Soldier’s wife: Original song gives military wives a voice

To hear the song, click here.

Jamie Clark sat at her kitchen bar in Newton four months ago with a pen in her hand and a blank notepad in front of her.

She knew her husband of 17 years was about to be deployed to Iraq. She knew she would be experiencing a different role as father and mother. She would soon have to learn to patch a fence on her own and watch her 8-year-old son play football from a new perspective.

She knew she would have to explain to her son what his father’s deployment meant. She knew she would have to look him in the eye many times during her husband’s deployment and tell him that dad would be coming home soon, knowing all the time that there are no guarantees in war.

She knew mothers all over the country have to tell their sons the same thing.

So she sat down and wrote. Thirty minutes later, she had the lyrics to a song she believes speaks for military wives everywhere.

The days drag by and sometimes we cry
We don’t understand the fight, but we know why
We are warriors of a very different kind
Proud to be “The Soldiers Left Behind”

Clark said her song sums up a myriad of emotions wives feel when their husbands are at war — pride, fear, loneliness, confusion, sadness.

Overall, she said she hopes “The Soldiers Left Behind” gives a voice to the wives who must take on the role of both parents while their husband is deployed.

“We are, by nature, in the background, and we are fine with that,” Clark said. “And I know, as a country, we remember our soldiers.
“But I guess I wrote this song to say ‘Don’t forget us,’ ” she said.

CW3 Donald Clark is currently in Iraq flying helicopters. He was in the Navy when he met and married Jamie in Memphis in 1991, but always talked about flying. He made the switch to the Army a few years later. He hopes to retire from the Army soon and become an instructor pilot at Fort Rucker.

The words to the song Jamie wrote were put to music with the help of her sister, Jennifer, who lives in Miami.

Jamie, an Ohio native, said she grew up singing in church. She has sung in bands throughout the years and currently performs with her best friend, Tara Hoomes, in an acoustic band known as “Without a Net.” The band will perform Jamie’s song Saturday evening at Boondocks near Daleville.