Page 108 - Been There… Done That!

Gary Graham
Another show that stands out in my mind is one we did somewhere indoors. We had performed our last song and as we were getting ready to go back on for an encore, they started firing off the big guns which were right around that area. I felt the concussion of those weapons and bailed out right in front of the stage. When it was over, I asked the soldiers, “Don’t you ever fucking stop firing those guns?” which left all of them laughing about how much it had frightened me.
Before I went to Vietnam my thoughts on the war were that we should be there because I am the type of person who doesn’t agree with protesters. Whether the decision is right or wrong, once the decision is made, that is the way we go. I have always been that way. An incident had really sickened me in Berkeley, California. I had an Eldorado Cadillac and was going to stop at a place before heading over the Bay Bridge, but I took a wrong road. Before I knew it, I had people surrounding me, seemed like a hundred of them, all screaming that I was a “capitalist pig.” I thought for a moment, isn’t that what it is all about? Are we not supposed to succeed? I’m doing well and these vermin are trying to tell me I’m a capitalistic pig. Hey, I’m working for a living.
So I jumped out of my car and yelled, “Is this all about peace?”
They responded, “Yeah, yeah, man that’s what it is!”
I fired back, “Then get your ass out of my way because I’m leaving here!” They quickly backed off and I got the hell out of there.
106