Part of It

Music was a big part of growing up in my family. Mom and dad always seemed to have the radio playing on the weekends, dad controlled the radio in the car, all of us kids had record players, then cassette players, and eventually CDs. Dad was surf music, Motown, and bands like Fleetwood Mac. Mom had Springsteen and Rod Stewart. My older sister introduced me to Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, and INXS. I fell into my own tastes with Led Zeppelin, The Who, and even some punk and rap music thrown in. Teenage parties at our house definitely had Def Leppard as part of their soundtrack. Music was a constant and it still is, for me.

I listen to loud music on my way to play soccer on the weekends. My family is really into the new K-Pop (Korean Pop) genre right now. My daughter sang in high school. My son plays guitar. That’s his Fender in the picture.

For Soldiers though, music and sports are two things that bind everyone together. Soldiers will talk about their favorite sports teams and even play sports together, but music is part of the atmosphere. Whether it has been the Scottish highlanders and their bagpipes, early American formations marching to drummers, or troops in Viet Nam jamming out to the Rolling Stones, music and Soldiers go hand in hand. Lee Greenwood and Toby Keith made songs that became the soundtrack to actual wars.

You can always hear a stereo playing in the barracks. Unit commanders will play loud music in the morning before physical training. Soldiers bring guitars on deployments and play when they get spare minutes here and there. It’s not shocking to find a smart, enterprising Soldier who figures out how to get music piped through vehicle headsets or the speakers in an operations center.

Music is part of being a Soldier. Part of your life. Part of combat.

Music is just Part of It.