At Only 12 Years Old, Johnny Cash Dug His Own Brother’s Grave

Johnny Cash, or J.R as he was known until joining the military, had a tough childhood. He was born in Kingsland, Arkansas but his family moved to Dyess in 1935 to take advantage of a new FDR-created program to provide down on their luck farmers with a chance for success during the Great Depression. Things were okay for the Cash family at first, but trouble was brewing not that far off and in February of 1937 the Ohio River flooded, causing immense damages and loss of life in the region. That flood later inspired the song "Five Feet & Counting" and you can read the entire story here of that event and the lead up to it. But a hard working farm life and recovery from a flood was far from the most impressionable tragedy that occurred in Johnny's early life. Since his youngest days, and like many young boys, his hero was his older brother. Despite being only 2 years older than him, Jack Cash seemed decades more mature. Johnny recalled about his brother later in life that: "He was very strong. He was muscle bound. He worked out, and was in great shape for 14 years old. Jack had been called to preach. Being called to preach in our religion means that you have dedicated yourself to be a minister. Every night, he was at the table with his library, reading the Bible. He was a great influence on me." Just 14 years old and already determined to preach the word of God? That's no average teenager. Bible study wasn't the only part of Jack's life though as each of the Cash's 5 children were expected to add some income to help pay the bills. In addition to helping on the farm and their "side hustle" of picking cotton, Jack got a job with the local school's agriculture shop splitting logs to make fence posts. One Saturday, Jack was scheduled to go to work but for some reason both Johnny and his mother didn't want him to go. Call it premonition or a sign from the universe, but Johnny did his best to convince him to ditch the job and go fishing, but Jack, ever the disciplined kid, had a job to do and went off to the shop for work. Johnny did go fishing, though he brought a second pole in case his brother decided to show up. Johnny recalled that it was a slow day on the water and he spent most of the time just laying on the bank before heading home, and it was during that walk home that he first learned something was wrong. His father pulled up on the road next to him in the preacher's car and told him to get in. On the way, his father told him that Jack had been terribly injured in a table saw accident and there was no hope for him. Details are admittedly hard to come by but we know that somehow Jack was pulled into the saw blade, which cut him nearly in half at the abdomen. There were some rumors that a neighbor went to work with him that day and then was never heard from again, with Johnny saying he believed it was a murder, but again that is unverified and unverifiable at this point. What makes this story worse is that Jack held on for 8 days, though no one had hope for any type of a recovery. He eventually passed away, but not before one more near miraculous moment that solidified Johnny's faith for the rest of his life, even through his own struggles with drugs and alcohol. Johnny said: "My dad came into the room I was in at 6:44 am, May 12th, 1944. And I heard him praying, and crying. He said, ‘Let’s go gather around the bed, he’s dying.’ We went in there. He’d come out of the coma, and he was so lucid. And he told every one of us goodbye. Then he closed his eyes and said, ‘Mama, can you hear the singing? Do you see the angels?’ She said, ‘No, I can’t.’ He said, ‘Oh, I do. How beautiful.’ And then he died." It goes without saying that this forever changed Johnny. Before the accident he was described as care-free and maybe a bit aloof but after he truly embodied the essence of the Man In Black with a serious, determined disposition. While we can't know this for certain, perhaps the exact moment this character shift occurred was just before Jack's funeral. According to his sister Joanne, Johnny, on his own, showed up early and took up a shovel and helped the workers dig the grave. During the service he was covered in dirt and shoeless, as he'd stepped on a nail and his foot had swelled up. Remember, he was just 12 years old but something inside told him he had a duty to his brother and wanted to be part of his last rites on Earth. That recognition and the hard working follow through exemplifies the switch in his life better than any words he could say throughout his life. Back in April, I wrote a piece about Johnny's first nickname before "The Man In Black" took hold. It was early in his career but he was already wearing the all black suits that are now instantly recognizable as his style and his contemporaries began referring to him as "The Undertaker". I'm sure it was well intentioned and they didn't know about the moment that changed the course of his life, and American history, but it's hard to look at that in the same light knowing that at just 12 years old Johnny literally dug his older brother's grave. No wonder he dedicated his life to those less fortunate and downtrodden because he had plenty of things to get over of his own. The courage to take that moment and turn it into the life he lived is more than impressive; it may just be one of humanity's greatest feats. Rest in peace to Johnny and Jack Cash. Let's all try to be a bit better in their memory. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDd32K-mOVw