Download PDF of this full issue: v56n1.pdf (33.7 MB)

Remembering Joe McDonald

By John Zutz

In the plane heading west over the Pacific, on my way to Vietnam, I was humming the "Fixin' to Die Rag." My Lai dominated the news at home, and the Rag's dark satire, combined with the carnival-like tune, fit what many call military humor.

As a Navy veteran, Country Joe respected all vets. He had a particular soft spot for Vietnam vets. He performed at many veterans' functions, including numerous fundraisers for VVAW. He sang in Milwaukee so many times that I can't really separate them. On a few of those occasions, he spent the night at my house.

After one of his Milwaukee appearances, my wife and I took him for dinner. Over Greek food, he mentioned that he had been working with Bill Graham, the music promoter, to organize the 30th anniversary of the "Summer of Love." He was looking for a way to get a version of the Moving Wall from Waukegan to San Francisco and back.

I looked at my wife. She didn't say no, so we determined that I could probably tow the wall in its trailer behind my Cherokee. Soon I was on the road. I provided the time and motion. Joe and Bill covered the expenses and made arrangements on the coast. Joe insisted I contact him each of the four nights to provide an update. At one time, "The Attic" of his web page contained his notes on my progress. Knowing how attics survive, it may still be there.

My wife flew out to spend a few days there. We naïve Midwesterners attended the 30th anniversary party, which is a story of its own. One evening, Joe and his wife, Kathy, took us to dinner, where we commented that both wives were nurses; one helped people into the world, the other ushered them out.

In recent years, Joe slowed down. I heard he suffered from Parkinson's and had stopped performing. The world has lost a good man. Vietnam vets have lost a supporter. The anti-war movement has lost a voice. His other interests have lost an activist. We've all lost a friend.

Country Joe - Presente. Whoopee, we're all gonna die.

John Zutz is a longtime Milwaukee VVAW member.

Country Joe performing at VVAW's Dewey Canyon IV in Washington, DC, May 1982.