FORWARD OPERATING BASE AIRBORNE, Afghanistan — At least a couple of times a week, U.S. Army Capt. Alfonso Johnson opens his laptop at his base in Afghanistan and plays a rap video — a clip with his young son singing of his fears that his father will die in combat.
“I’m 11 years old, already grown up, ’cause my dad’s been gone so much,” Xavier chants into a microphone, his head bobbing to a hip hop beat. Then the boy gets more blunt: “I’m feeling real sad now, I can’t lie, ’cause there’s a chance that my dad might die.”
Rather than depressing him, Johnson says the song, called “Keep ’em Safe,” makes him feel closer to his son. That is partly because of the memory of working with Xavier to make the song and video in the U.S. But the lyrics also have a harsh honesty that lets 37-year-old Johnson feel the torrent of emotions his son, now 13, is experiencing back in Fort Drum, N.Y.
Today, on Memorial Day, military families confront the reality of soldier deaths. Johnson hopes the song helps children deal with fears.
“Kids watch the news . . . and they know that soldiers are dying in combat,” he said.
