LaVena Johnson
Lyrics:
The bright little girl lights up the room, as soon as she comes in to view.
Sweet young dreamer, future shines around you.
A young patriot eager to do what's right...
loves her mama, and like her papa puts on a uniform to join the fight.
Why Why
LaVena -- we will miss you Baby girl -- in our hearts forever
The strong young soldier her eyes on the prize, to her brothers in arms like a sister.
Deployed to a land of the burning sand, together they help each other.
But she catches the eye of someone else, a man with no honor...
a wolf in the fold was lusting after her.
Why Why Why Why
LaVena -- we will miss you Baby girl -- in our hearts forever
With a waxing moon in the foreign night a girl has no chance to escape.
She couldn't have known what she would endure the monsters in ambush await.
The brutalization had taken it's toll, baby girl would never awake.
In a burning tent her broken body lie... My God what a fatal mistake.
Among her brothers in arms, who noticed her charms,
Is there someone from the barracks where they got along?
Where they got it on? It's just rape - that ain't strong, it's just wrong.
Leavenworth is where they belong.
Just gimme one, who knows it's a lie, take the stand and testify,
big man, now with no alibi. Did they all devise this horrible crime?
Now forever their reward to hear her cries.
Will there be one to speak out for a sister when she dies?
Or will they all hang their heads, hide their eyes,
go back home and beat their wives, no pride?
Listen to a mother’s tears, this will haunt you for years,
best respond to the guilty nightmares.
Bring down the tower of cards, time to protect your sister in arms.
Why Why Why Why
For a soldier's family, it's only a knock on the door
that keeps a future of hope from a helluva dark road.
A mother and father, and sister and brother
will look for the answers alone.
How could our girl with the beautiful smile
be stolen from our lives and our home.
The questions are all that remain of the night LaVena was killed
with her dreams and her honor and her hope and her will.
Why Why
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In Memory of LaVena Johnson
“Why LaVena”
Natural Hi Fi
©2008 Paul Gunby
Right Click to Download Song: WhyLavena.mp3
About LaVena...
In July, 2005, PFC LaVena Johnson was found dead in a US Army base in Balad, Iraq. LaVena was 19. Her family was told by the Army that LaVena, a bright and happy honor roll student, had "died of self-inflicted, noncombat injuries." The Army subsequently labeled LaVena's death a suicide.
But the Johnsons knew better. Due to their diligence, and the Freedom of Information Act, the family was recently able to obtain photos of LaVena's body showing that she was brutally assaulted, raped, and murdered. The Army had originally told the Johnson family that LaVena's body was found in her barracks. However, further inquiry revealed that her body was found in a tent belonging to the private military contractor, KBR, Inc. Her body had been mutilated and set on fire to destroy the physical evidence.
LaVena's family, driven by her father, Dr. John Johnson, a medical doctor and military veteran, is demanding a full congressional investigation into LaVena's death. So far, the Army has refused to reopen the case. The guilty need to be prosecuted! Do they include those up the chain of command who are covering up this crime?
Demand justice! Spread the word, and demand to know “WHY?”
There are petitions pressuring the Army to act, and calls to interrupt Army recruiting efforts with the truth about LaVena. See the latest at the LaVena Johnson website: http://www.lavenajohnson.com
About This Song...
Like LaVena, Saint Paul is a native of the St. Louis area. His father, Jack Gunby, was a WWII veteran who is also buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, the same cemetery where LaVena’s body now rests. Paul first heard the tragic story of LaVena’s murder on the “Democracy Now” podcast of July 23, 2008, and was immediately inspired to write this song. He composed and produced the music with his band, Natural Hi Fi, in order to help the Johnson family in their quest for justice... and to help raise awareness of the serious issues faced by women in uniform.
For more information on Saint Paul visit:
For more information on Natural Hi Fi visit:
http://www.myspace.com/naturalhifi
Also...
Activist and retired Army Colonel Ann Wright has been indispensable to the effort to prompt a renewed investigation of the death in Iraq of Pfc. LaVena Johnson. She has also fought to make known the wider issue of murder and sexual assault of women in the armed forces.
Read Col. Ann Wright's assessment of LaVena's death and other abuse of women in the Army:
"Is There an Army Cover-up of Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers?"
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/04/28/8564/
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