Interview with Clifton Hicks – an Iraq veteran, a banjo player and a friend.

 

Today marks the 5-year anniversary of the War in Iraq (originally Operation Iraqi Freedom). The justifications have changed, but the age-old questions of reason, power, money and humanity remain.

Clifton served in Iraq and departed the Army as a Conscientious Objector. He is now the Gainesville Chapter President for Iraq Veteran’s Against the War (IVAW). Playing the banjo is a passion and a hobby.

 

What years were you in the Army?

May 14, 2003 - December, 26 2005

 

What time of that was spent in Iraq?

October 2003 - July 2004

  

Your specific duty?

Officially I was a tank driver but mostly I was used as a gunner on an armored humvee. I was in charge of the .50 caliber heavy machine gun. Later on we didn't have the humvees anymore so I was turned into an infantryman and spent most of my time either on foot or as a dismount in an armored personnel carrier.

 

You brought your banjo?

I ordered a cheap one and had it mailed to me in May 2004 once I realized I was going to be in Iraq much longer than I'd originally thought.

 

How often would you play?

Around this time I was transferred to HQ platoon after my weapons were confiscated (due to some threats I'd made) and later I refused to take them back and continue going on missions and patrols. At this time I worked a radio shift from 4:00 p.m. to midnight everyday. Usually late at night, when most guys were either sleeping or outside the wire on patrols I would sneak back to my barracks and get the banjo and sit inside the TOC and play. TOC stands for Tactical Operations Center; ours was a mobile command post type thing with antennae on top and a bunch of maps and radios inside on the walls. My job was to sit in there from 4 p.m. to midnight and update the log every time somebody called in a new checkpoint or we made contact with the enemy. I was the runner for a Corporal who would send me to go run messages to people. For instance if somebody was attacked near such and such checkpoint I'd have to sprint down to whichever platoon was on standby that day and tell them to mount up and run out there.

 

Did the banjo provide any sort of outlet for you or help you cope?

Sure it did, when you're playing that's all you're thinking about. Everything else disappears. The Army disappears. The war disappears. Nothing but your fingers, ears, and voice.

 

Did you create any new songs over there?

No I didn't, it wasn't a creative time for me. Spiritually I was rotten and decaying rapidly everyday. It was not a time for creativity. Creation would have taken too much effort and I was already stretched to the limit.

 

Was it difficult to travel with it?

Never traveled with it actually, when it came time to go home I think I just hid it in one of the headquarters vehicles that was being shipped home by boat.

 

Did you ever play for any Iraqis?

No, I didn't ever have the opportunity. My only intimate human moment with any of them was when I got stuck in a guard tower with an Iraqi soldier all day. At that time they were called the ICDC (Iraqi Civil Defense Corps). It was lunchtime and we were both hungry I'm sure. I'd brought an MRE with me and had eaten it first thing that morning so my prospects were slim. As time went on, eventually three or four of the Iraqi's pals came climbing up the latter laughing and joking as if there wasn't a war going on or something. They shook hands with me, removed their helmets, took off their flak jackets, and sat down on the floor of the tower. They then pulled out all these paper bags full of food and laid everything out. Through their broken English I learned that one of their mothers had put together the meal, which consisted of some kind of flat bread which always smelled like cinnamon when they were baking it (a beautiful smell among all the burning garbage and overflowing sewage), tomatoes and some other vegetables, and what I presumed to be lamb. Of course they insisted that I eat with them and tried to pull me down to sit with them. I protested, trying to explain that at least ONE of us had to keep watch so we all didn't get killed, but I still managed to squat down real quick and make myself one of their burrito thing. It was good as fuck too.

 

Did you know you could sing or was it a surprise? Learned?

I still don't know that I can sing. I know I like to, and I'm told I have a good voice. Anyone can sing. One of the greatest tragedies of the modern world as that people no longer sing. The only thing special about me is that I refuse to be sterile and silent like many others. I have learned the value of song.

 

When did you learn to play the banjo? Tell me the story behind that.

Basically I saw a guy named Ernie Williams play somewhere. He played the old traditional style, not 'bluegrass' and I'd never heard anything like it. He also sang like nothing I'd ever heard. I decided that I wanted to figure out how to do that myself so I asked him to teach me, and he did. Later on I met another old man who played a very unique traditional style, unique to Eastern Kentucky where he'd been raised in the 30's and 40's. I caught a hold of his style and have been running ever since.

 

You had always know you would join the Army? You have enlightened me about many aspects of war. One that sticks out is you talking about being stationed in Germany and the feeling of being hated by the Germans just because you had the uniform on. Tell me more about all that.

Basically I grew up thinking that the only way I could ever be a real man was to serve time in the military. I did come from a military family, but not a militaristic one. No one ever encouraged me to enlist; in fact they did quite the opposite. I also wanted to take off on my own, see the world, experience real life, and ultimately to see what I was really made of.

As for the Germans, they hate us for plenty of good reasons, much like everyone else. We were a conquering Army full of drunken soldiers who'd been brawling in their streets and knocking up their daughters for sixty years. They hated me before I even got there. I've even had my nose broken in one of these ridiculous bar brawls.

 

Do you play any of your songs at the rallies, for IVAW or places where you are speaking?

Not yet. I would like the song "German War" to be heard by people. It is definitely anti-war, written by a veteran, and definitely effective. If it can help then I am interested.

 

Have you done any shows with just you and the banjo?

Nope, no shows. I don't really like performing, at least not yet. I always feel really pretentious like,  "What's so special about me that everyone should be sitting quietly and watching me on an elevated stage?" I don't really like it, I prefer sitting around someone's house and playing for groups of acquaintances, the way it has traditionally been played for thousands of years.

 

Do you write any of the songs or are they all "covers" so to speak?

By and large they are all traditional songs. The majority of my repertoire was composed prior to 1900, and much of that prior to 1865. I do have a few that I've composed myself but nothing to write home about.

 

Anything pertinent you feel to mention that I may have missed?

It is every veteran and active duty soldier's duty to openly resist this and other unconstitutional war.

 

 

 

You can download his songs from his myspace profile:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=58422215

 

 

 

 

 

You can watch more videos here: http://www.veoh.com/channels/clifton