Courtesy Photo | A band, consisting of a civilian and several soldiers, play during the Marathon Jam at...... read more read more
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Story by: Sgt. Sean Harriman
CAMP MARMAL, Afghanistan – Service members and civilians with the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, played an eight hour Marathon Jam at Camp Marmal, Afghanistan, Feb. 26, in order to raise awareness and donations for the Fisher House Foundation.
Staff Sgt. Julio Martinez, a career counselor with 4th CAB, 4th ID, played the full eight hours on his acoustic guitar.
“At the end, everybody’s fingers got numb and they hurt,” Martinez said.
Along with Martinez’s guitar, there were four more acoustic guitars, a ukulele and a fiddle. A more rag-tag string band could not be found.
There were three jams playing simultaneously in Afghanistan: in Kabul, Bagram and Camp Marmal. They each lasted eight full hours and helped raise hundreds of dollars for the Fisher House Foundation.
Marathon Jams began in Raleigh, N.C., as a gathering of musicians who wanted to help raise money and awareness for charitable organizations.
The Fisher House Foundation donates “comfort homes” that are built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers, allowing wounded and recuperating service members to be near family and loved ones in their time of need.
Joy Schmidt, the main event organizer at Camp Marmal in Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, has participated in the jam for three years and organized the event for two.
“All of the Afghanistan jams were simply deployed musicians who were able to take the time to get together to play for 8 hours straight in order to raise awareness for the work Fisher House does,” Schmidt said. “This is just a drop in the bucket.”
The Marathon Jam may have been just a drop in the bucket, but for the deployed service members who were able to attend, it made a big splash.
| Date Taken: | 02.26.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 03.02.2011 03:17 |
| Story ID: | 66317 |
| Location: | CAMP MARMAL, AF |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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