Soldiers, Songs, and Voices • Origins of the Guitars for Vets Program

In Jan of 2019 my Daughter-in-Law Kim called to inform me that the [DOD] Vet’s Center where she worked had a group  for Veterans designed to teach them how to play the guitar. It was called Guitars for Vets and hey needed an instructor to help them out.

Her logic was that because I played the guitar, I could help them out. I told her that I would look into it and see if I could do anything to help out. That was the start of something that would grow beyond anything I could have imagined at that time.

Start with the fact I’ve never had any music lessons, so I can only pass on what I’ve figured out.  The first year or so I started putting things I knew about the guitar on paper and soon came to the realization that yes; there was a lot to pass on.

The problem now became how to word it on paper. I’m a retired carpenter, slightly dyslexic, and only had a 6-week course of typing in high school. But I started with a Commodore 64 computer when my kids started getting computer classes in school. I’ve had one ever since and can sort of get around on it.

Things were starting to come together for both me and the Veterans I was working with. Then along came COVID and the Vet center closed with everyone working from home. When everything started opening up again, the Vet center informed me  I could only conduct classes there for  Veterans that they work with.

Consequently,  I started looking for another place to have classes. I was also limited by the guidelines of Guitars for Vets that stipulated I had to hold the classes in a Veterans Center, IEA legion, VFW, Amvets Hall, Reserve Center, or at the VA hospital.  The hospital  didn’t have any rooms that I could use, and the Veterans Halls were not climate controlled 24/7 for guitar storage, I would also need access to a copy machine for the lesson plans for the students. 

Around this time, the coordinator for the program quit, so now I needed a location and a coordinator. The G4V program was centered around vets with PTSD, or other service-related disabilities. I found out that the hospital’s annex building in Saginaw is where the mental health part was centered and that they have an advocacy council with regular monthly meetings. 

I started attending, letting them know I was looking for a location and someone to be the coordinator for the group. It was at one of the meetings that Dr. Josephine Cervantes directed me to reach out to the Bay Veterans Foundation in Bay City, just north of Saginaw. 

In a sit down with the director of the Foundation, Keith Markstrum, I let him know that I was looking for a place that had 24/7 climate-controlled storage for guitars, access to a copy machine, a classroom, and coordinator for the Chapter.

Basically, he wanted to know if I could start yesterday. It seemed to him that I was acting as the coordinator for the chapter so I might as well accept the title. He was not happy with the requirement of service-connected disability to get into the program. “What about the rest of the Veterans”? I let him know that I have always let other veterans come to the classes, but they had to provide their own guitar.

This was where the foundations “Guitars to Vets” program got started so that we would have a guitar to give to any veteran that came to us for lessons. 

I am now the coordinator for two programs, the “Guitars for Vets”, and the “Guitars to Vets”. Once “Guitars for Vets” opened their program to any veteran, this led to a flood of Vets, and soon  they ran out of funding and no longer could give Veterans that put in ten weeks a free guitar.

The new allocation system they put into place put a limit on the number of vets we could have. To my mind this was not right, so with the approval of the Director of the foundation. we now use the “Guitars 2 Vets” instruments for the “Guitars 4 Vets” program. There was no way we were going to turn away any veteran, as this was not something I could live with.

The foundation set me up with a business card that I could hand out, along with a few different flyers that could be handed out and posted around the area to get more Vets into the system.

Now we are starting a new chapter of “Soldier Songs & Voices”. Another 501 c 3 out of TX that is all about helping any veteran write their story, then put it in verse and add the music to make it their song.

We have also added another instructor, Jay Bosco OD; he teaches a late afternoon class for veterans that are still working. The Bay Veterans Foundation is also open to the community, so I’ve had a few students that are not Veterans who are welcome to come to the classes, but will have to provide their own guitar. My newfound strumming family just keeps growing. 

The point of all of this is to account for my time since the last song I wrote. I have developed a fret-based system for guitar instruction. It took some time to get it all on paper in a format that others could understand. I have used it over the past few years on a lot of students, and it works well. 

This process of helping others has been a two-way street. As they have learned to play the guitar, I’ve learned how to express my thoughts and feelings. I’ve also learned to better understand the feelings of others that are suffering through life.

I’ve gotten to see them grow in confidence, relax and enjoy playing the guitar as they find their way through different chords and songs. I’ve also been working with the luthier Matt de Heus at Herter Music Center. He has donated his time and the parts to put the Donated Guitars in good condition. There is also another Luthier in West Branch, Ken Anderson, who has rounded up over 40 Guitars that he resets and passes on to the Vets Center. 

“Soldier Songs & Voices” was the puzzle piece that was missing. Not only does it help them put their stories into song, it has turned me back to the songs that I’ve written over the years. I’m now working on getting them recorded and posted online for others to enjoy. Including the stories that brought them about.

Another nice touch that SS&V showed me. 

 Soldier, Songs & Voices classes arre located at 1009 N. Madison Ave. in Bay City. If interested phone 989-270-1181 (no texting)  or email Jkblank1@sbcglobal.net.