Daren E. Jack

Meet Daren E. Jack froEagle, Idaho.

Have you ever heard a band and a song that so defined your place in time, that it would remain a part of you the rest of your life….a song that came along at such a precise time that it would forever anchor itself in your thoughts and feelings as fresh as the first time you heard it?

America's "I Need You" hit the radio during my first girlfriend, so naturally, it reminds me of picnics in Dog Valley (Reno), concerts, motorcycle trips, Dentyne gum…ah yes, youthful indiscretion. But, it also reminds me of many other feelings during those years…such as a lonely old couple who owned the tiny neighborhood store on Lander Street and how they'd lost their only child in the Vietnam War.

America's "I Need You" also transports me to a moment in time on a lonely mountain road at 2AM amongst aspen the scent of oil scorched Manzanita where my brother had died earlier in the day after rolling a huge skip loader in rough terrain upon himself and my dad. Each time I hear the song, I instantly remember gazing towards the neon lights of Reno and feeling an empty place needing to be filled with faith and purpose.

Determined that my brother's death would not be in vain, I began running every morning. I cast aside a reckless go-nowhere party life to become an Albertson store manager and entering college, carrying 21 credits a semester in order to graduate just prior to the age limit for military flight school.

Many years later, those dreams fulfilled, I am now watching my college kids chasing their own dreams. Of course, they are also musicians who play songs from America, Bread CCR, Beatles, Grateful Dead (and, of course, modern wild stuff old guys like me can't relate to) till the wee hours in what used to be my tool shed, now carpeted, painted in murals and full of instruments.

It seems, every America song holds a memory for me. Great bands and great songs find their way into a person's life and soul…forever. Thank you America.

Captain Daren E. Jack, ret. (darenjk@aol.com)

Feel free to send your comments or questions to Capt Jack.