Film star and Musician, Jerry Reed, Re-dedicating His Life to Christ and to helping Veterans

Tim Ghianni/TN : Jun 12, 2007
The Tennessean

"I'm joined at the hip with these boys. God instructed me to help. Without their sacrifice, what they done for us and this country, we'd be nothing. I promised God that in this last chapter of my life, I'm going to work for these boys and girls."

(Tennessee)-Guitar virtuoso and film star Jerry Reed talked to reporter Tim Ghianni about the events that brought him back to Christ. "How far can you go? How far is far, son? When you're gone, you're gone. I went to hell in a hand basket. I should have been dead more than once. I left God, but He never left me," says Reed, battling pneumonia he contracted during a February visit to a veterans hospital in Biloxi, Miss. (Photo by: Billy Kingsley / The Tennessean)

Of his superstar life, Reed said: "I was king. I paid the salaries. I told people to jump; they jumped. I got what I wanted. I did what I wanted. I lived the way I wanted. Don't tell me God wasn't working in my life, because I did everything I could to screw it up and here I am, 70 years old."

According to the report in The Tennessean, Reed's spiritual rebirth came after open-heart surgery in which "I nearly died on the operating table" five years ago. "For 50 years, all I'd done was take, take, take. I decided from now on it is going to be giving. And I'm way behind. We're all way behind, son. We live this life like what's down here is what it's all about. We're temporary, son, like a wisp of smoke."

Reed is dedicated to veterans. "I'm joined at the hip with these boys. God instructed me to help. Without their sacrifice, what they done for us and this country, we'd be nothing. I promised God that in this last chapter of my life, I'm going to work for these boys and girls," he said. "I'm using the time I've got left to help. I know where I'm going and I know what I'm supposed to do while I'm still here."