Lester Speaks

Here is a beautiful poem from Jamie Reid’s book on Lester Young.  Seventy years back,  Lester Young was in the Army.  He was entrapped by a zoot suited officer and forced to enlist else go to prison.  He was later arrested for having drugs.  These were the same drugs he told the draft board about months earlier, that he needed, to get through the late nights and constant travel.  This was the life of an itinerant jazz musician.  Lester  was court-martialed, given a dishonorable discharge, and made to forfeit all pay and allowances due or to become due.  He was confined to hard labor and sent to the detention barracks at Fort Gordon, Georgia.  This is how the government chose to use the genius of Lester Young.  I submit his Dishonorable discharge should be revoked.  Seven months after the war was over the Army realized there was no point in keeping Private 39729502 Young.  Norman Granz then sent Pres a  plane ticket back to LA. The long nightmare was over.