This week I’d like to discuss something that is very near and dear to my heart – our United States soldiers. No matter what your stance is on the current state of the conflict in Iraq or elsewhere in the world, the individuals that fight to maintain and uphold our rights and liberties are some of the bravest, most courageous people you will ever meet.

The new HBO series John Adams has, to a degree, helped remind me of how and why our country was founded in the first place. Last month we reached, for a lack of a better term, a milestone of 4,000 casualties in the war in Iraq. All of these individuals have their own stories and they all need to be told. The one I want to bring your attention this week is the story of Marine Cpl. Matthew D. Conley.

Matthew Conley died at the age of 21 in Iraq. He was a father, a husband, a son and a soldier. He also went to high school in Greenhill, Alabama with Jason Isbell. Jason Isbell is one of my favorite songwriters today. He was once a member of Drive-By Truckers, but now has his own band. After Conley died, Isbell wrote a song that was a tribute to this fallen hero. The song, aptly titled Dress Blues, uses vivid imagery to tell the story of Matthew’s funeral.

Read on for the conclusion of this week’s Land of Confusion…

My family has had several members serve in the military, in fact I participated in ROTC in high school with the intention to attend the Air Force Academy. The military environment provided me with a lot of structure that plays an important role in my life, even today. Unfortunately, I was too short to get accepted and later that year I also discovered Phish and my lifestyle changed completely. However, I have never lost sight of the respect and honor that our service men and women deserve. This song brings me back to a distinct moment in my life - the first time I ever saw my step-father cry. We had made a trip to Washington D.C., and this was to be his first visit to the Wall. He had served in the Air Force and fought in Vietnam. The emotion I saw in his face is something I will never forget. I can’t even fathom what it would be like to fight in a war, not then and not now.

The stories and memories of those who fought will live on, like the shadowbox of military decorations in the living room, the Civil War battlefield 5 miles from my apartment or the songs written as tributes to those whom we have lost along the way. They remain, and the stories must live on and be heard, like that of Matthew Conley. We need to be reminded every once in a while, why we as a country began fighting in the first place – Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

For your listening enjoyment, I have uploaded a recent Jason Isbell show so you can hear Dress Blues and many of his other great songs:

Finally, I wanted to address something that happened when I saw Umphrey’s in Athens last week. Between the second set and encore the guys played a portion of Martin Luther King Jr.’s infamous “I Have a Dream” speech. It was a tribute to the preacher from Georgia who passed away 40 years to the day of their show. Was it a response to my last column? Doubtful. However, that 30 second clip of his speech served as a reminder as to why I volunteer my time with HeadCount in the first place. So thank you Umphrey’s, not only for a great run of shows but to borrow Bayliss’ line it ‘reminded me of why [I'm] here.’