A Marine’s Tribute to a Fallen Friend

U.S. Marines veteran John Preston remembers a line his father always told him: “Do what you want, and make sure you do it right.”

So when he realized that music was his “God-given gift,” he had to share it.

“I don’t want to raise awareness. I want to save people’s lives.”

Preston ran more than 100 combat missions while serving in Iraq. Now he is sharing his single, “Day to Night,” which honors fellow Marine, Sgt. Charles Strong, who was killed in action last year in Afghanistan on his last day in the country. He was 28. Strong’s wife, Taylor, was eight months pregnant at the time.

Through Memorial Day, the song can be downloaded for free on most online music stores.

Preston says he’s doing it because the realities of war seem to have been forgotten these days. “People don’t necessarily know we’re still in combat. They don’t know we’re in Iraq, fighting ISIS. Because of the way [the] media is covering everything else, the American people are oblivious to it. People who are trying to stop a legitimate evil are getting pushed aside and forgotten.”

In the video he made for the “Day to Night,” the real-life Taylor Strong plays herself. When the song isn’t being given away for free, Preston, who has been a singer/songwriter for more than a decade, says 30 percent of the proceeds go to Taylor Strong and her daughter, Sophie.

When Preston, 34, shot the video last year, it was a “rough time” in his life. His father was dying, but he took a break because filming had been set up on the Blue Clouds Movie Ranch, where they shot “American Sniper.” His emotions were running high, which helped for the video. His new album, coming out in the fall, covers that rough time and more.

In January, Preston’s older brother, Michael, committed suicide. He was 42. The album delves into what is now Preston’s most passionate issue: “The idea is life is not better without you.” He is planning an entire campaign aimed at reaching veterans when the album comes out.

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“I don’t want to raise awareness. I want to save people’s lives,” says Preston, who says that some of the songs are written from his brother’s perspective and some are from his own point of view. But what’s most important is for anyone who is contemplating suicide is to realize the devastating effects it has on the family left behind.

“I’m watching this complete wreckage from my family right now. Losing my brother, it blew my heart out of my chest. It’s hard to talk about it now.” Preston says he thought had an understanding about his own post-traumatic stress disorder, but his brother’s death completely destroyed all that. “I  had no idea how to navigate.”

He adds, “I had a survivor’s guilt kind of mindset,” after his four years of service. He didn’t want to say that he had problems — because he didn’t feel his problems were big enough. “I didn’t die, I didn’t get my leg blown off … I never went and got diagnosed. But 12 years after the war, I’ve got triggers.”

Preston, who is married and has a seven-year-old son, hopes to get through to veterans about PTSD, too, but suicide prevention has become his primary focus. “I may never know that I saved somebody, but those families will have that person from the rest of their life.”

Music is his salvation. He plans to push his message out through his songs. “I want to be more famous — and there’s a reason. If I’m accepting a Grammy, I’m in front of several million people to spread this message.”

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He’ll spend his Memorial Day in San Diego working to promote his music before heading to Camp Pendleton to visit Strong’s memorial. “Every veteran — it bothers us when they say Happy Memorial Day. It’s not our day. It’s a day to memorialize the people that we lost.”

But he has advice for anyone who is trying to get into the music industry — and for anyone who is pursuing a passion in life.

“Don’t stop. And don’t get discouraged. Do your work.” He has been through periods during his 14 years in the music industry where he spent days doing nothing but sending out emails — 100 a day. And sometimes he’d only get one response back.

“Everybody has a dream,” he says. “Every night I sat down I thought, ‘I could have’ done this. I ‘could have’ been huge. I took the ‘could have’ and said ‘I’m going to.’ That’s it. Never let your foot off the pedal. I haven’t taken my foot off the pedal for the last two years. All the tragedy has only fueled me.”