Cash’s handwritten working lyrics to the unpublished song “Soldier,” one page, lightly-lined, 8.5 x 11, signed at the conclusion, “J. Cash.” Cash pens four lines, in full: “People, let’s pray that all our young men / Won’t have to be soldiers / And don’t have to kill or be killed like in Vietnam / Then peace will be worth all the tax they pay Uncle Sam.” Cash continues by penning the famous George L. Skypeck poem, ‘Soldier,’ in full: “I was that which others did not want to be / I went where others feared to go / and did what others failed to do / I asked nothing from those who gave nothing / and reluctantly accepted the thought of eternal loneliness—should I fail / I have seen the face of terror / felt the stinging cold of fear / and enjoyed the sweet taste of a moment's love / I have cried, pained, and hoped… / But most of all— / I have lived times others would say were best forgotten / Someday…I will be able to say that I was proud of what I was… / a soldier. George L. Skypeck.” Cash has made numerous corrections and emendations throughout. In very good to fine condition. One of America's great military-historical commemorative artists, George Skypeck was a Special Warfare and Senior Intelligence Advisor who attained numerous medals during his two combat tours of the Vietnam War. Not long after he was released from a Boston VA hospital in the early 1980s, Skypeck received a telephone call from Johnny Cash, who asked the veteran for permission to use his poem ‘Soldier’ in a song. After Cash sang a rendition over the phone, Skypeck agreed, but the singer’s ailing health issues ultimately kept him from ever recording a version. Pre-certified REAL.
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