Tool’s Maynard James Keenan Honors War Hero With Custom ‘Vicarious’ Rifle
Tool / A Perfect Circle / Puscifer frontman Maynard James Keenan is a noted gun enthusiast, but he’s got one gun in particular that holds a special meaning to him. In the newest issue of Ballistic magazine, Keenan shows off a memorial rifle for an American war hero inscribed with lyrics from Tool’s “Vicarious.”
Sergeant Robert J. Miller was a massive Tool fan who constantly jammed 10,000 Days in the barracks while serving in Afghanistan. Miller was just 24 when his team was ambushed by 150 Taliban fighters. Sergeant Miller engaged the enemies to allow his fellow soldiers to find safety, killing 10 before he was struck down and killed himself. For his bravery, Miller was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
A friend and fellow soldier of Miller’s, Nick McGarry, was able to meet Maynard Keenan at Gunsite Academy in Pauline, Ariz and gift the singer with the commemorative rifle. Keenan insisted on having Miller’s name and information inscribed on the rifle, which he did. “It seemed strange having a monogrammed rifle for me to commemorate Miller’s sacrifice,” Keenan tells Ballistic. “I just wrote some poems. It made more sense for it to have his information so every time we used it we would think of him, not me.”
Along with the memorial for Miller, “MJK” and “Vicarious” are printed on opposite sides of the rifle. Below the ejection port, the lyrics, “The universe is hostile. So interpersonal. Devour to survive. So it is. So it’s always been,” are also printed. [via Alternative Nation]
Tool have announced two festival performances, Governors Ball and Boston Calling, for 2017 so far.
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