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The Catholic Defender: Flash from the Past, talkin ,bout my friend William Harvey Jet


Every now and then, Facebook will bring back a post you placed on there some years before. The following takes place when I was Stationed at Fort Campbell Kentucky, the "dark and bloody ground" the Indians once called it. Men like Daniel Boone and others paved the Wilderness Road so that today countless drive on Interstate 24. I am proud to have served there for several years.

My children grew up there and most of them live nearby as Clarksville TN and Oak Grove Ky, both right on the Kentucky/Tennessee State Line became their stomping grounds growing up.

The following is a flash from the past:

I have received many blessings throughout my life, meeting many people from all over the world. That is one of the perks of 26 plus years in the United States Army. You get the chance to do a lot of traveling at the expense of the Government.

When I was stationed at Fort Campbell Kentucky, I had a lot of good opportunities to have family time as well as travel through deployments and field exercises. When I was home, I was always involved with my children as they were growing up. Sports was always a major part of our entertainment. Music was also another major part of our life as my children developed interest in playing music. They certainly had a lot of influences in the musical field as we would go to a lot of concerts when the opportunities were there, but none as much as friends of ours from Dixon Tennessee. Gilead was a group consisting of two Fathers and their sons and that was a great witness. I first met them at a "March for Jesus" event in Clarksville Tennessee. They played a concert at the end of the March and they were great. I would have them play at Fort Campbell for Soldiers and their families on several occasions. In a picture farther into the article, I am helping them with their equipment as they made me feel a part of the band! For a while we would go to their practices on Tuesday evenings and it was a lot of fun.

Another great influence that inspired a musical interest was William Harvey Jet. William was a one time lead Guitarist for Black Oak Arkansas in the later 1960's early 1970's. An upcoming young band known as Lynard Skynyrd would open up for Black Oak Arkansas in early 1971. I first met William Harvey Jet in the early 1980's in Harrison Arkansas when he played a concert there. That was a really great concert. William eventually left Black Oak Arkansas after he discovered the importance of following Jesus Christ. As an 18 year old, he was playing before hundreds of thousands of people making a million dollars plus a year. He had all the women he wanted and all the drugs as well. William would give all that up for a much higher noble cause. I found William Harvey Jet accidentally years later working selling cars right outside of Fort Campbell. I was able to arrange a concert for him on Fort Campbell at the Recreation Center and he had not lost a beat.

I was also able to arrange another concert for William in Clarksville, but there was one catch for this one, he needed some players to help him. Well, having one of the best Christian contemporary groups in the area for friends I was able to get William Harvey Jet and Gilead to practice together and perform a live show. These practices and performances were very influential on my Children as they would pick up playing music. This is one of the highest rewards I have been given to be able to see my Children really grow in talent, something that I never had. I can barely play a radio let alone a guitar or drums. But I am a good manager and so I was able to be deeply involved as a manager of our group, "Final Hour". This taught them how to write songs and arrange music which we had several really good songs of our own.

In the early 1980's I had participated in doing presentations on Secular Rock Music and so I was almost solely hooked into Christian Music. This was also a major influence and I am glad that good wholesome music played a major role for my Children. Our Faith is the most important gift we have been given and to see this in their musical expression is a joy. Why should the Devil have all the good music? A question that William Harvey Jet eventually would discover as he now plays Christian Music. The Catholic Church today has recently put forth a number of great musical outreaches through the inspiration of the Late Great Pope John Paul II and I am so glad. Donna Lee, John Michael Talbot, Eric Genius, and Matt Maher to name a few. The following is an example of one of the songs that William Harvey Jet and Gilead practiced and performed. This for me is a great demonstration of Art and I loved it, I hope that you will also:

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