>> FOR SO MANY VETERANS, THE TRAUMA OF WHAT THEY SAW AND
ENCOUNTERED IN COMBAT IS SOMETHING THAT NEVER LEAVES
THEM.
VETERAN STEVE JONES EXPERIENCED POST TRAUMATIC
STRESS DISORDER A FEW YEARS AFTER COMING HOME FROM SERVING
IN IRAQ AND FOUND THAT ART HELPED HIM DEAL WITH HIS PAIN.
JONES SAT DOWN WITH CAROLEE MCGRATH AND SPOKE ABOUT HIS
WESTFIELD NON-PROFIT, WARRIOR'S ART ROOM, AND HOW IT'S HELPING
VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES HEAL.
>> WE'RE BASED OUT OF WESTFIELD AND WHAT WE ARE IS -- WE PROVIDE
VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES WITH STUDIO SPACE, ALL THE SUPPLIES
AND ANY INSTRUCTION THAT THEY NEED TO MAKE PRETTY MUCH ANY
TYPE OF ART THEY WANT TO MAKE AND WE DO THAT BECAUSE WE
FEEL -- WE THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT WE GIVE THE
VETERANS WHO ARE -- MANY WHO ARE STRUGGLING WITH PTSD AND COMBAT
STRESS AND BATTLE FATIGUE AND JUST TO GIVE THEM AN OPPORTUNITY
TO DO SOMETHING WITH THEIR LIVES OTHER THAN TURNING TO DRUGS AND
ALCOHOL IN STRESSFUL SITUATIONS.
>> TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.
YOU'RE A MARINE AND SERVED IN IRAQ.
I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.
WHEN YOU CAME HOME, WHAT THINGS WERE YOU DEALING WITH AND HOW
DID ART HELP YOU?
>> SO WHEN I CAME HOME FROM IRAQ IN 2005, I SERVED 4 MORE YEARS
IN THE MARINES.
I THOUGHT EVERYTHING WAS FINE, HONESTLY.
WHEN 2012 HIT, I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AT THAT POINT BUT I WAS
EXPERIENCING LONELINESS, SADNESS, DEPRESSION AND BOUTS OF
JUST LIKE HELPLESSNESS.
I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND IT, AND IT TURNED OUT THAT MANY OF MY
FRIENDS WERE EXPERIENCING THE SAME THING AT THE SAME TIME AND
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CONNECTION WAS BUT WHEN SOME OF THEM
STARTED COMMITTING SUICIDE, I DECIDED I WAS GOING TO GO BACK
TO SCHOOL AND TRY TO HELP MYSELF BUT ALSO TO HELP MY FELLOW
SERVICE MEMBERS WHO SERVED.
SO I WENT BACK TO HCC FOR PSYCHOLOGY AND IN THAT I HAD TO
TAKE HUMANITIES 'CAUSE IT'S A HUMANITIES-RICH STUDY AND I TOOK
ART.
I HAD NO PRIOR ART EXPERIENCE BEFORE THAT AND WHAT I FOUND WAS
THAT THROUGH THE METHODS THAT I WAS TAUGHT TO CREATE, IT PRETTY
MUCH ERASED ALL THOSE FEELINGS THAT I HAD, SO MY SHIFT HAS NOW
CHANGED FROM BEING A CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST TO BEING MORE OF AN
ART THERAPIST AND BEING A THERAPEUTIC ART PSYCHOLOGIST.
>> IT HELPED WITH YOUR ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION WHEN YOU GOT
CREATIVE.
>> THIS PAINTING IN PARTICULAR WHEN I CREATED IT, IT ERASED ALL
THE.
I WAS TAUGHT TO PAINT MY FEELINGS AND MY EMOTIONS.
WHAT I DID SINGLE DIGIT LET THE
COLORS GO WHERE THEY WANTED TO.
I ADDED WATER AND LET THEM GO AND I INTERPRETED WHAT I SAW AND
WHAT I SAW IN THAT PAINTING WAS ACTUALLY MYSELF AND THE FIRST
CASUALTY EVACUATION THAT I HAD RECEIVED IN IRAQ.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THIS GENTLEMAN THAT IS IN THIS
PICTURE IS ALIVE OR DEAD BUT NOW HE'S GOING TO LIVE FOREVER AT
LEAST IN THIS PAINTING.
>> WHAT HAVE YOU HEARD, I SHOULD SAY FROM OTHER VETERANS WHO HAVE
COME IN THAT YOU WORKED WITH.
>> PEOPLE COME IN SKEPTICAL.
THE MILITARY IS REALLY EGO-DRIVEN AND ART IS NOT A
MACHO THING TO DO GENERALLY SO WHAT I FEEL LIKE WHAT I FOUND
THESE GUYS AND GIRLS WHO COME IN HAVE SOME ANXIETY AND SOME
APPREHENSION IN CREATING ART BECAUSE MOST OF THE PEOPLE ARE
NOT ARTISTS.
THEY'RE LOOKING TO TRY ANYTHING THAT THEY THINK MIGHT HELP THEM
AND WHAT THEY'RE FINDING IS THEY'RE GETTING TO MAKE VISUAL
REPRESENTATIONS OF WHAT THEY'D BEEN BOTTLING UP INSIDE AND ONCE
THEY GET IT OUT, A LOT OF THEM -- THEY JUST WANT TO TALK
ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT THEY'D BEEN PUSHING DOWN AND
SUPPRESSING ALL THOSE YEARS AND A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE COME AND
THEY'RE JUST, YOU KNOW, BROUGHT IN BY THE CAMARADERIE THAT THEY
CAN EXPERIENCE WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE SERVED AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE
EXPERIENCES THAT ARE SIMILAR TO THEIRS.
IT'S A COMPLETELY STRESS-FREE ENVIRONMENT.
WE'RE NOT EXPECTING ANYBODY TO BE A MASTER ARTIST.
MANY OF THEM HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BE.
ART SHOULD BE FUN.
FUN IS A FOUR LETTER WORD, ART IS A FOUR LETTER WORD SO IT CAN
BE FUN. >> AND THIS IS ALSO FOR FAMILIES
INCLUDING CHILDREN AS WELL.
>> INCLUDING CHILDREN.
IN FACT, WE JUST DID A WHOLE RASH OF CHILDREN'S BIRTHDAYS
PARTIES, YOU KNOW, FOR VETERANS AND SO WE SHOW UP AT THEIR HOUSE
AND DO ART.
IT'S STRESSFUL FOR ME BUT IT'S FUN.
WHEN I WAS DEPLOYED, MY WIFE WAS HOME AND SHE HAD AN ENTIRE SET
OF DIFFERENT BATTLES THAT WERE GOING HOME.
KIDS ARE ASKING WHEN DAD'S COMING HOME AND SHE'S TELLING
THEM, I DON'T KNOW.
SHE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IF I WAS GOING TO COME HOME.
THERE'S MENTAL STRUGGLES THERE, TOO, AND WHEN THE VETERAN AND
THE SOLDIER DOES COME HOME, HE'S PROBABLY DIFFERENT THAN WHEN HE
LEFT BECAUSE HE'S EXPERIENCED THINGS, HE'S DONE THINGS THAT
WILL CHANGE THEM, AND SO WE FELT IT WAS IMPORTANT THAT WE INCLUDE
THE SPOUSE OR THE FAMILY MEMBERS AND IN THE CREATION OF THIS SO
THAT, 1, THEY CAN RECONNECT WITH THE VETERAN AND DO SOMETHING
TOGETHER, AND TWO, IT HELPS WITH THEIR OWN ANXIETY AND THEIR OWN
STRESS AND IT GIVES THEM A SAFE PLACE TO DO THAT AND IT'S PRETTY
SPECIAL.
>> WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS THAT
YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT WHO EXPERIENCED PTSD AS YOU HAD,
SOME OF YOUR FRIENDS WHO YOU LOST TO SUICIDE, WHAT IS YOUR
MESSAGE TO PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, WHO WERE NOT IN THE MILITARY, ARE
NOT MILITARY FAMILIES WHO MIGHT NOT REALIZE, YOU KNOW, THAT THIS
IS A LIFELONG, YOU KNOW, PROCESS AND THESE MEMORIES WILL STAY
WITH YOU?
>> SO WHAT I WOULD SAY TO THEM IS JUST BE COGNIZANT OF --
THERE'S THINGS THEY'VE EXPERIENCED AND SEEN THAT THE
NORMAL EVERY DAY PERSON ISN'T -- EVER EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT, AND
THEY'RE GOING TO BRING THOSE HOME AND THEY ARE NOT GOING TO
BE PREPARED TO TALK ABOUT THOSE THINGS BECAUSE THEY COULD BE SO
HORRIFIC OR THEY COULD FEEL LIKE THEY'RE AT FAULT FOR SOME OF THE
STUFF THAT THEY'VE SEEN OR DONE, AND, YOU KNOW, JUST BE AWARE, BE
SENSITIVE AND UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE GOING TO GO
THROUGH THINGS AND IT'S NOT EASY.
¶ >> THAT'S CONNECTING POINT FOR
THIS MEMORIAL DAY, MAY 27TH, 2019.
REMEMBER, YOU CAN FIND US ONLINE ANYTIME AT
WGBY.ORG/CONNECTINGPOINT.
FINALLY, THIS EVENING -- THERE ARE TWO VETERANS' MEMORIAL
CEMETERIES IN MASSACHUSETTS THAT SERVE AS A LASTING TRIBUTE AND A
FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVED IN THE
UNITED STATES MILITARY.
ONE OF THOSE CEMETERIES IS IN AGAWAM, AND EVERY YEAR BEFORE
MEMORIAL DAY, HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEERS PARTICIPATE IN THE
PLACEMENT OF FLAGS AT EACH VETERANS' GRAVE.
WE LEAVE YOU TONIGHT WITH A LOOK AT THIS
ANNUAL EVENT TO HELP HONOR THOSE WHO SERVED.
¶ >> THIS WHOLE CEMETERY IS A
TRIBUTE FOR THE RESPECT WE PAID THESE FOLKS AND THEIR WIVES WHO
ARE BURIED WITH THEM.
>> IT'S A DAY TO REMEMBER AND THAT'S -- THAT SHOULD HAVE SOME
SOMBERNESS TO IT.
¶ >> THEY'RE NOT JUST THESE
FACELESS PEOPLE WHO MADE THE SACRIFICE.
THEY'RE HONORED.
THEY'RE REVERED.
THEY'RE REMEMBERED.
¶ >> WE'RE HONORED EVERY TIME
SOMEONE SAYS THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE THESE DAYS.
I APPRECIATE IT.
I HOPE MY FRIENDS APPRECIATE IT.
WE CAME IN AT THE SAME TIME.
>> IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MEMORIAL DAY SALES OR THE
BARBEQUES.
IT'S ABOUT THE LIVES WE'VE LOST TO PROTECT OUR FREEDOM.