Ode to the Angry American

I’m personally a fan of classic country. I’ll take Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, or Merle Haggard over most contemporary artists. I don’t have anything against the current performers but, they are first and foremost musicians. To me, they seem like the product of talent show tryouts, the kind you might see in your local mall, where producers cast them either as boy band members, singing heart throbs or “country music” singers. Throw a Stetson on their head, a pair of ripped jeans and boots and off to Nashville you go.

The old singers were men who lived life. Like many of us, they were military veterans. Johnny Cash served overseas during the Korean conflict, Kris Kristofferson was an Army Ranger and helicopter pilot. Others, like Merle Haggard, chose a much different path. Ending up in prison. Regardless, these men lived hard, interesting lives and, they wrote songs about it. The rips in their jeans came from falling down and getting back up again, not from a sweat shop in Indonesia.

Every once in a while, a contemporary artist enters the scene who is a throwback to the classic country era. Enter Toby Keith. A native of Oklahoma, Toby worked the in the oil fields, working his way up to supervisor. When the oil business lagged and he needed work, he became a semi-professional football player for the USFL’s Oklahoma Outlaws. All the while he played local joints, gaining a following with local crowds. He then moved to Nashville, playing the smaller venues until he was picked up by a record label and the rest, as they say, is history.

As the son of an army veteran, Keith became one of the first performers to go overseas and entertain troops during the Global War On Terror. He wrote his iconic, “Angry American” (AKA Courtesy of The Red White and Blue) especially for those serving overseas. He initially had no intention of recording but, after playing in front of a group of Marines, the Commandant of the Marine Corps recommended he put on wax, he did. Shortly thereafter, it topped the charts.

To those of us who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places during GWOT, the Angry American, was a rallying cry. It was a good reminder throughout the conflict that, regardless of the politics, we were a nation at war, avenging those defenseless Americans who died on 9-11. Like the National Anthem, it is a song the evokes strong emotions and puts a knot in your throat.

In all, Toby Keith performed in front of 250,000 US troops. When he wasn’t doing that he was churning classics like” Red Solo Cup” and “I love this bar” (two of my personal favorites).

We lost Toby Keith on February 5^th of this year from stomach cancer. He was married for 40 years.  Another artist taken from us too early.

So, here’s to the man and provided the theme song to my war. God Speed Toby Keith, you have our gratitude for moving a nation into action.

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Nick Perna is a Police Officer with the Redwood City Police Department in Northern California. He has spent much of his career as a gang and narcotics investigator. He is a member of a Multi-Jurisdictional SWAT Team since 2001 and is currently a Team Leader. He previously served as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army and is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has a Master’s Degree from the University Of San Francisco.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.