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In 2005, Army Sgt. First
Class John Freeman III's platoon was drawn into a firefight with
local insurgents in Iraq's Al-Anbar province, killing twenty-three
Iraqis and suffering one casualty. Afterward, Freeman was
approached by the platoon's chaplain, who encouraged him to attend
church services. "I explained to him that it's kind of hard for me
to go to church," says Freeman, 37. "It's hard to forgive myself
when, tomorrow, I'm going to go out and do the exact same thing."
Instead, Freeman sat down and wrote a song, "Don't Try and Save
Me": "It's going to take more than time to wash away the pain," he
sings over reverb-heavy electric guitars. "The bloodstains on my
soul could never, ever come clean."
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"Don't Try and Save Me" — recorded by Freeman
under the name Merq — is one of fourteen songs on To the
Fallen Records Presents: Rock Vol. 1, a compilation of music
made by soldiers, many on active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's
one of three collections — the others focus on hip-hop and
country — that have been released over the last year by To
the Fallen, a label created to release music by former and current
military members. "It's important for the American public to hear
what the guys on the ground are going through," says Army Capt.
Sean Gilfillan, 29, who launched the label after serving in Iraq in
2003 and 2004. "These guys have something much more important to
say than most people in the music industry."
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The messages range from patriotic anthems to
Bush-bashing tirades. In "Sleeping Giant," metal band 10 Fold
— fronted by Army Spc. Eric Conley, a Humvee gunner who
patrolled the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad — lashes out at the
terrorists who invoked American wrath: "Your God can't save you. .
. . You'll be gone soon." Backed by the sounds of gunfire, Dirty
Boi Vets — Marine Sgts. Tendaji Akil-Milele and Sugarray
Henry — question their mission on "Combat Zone": "CO telling
us we won't be that long/I still think we killing them for no
reason."
On "Reality Check," rapper Malakai, a.k.a. Army Sgt. Eddie Ward, who has had two rotations training Iraqi military officers, accuses President Bush of using America's poor to fight a pointless war. "It lets the world see that soldiers are people and we're not just robots," says Ward. "All we need is an opportunity to be heard."
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Marine Maj. Mike Corrado, 38, who oversaw security
at the military base in Fallujah, is one of the few established
musicians on To the Fallen. A singer-songwriter who has played
shows with John Mayer and Derek Trucks, he says music helps him
share his experiences. "I got a call from the parents of a Marine
who was killed," he says. "They thanked me for helping them
understand why he wanted to be in the Marines."
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While music has always been a crucial part of
soldiers' lives, in Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers can create music
while they're at war. Most of the troops have laptops, and some
have microphones and production software. "The song has to be good
first — some of it is really terrible," Gilfillan says.
"These guys are producing in Iraq, not hundred-thousand-dollar
studios. We try to listen to the quality of the content."
Grammy-nominated engineer John Mailloux works with the tracks,
trying to make the most of them and, if possible, bringing in the
artists to record overdubs.
The label's comps are on iTunes and at tothefallenrecords.com, with a portion of proceeds going toward veterans groups. Gilfillan hopes to begin releasing full albums by summer. "We want to feature someone on active duty," says the veteran, whose back is covered with a tattoo that reads "To the Fallen." "But we have to go through military channels, and they're still a little busy right now."
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Check out six songs from To the Fallen Records Presents: Rock Vol. 1 below, and visit tothefallenrecords.com to purchase the album.
10 Fold: "Sleeping Giant"
Dirty Boi Vets: "Combat Zone"
Malakai: "Reality Check"
MC Mafia: "Ganar"
Merq: "Don't Try and Save Me"
Mike Corrado: "Start Saving Me"