REVAK

I served in the active army from Jan 30, 2002 until Jul 1 2007. During my first deployment in November 2003, one of my friends was killed. All I could do was write a song for him. When the Command Sergeant Major heard the song, he asked a friend and I to play it at the memorial service. The soldiers grieved more then they had in the past memorials, as we made the service very personal. We agreed to write a song and play at every memorial service to follow that one. Unfortunately, the memorial almost always was honoring a close friend of mine. I would write a song for each of them and play during the ceremony. After I had written for several memorials and had been wounded myself, I learned that my close friend and guitar teacher was killed. He had played at those services with me. The pain of losing him left me crushed. I recorded the album In the Hours of Darkness in memory of him. It is what he would have wanted me to do. I was awarded the Purple Heart from wounds received in Ramadi, Iraq on June 26, 2006. All together, I spent 22 months in Iraq, and continue to honor my fallen friends, as best I can, in song. May they rest peacefully in the presence of God. REVAK