001, just 11 days
after the N.Y. city twin towers came crashing down. In
January 2003, he joined the U.S. Army.
“Ever since
then, she has been supporting me in anything and everything
I do,” bragged Gold.
Gold, 30, has completed three
tours in Iraq and is finishing his first tour in
Afghanistan. And, like many service members, the hardest
part of any deployment for Gold is saying goodbye. Sometime
during the middle of his second tour, Gold began writing one
of his favorite songs, “Coming Home”.
“I kept
thinking of all the times I had to leave my wife, either for
deployments or [rest and recuperation leave] while being
deployed,” said Gold. “It is easy to deploy but not so much
when it comes to saying goodbye.”
Gold remembered
what it felt like standing there with Misty before getting
on the plane bound for the battlefield. It was that feeling
of sadness that led him to write the song for her.
“I would look around, seeing the other soldiers with their
Families, seeing the expression on their faces, watching
them hold each other as I was holding my wife and not
wanting to let go,” Gold recalled. “I knew I had to go to
get my mind ready for the long deployment. It is a hard
thing to do, to pull away knowing that you may not make it
back.
“That is one of my biggest fears, but it comes
with the job,” Gold continued. “It relieved my wife knowing
the training I got from the unit and me having faith in my
abilities to do my job. She would tell me, ‘You come home to
me.' I couldn't look at her straight in the eyes. I had to
be strong. I told her, as I was holding feelings back, ‘I am
coming home to you.'”
The song, Gold said, is a
combination of emotions and experiences from all three
deployments in Iraq. The first deployment, he said, was the
most difficult but he's grateful to have Misty and the love
and support she gives him. The first verse of the song,
although written for the two of them, is something that many
military familes can probably relate to:
1st Verse
Let me tell you a story
About a soldier
who went to war
He loved his family
But he could not
stay anymore
As he walked toward the jet plane
As he
waved goodbye
A tear dropped from his eye
He began to
cry
Chorus
When I told you I love you
I
meant forever, forever
And I'm coming home to you
When
I told you I love you
I meant forever, forever
And
that's the truth
2nd Verse
He knew that he'd miss her
And she'd miss him too
It's going to be hard
He's got
a job to do
Don't you worry
Don't you be so sad
I'll be here waiting
‘Til you get back
(Chorus)
And I'm coming home to you
“It is slow but strong,” said Gold. “There is a lot of
finger picking and a lot of emotion. It is somewhat of a
duet. It is one of the most patriotic songs that I have ever
written.”
Misty, who describes her husband as a
caring, loving, sweet guy, said the first time she heard
“Coming Home” she couldn't help thinking, “He is singing
about what we go through when we go through a deployment.”
“It is a beautiful song, and I am really proud of
him,” she said. “He has a way that can make me smile or
laugh. I feel safe when he is near. He is the type of guy
who would give you the shirt off of his back if you needed
it. He loves writing and playing music.”
Gold has
written more than 30 original songs since picking out that
first guitar, the one he called The Rebel. The songs and the
music help him relax and ease the stressors in life, while
the lyrics he writes help keep his memories fresh.
“Well, some people who have problems that they don't know
how to deal with, especially with depression or anything
that has to do with life's troubles, usually go to the
alternative of drinking,” said Gold. “I don't do that. I
pick the guitar up and start playing my favorite songs or
just write down what I am feeling. It helps me when I think
back about how I grew up.”
Gold admits that although
he loves his family very much, he didn't have a role model
in his dad when he was growing up due to his father's
trouble with alcohol, which is another reason why using
music as an alternate stress reliever has proven to be a
good choice.
“He had a problem controlling himself
when he was drinking alcohol,” Gold explained about his
father. “An alcoholic is something I never want to be. I
control what kind of person I want to be. So far, I think I
have done a good job. Being in the Army while being deployed
causes a lot of stress—some good and some bad. Fighting for
your country, worrying about your wife at home or worrying
about your family are the good and bad stresses for me. I
use music to wind me down after a long day at work.”
So whether Gold is sitting outside playing guitar on
Forward Operating Base Fenty in eastern Afghanistan or
whether he's just relaxing in his room writing poetry, he
said he feels much better after he's done, like a weight has
been lifted off his shoulders.
“I love my job and my
family,” Gold beamed, “but music is my other love. It lets
me give up my emotions when life may seem to be too much to
bear. So instead of drinking my sorrows away with a bottle,
I write down what I am feeling or what is on my mind, then I
pick up my guitar and write a song. Writing words and
playing music are my therapy, as is spending time with my
wife when we're together.”
Gold, who launched a
website to highlight his band's music and songs, is
scheduled to return to Fort Campbell, Ky., in the spring.
Until he does, he'll keep picking at his guitar strings and
pulling on Misty's heart strings.
“Being in
Afghanistan for the first time is a different beast, but one
thing I focus on is getting home to my wife,” said Gold.
“Misty, I love you!” |
Article and photo by Army SFC Paula Taylor
Combined Joint Task Force 101
Copyright 2011 | |
Provided
through DVIDS
Comment on this article |
|
