Young falks probably don't know, but in the '60s in Japan, they aired an American TV series called "Combat!". It was a drama about war, the WWII, and I think the setting was the European front. An actor called Vic Morrow starred as Sgt. Saunders in the program. He was a good actor, appeared in a lot of films and TV shows, but died tragically in 1982 in an accident while filming a scene for "Twilight Zone".

To a small child in the Far East, Sgt. Saunders represented the "justice" of America; and as the kid saw it, he was constantly fighting in the TV screen. His enemies were not only the Germans, they were also hiding on his side - indifference, dishonesty, inhumanity. It's war, so his face was always dirty with sweat and dust, from the bottom of which two big eyes were glowing as manifestation of his strong will.

Somewhere down the line, the images of Wayne Kramer and Saunders came to overlap. (Just recently, I found a "character biography" of Sgt. Saunders in one of the Combat! fan sites, which revealed that Saunders was from the "Midwest".) To me Wayne Kramer is an ever fighting soldier, who fought against the authorities and oppressors, tried to hold the band, battled with heroin, resisting alcohol, and he's now involved in the activity to help musicians out of drug/alcohol problems. He also co-founded Jail Guitar Doors with Billy Bragg to support prisoners through music.

In February 2001 I had my first chance to speak with him briefly in Los Angeles. A minimum conversation, but his personality was transmitted enough. Having gone through the wild days and difficulties, the middle-aged guitarist was calm and modest. It was at this moment that I decided to make an action to help his music reach as many Japanese people as possible.

June 1975; a bunch of policemen and DEA agents stormed into his room, a nine-millimeter was lifted and pointed firmly at his head, when he shouted "DON'T SHOOT!"

Follow the path Wayne Kramer treaded, from a prisoner Wayne to a citizen Wayne.