Before he scored a Top 10 country music hit with 2008’s “In Color,” Jamey Johnson served his country. The Enterprise, Alabama-born artist, 50, fulfilled a lifelong dream when he joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1994. During his four-year tenure, Johnson began playing country music on the Montgomery, Alabama bar circuit, eventually opening for David Allan Coe. Recently, the “High Cost of Living” crooner shared an indescribable moment with a woman whose late son also dedicated his life to his country.
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This Mom Got Tired of Hearing Jamey Johnson’s Music
Brian McLaren, of Blanchester, Ohio, began training for enlistment in the U.S. Army his freshman year of high school. Joining in 2002, McClaren worked his way up to sergeant, studying Russian and Arabic. In March 2007, he became a member of the storied Green Beret program.
“Brian never wanted to do anything else but be in the military,” according to an entry on findagrave.com.
Sadly, McLaren would never fully realize that dream before he died in a pool-diving accident in the Big Sur River Gorge on June 18, 2007, in San Jose, California. He was 23 years old and set to marry his fiancée five months later.
In 2016, McLaren’s mother, Patricia Lynn Hair, snapped a picture of Jamey Johnson alongside Kris Kristofferson at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco. At the time, she didn’t know who Johnson was, but she later realized where she’d heard his music before. Her son would listen to Johnson’s music on repeat while working out in his room before joining the Army.
Learning that Johnson was coming to Ohio for a show, Hair decided to show him the picture. A video posted to the ACM Award-winning artist’s social media details their meeting.
Johnson Meets Gold Star Mother
Shaking Jamey Johnson’s hand, Patricia Hair admitted she wasn’t always particularly fond of his music.
“My son used to play your CD — I know; CDs, right? — when he would be working out in his room,” she told the singer-songwriter. “He was in ROTC, and I got so tired of hearing ‘In Color.’ I was like, ‘If you play that song one more time, I’m going to break that CD.’”
Hair teared up as she continued, “And now that song reminds me of him because it’s all I have left, is his pictures.”
Johnson then asked, “Have you heard ’21 Guns?’”
“I’ve never seen you in concert,” Hair replied.
The video then cuts to the crowd chanting, “USA!” as Johnson launches into his 2024 song “21 Guns.” Hair can be seen tearing up in the audience as the three-time Grammy nominee sings, And there ain’t words to say / How proud we all are of you, son / Nothing says job well done / Like twenty-one guns.
Featured image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
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