May 26, 2025 – 9:15 AM
Based on a true story.
“The only thing more important than knowing when to give up on your dreams is
knowing when not to!”
No one could ever begin to explain what it must feel like to be the biggest
pop star the world has ever known on the greatest tour in history. No one! But
someone could explain what it’s like to be on stage with him every night.
Jon Clark, like so many other musicians before him had a strong passion for
music and dreams of someday playing on the big stage. After the numerous
disappointments that so often come to all those except the fortunate few that
actually do succeed, Jon’s dreams went from making it big to simply making a
living. While touring odd jobs or anything to make ends meet, a phone call
delivered him from a life of carrying packages and he found himself performing on
the greatest concert tour of all time as one of the guitarist for Michael Jackson on
the Bad Tour.
This is the story of his experience. From small time to bigger than life, all
these experiences were new to him because he had never traveled, toured or
performed in front of an audience larger than 100 people until then. Through his
eyes we truly do receive a backstage pass to the greatest concert tour in history!
But all is not perfect in Paradise! Hired from the beginning as a fill-in
guitarist, the inescapable possibility that he could be removed from the tour at any
moment and replaced by Michael’s long time guitar player looms over him. Jon
often finds himself distracted from enjoying the music to listening for footsteps.
May 26, 2025 – 9:15 AM
The year was 1944, Jim Crow ruled the day. The United States was in the midst of WWII
and even the military was not exempt from Jim Crow’s influence as evidenced by its segregated
armed forces. To make the situation even more difficult it was army policy to have the Negro
troops serve under Southern commanders because the prevailing thought was “They know how
to handle Blacks”.
Such was the case with the 641 st Ordnance company a black battalion led by Captain
Herman C. Hinton, a white Mississippian. After the company filed several grievances against
what they believed was inappropriate behavior, Captain Hinton decided to take matters into his
own hands. On the morning of March 6 th 1944 in Martock, Somerset, England, he held an
assembly with the company to address complaints. He gave lead Staff Sergeant George Gayles a
direct question regarding the dissatisfaction with his policies and when the sergeant replied by
confirming the dissatisfaction due to the unfair treatment they felt they were experiencing the
captain commanded him to immediately remove his stripes. Recognizing the inappropriateness
of his action, Tech Sergeant Bernard James, a member of the 641 st , then respectfully requested
permission to speak and questioned the captain about the correctness of demoting the
sergeant for simply answering a direct question from his commanding officer. Captain Hinton
immediately ordered Sergeant James to remove his stripes as well. Stunned the company stood
silently as the captain ordered them to go back to work.
Several weeks later during a morning assembly Captain Hinton proceeded to call out
and line up 18 of his men before marching them into a nearby Nissen hut. To the men’s surprise
two platoons of military police with drawn semiautomatic weapons were waiting. The men had
been randomly selected and charged with mutiny by the captain, an offense at wartime that
can lead to execution. They were then loaded in trucks and placed in the guard house.
It was a month before their trial took place and a month after the proceedings before
the defendants were informed of the verdict. Bernard James was given a sentence of 18 years
of hard labor.
When news of the court martial hit Bernard James’s family stateside it had a traumatic
impact. The verdict had already been finalized months before they were even made aware and
the thought of obtaining legal counsel to challenge the United States Army during wartime was
overwhelming. Distraught, Bernard’s sister Genevieve recounted her brother’s story to her
employer Dr. Ernst Schwarz, a Jewish refuge from Germany that was the acting Director of the
Pan American Good Neighbor Forum, a Rockefeller Foundation funded organization. Outraged
by the Army’s conduct, Dr. Schwarz took action by recommending and helping to persuade
prominent Chicago Attorney Leon Despres to take the case. Obtaining the support from
Catholic Priest Father Theodore Hesburgh who later became the President of Notre Dame,
Genevieve was able to procure the aid of other attorneys to support Despres’ efforts. Working
together, this diverse group of individuals was not only willing to challenge the US Army but
also able to gain Bernard’s freedom as the Court Marshal was overturned.
Placed back in the military, Bernard served in Italy before leaving the army and
returning to the States to continue his education. At Roosevelt University he received a BS in
Mathematics, then a Masters at the University of Michigan before starting a doctorate at
Harvard which he voluntarily withdrew from due to the monetary needs of raising a family.
Moving himself and his family from Boston to Seattle, he was first employed by Boeing, then at
North American Aviation as a space scientist where he worked on the Apollo program and the
space shuttle. Later at JPL NASA, he worked on the Deep Space Network that supported the
Viking space ship that went to Mars.
In 2014 Bernard’s son Professor Anthony A James successfully changed the genes of a
mosquito colony so they can no longer become vectors for malaria, a disease that has plagued
mankind from at least the time of the pyramids, claiming over a million lives a year. Already a
member of the National Academy of Sciences, there has been talk of Professor James possibly
receiving the Noble Prize.
Lack of tolerance could have created a situation where Professor James would have
never been born. If Bernard James’ wrongful court martial had not been overturned, the
consequences for this one man would have negatively impacted millions in the future. This
triumph of diversity set the stage for this historical accomplishment.