Joshua Todd Byers

West Point, 1996

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Michael Sivulka on October 14, 2006:

I did not know Josh personally, but I admire his life through others? testimonies. The thing I respect the most about Josh is his faith and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that his example will cause others to place their faith in Christ too. May the Lord pour out his peace and comfort upon his family and to his wife Kim. ?Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted?. Matthew 5:4 Those of you who don?t know, Josh had two brothers (Milam and Jared) who were well known in the Christian music community; they played in a band called Bleach. I am including in this eulogy a copy of an article published by Christian Music Today which interviewed his brothers. Michael Sivulka Class '96 Reprinted from Christian Music Today (A publication of Christianity Today) 9/15/03 Title: In The Line of Fire by: Ben Forrest Hardly a day goes by that we don't hear of another U.S. soldier killed in Iraq?including one as recently as today. Since the war officially "ended" on May 1, 156 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq. One of them, U.S. Army Captain Joshua T. Byers, was the brother of Milam and Jared Byers, members of the Christian rock band Bleach. Captain Byers, 29, killed in action July 23, was Bleach's biggest fan. He is survived by his wife of five years, Kim, and his brothers Milam and Jared. We recently caught up with Milam, Bleach's guitarist, and Jared, its drummer, to talk about their brother, their grieving process, and their new album. Losing Josh must be very difficult for you both. How are you doing with it? Milam: It's the hardest thing I've ever had to deal with. The only way I'm getting through is just by God's grace, because none of it makes sense. I just wake up every day and say, "God, get me through today." That's really how my family and I are trying to live right now-fully dependent on God. Jared: It put my world upside down. I'm still in shock. The funeral and memorial services were good for closure, but there's always going to be a soft spot. Not a day goes by that I don't think about my brother. Do you know how Josh died? Milam: He was in the front Humvee of a convoy when a remote-controlled bomb blew up by the road. A large piece of shrapnel went straight through Josh's heart. It killed him instantly, which is a blessing to us, because he didn't suffer. People who were with him said he probably never even heard a sound. Josh was the only one killed in that attack. How did you find out about Josh's death? Milam: Jared and I were at a hotel in Atlanta to pick up our parents at the airport. They're missionaries in Guam, and they were en route from Tokyo. I got a call that morning from Josh's wife, Kim, who was obviously hysterical. I knew exactly what happened just after answering the phone. Since my parents were in the air, the Army couldn't track them down. So Jared and I had to live with that news for about four hours before we could tell our parents after they landed. That was one of the worst parts of this whole thing?telling my parents what happened. Jared: In the hotel, Milam was crying on the phone, just bawling. I was like, "What's up, what's up?" He said, "It's Josh." And that's all he needed to say. You guys have mentioned that Josh was your hero. What did you admire so much? Jared: He lived every day to the fullest. You never saw Josh without a smile on his face. He never met a stranger. He was just an incredible guy. I didn't know the "Captain Joshua Byers." I knew my big brother Josh. He had an amazing way of balancing work, military, and family. He was just a great, great man of God. Captain. Joshua T. Byers Milam: He had a joy that you don't see in a lot of people. The army told us that right before he was killed, he was laughing. Even in Iraq, he loved to make jokes. He was that way with everybody. Also, he fervently sought after God every day, and it was really apparent to his soldiers. We even heard that his chaplain in Iraq actually went to Josh for his counsel, because he respected Josh that much. We've also heard stories about how Josh had tip-toed through mine fields to save two kids, and in the process saved probably 150 of our American soldiers. He did things like that not because he was trying to be a hero, but because that's the way his heart really beat. We've been told probably a hundred times in the past few weeks that you only had to know Josh for about two minutes before you heard about how much he loved his wife, Kim, how much he loved and missed his family, and how much he loved Bleach. He was very proud of us. He never, ever missed an opportunity to tell Jared and I how proud he was of what Bleach was doing, and how much he loved our music. He was our biggest supporter. Do you remember the last time you spoke to Josh? Milam: Yeah, it was April 2, the night before he flew to Iraq. He called all of us as a family to say goodbye. That was a hard thing. When your brother goes to war, all you can think about is, "Will I ever talk to him again?" He also wrote us every week or two, so we have letters that will just forever be special. My parents got a letter he wrote the day before he was killed. It's just amazing, because in the letter he talks about how our security is not in our circumstances but in God and a great faith-words that mean so much now, you know? Obviously, Josh might still be alive today if not for the war in Iraq. Do you think his death was a necessary part of a necessary war? Milam: Yes, because he believed it. For me to think any different would mean that he died in vain. Before he left for Iraq, he said, "The reasons I'm going is not the things you hear on CNN. It's not about oil, it's not about policing the world, it's not about weapons of mass destruction. It's about freedom. It's about us wanting to afford these innocent people a freedom that we Americans enjoy, and it's about people like Saddam not being able to bully the world around and kill innocent people anymore." That's what it was about. It wasn't any of that political propaganda bull that we're flooded with. It was about him wanting to free those people and genuinely caring for those people. Jared: Josh was fighting to free those people and to free our country from terrorism. Josh believed in what he was doing, and I did too. I know why he was over there, and I know what he believed in. He felt it was a necessary cause, so I do too. I hate the war; nobody wants war. But I know that Josh believed he was there for a good cause. How has Josh's death affected your outlook on performing with the band? Jared: My outlook on life has totally changed. My brother and I were supposed to grow old together. But something like this happens and you realize how much you take for granted-like a wonderful family and friends, that I'm doing what I love to do and that we're called to do. So I'm definitely ready to hit the road again. I think Josh would want us to carry on. I'm going to definitely kick it a step higher, performance-wise. I'm going to try to do what Josh did, and live every day to the fullest. Like it's my last, you know? I hear your next album will be dedicated to Josh, and that you wrote a song about him before he died. Can you tell me about that song? Milam: It's called "Tired Heart," and I wrote it after I'd heard about some things that Josh had seen. Somebody had been killed right by his side, and it affected him greatly. We were actually in the studio at that time, making the record. I just stayed up all that night and wrote the song. And the thought was more or less, What can comfort Josh right now in such an awful time? Basically, the chorus is, "Peace be still, I am with you/Rest in me for one more night/Replace your tired heart with mine." Those guys can't rest over there, with the bullets flying all the time, so I just thought that kind of summed it up. It hit me a couple of days after Josh was killed, the magnitude of what those words meant to me now. And, you know, God really did "replace his tired heart." Truly, you know? Have you finished the new album? Milam: Yeah, it was finished in the first week of July. I'd just gotten all of the final mixes the day before Josh was killed. It was done, mixed, everything. After his death, I listened to the record a couple of days later I was amazed at how many songs spoke directly to me. It was like I had written them after Josh's death, and it couldn't have been said more perfect?even though those songs were written months and months ago. I mean, there are lines that, three months ago I wrote, and I couldn't tell you what I wrote them about. And so, without coming off cheesy or over-spiritualized, I just feel that this record has been ordained. We're just realizing it in the wake of something like Josh's death, but I just have to believe that God has plans for that. Even if it never hit the shelves, it's by far the best record we've ever made, and the most meaningful. God is just all over it. We're real excited for people to hear it. We've dedicated it to Josh. Jared, what can you tell me about the new album? Jared: Spiritually, we wanted to be relevant to non-believers and believers. All of our songs are mostly about life, and we mostly want to sing about hope. On this album, the music came fast, but the toughest thing was the lyrics. It's really hard to write songs when you're under deadline pressure. We had the studio booked and we only had music, no lyrics. All we could do was pray and ask God for inspiration. And it came. And when I listen to that record now, a few songs in particular just pinpoint what's going on right now. And it's amazing because in the studio, we didn't know what it was going to be about. Now I know what it's about. It's just directly from God. Before his death, Josh sent his brothers a picture of a mural of Saddam Hussein with the word "Bleach" taped over Saddam's face. Josh wrote, "Maybe you can use this picture somewhere on the record. Maybe I can have my fame and glory now, be a rock star and have my face on a record!" The new album, dedicated to Josh and due October 21, 2003 will indeed feature that photo. http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/interviews/2003/bleach-0903.html

admin