Milwaukee Veterans Are Soothed With Strums

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His dark brown hair lays on his chest as he caresses the body and neck of a Sitka spruce top Yamaha guitar perched on top of his faded out blue jeans. His almond-colored eyes look down at a book eagerly, yet calmly, telling him not to fret as he strums. Carlos Berumen served as a United States Air Force member for just under 10 years. He left the service with a Staff Sergeant ranking.

During his time in service, Berumen considers himself lucky to not have gone through what he imagines others did; however, there are also situations he encountered that he hopes others never have to experience.

This feeling is only a glimpse into what military veterans go through even after they are discharged. PTSD, which is also now being referred to as PTS, is something very real that veterans have to manage after returning home. Along with the clinical intervention, however, community-based approaches are also being used in hopes of helping the veterans manage the distress they face by using creative approaches. One of these programs, Guitars for Vets, uses music – specifically guitar-playing – to soothe veterans’ wounds.

Guitars For Vets is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization that was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This program helps veterans by teaching them how to play guitar and find happiness while managing the symptoms with the use of medical interventions.

“It lets me go, you know, inside and work… work inward,” Berumen said. “It can make me happier. It can make me focus on achieving…I want to play this song and not make any mistakes so…I’m achieving a little goal; I’m achieving this…and it really helps to move forward on things.”

According to one of the co-founders of Guitars For Vets, Patrick Nettesheim, the first chapter is based out of Milwaukee and the program now has grown to 60 chapters nationwide throughout 30 states. 2,500 guitar packages have been awarded throughout the nation. The guitar packages Nettesheim speaks of include an acoustic guitar, an accessory kit and free instruction on how to play. Along with instructors, in the spirit of camaraderie, Nettesheim reflects that veterans will help teach others how to play.

“…I don’t believe that I have the power to save anybody’s life unless I literally throw
somebody a rope who’s drowning and get them out, but maybe this is the metaphorical rope that we are throwing to these people,” said Nettesheim. “It gives them something to hang on too through the toughest period.”

Policy Side

Dr. Shawn Cahill, Psychology Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, gave insight into the areas of PTSD, suicide, and treatment for PTSD. Cahill reflects on statistics that say 22 veterans commit suicide daily.

“One of the statistics that you frequently hear and that they site is 22 suicides a day,” Cahill said. “That’s a shocking number, but it’s a number that lacks context…how many suicides happen a day that are not veterans, and is the ratio or the proportion of veterans substantially larger than that of non-veterans and how big is that?”

This was not said to undermine what veterans have gone through with their tours. He referred to data from Risk Factors Associated With Suicide in Current and Former US Military Personnel under the Journal of the American Medical Association, an article written in 2013. Cahill said the authors concluded that
“males commit higher rates of suicide then women in general. Women attempt suicide more frequently than men do, but men are more successful part of that has to do with methods that men and women choose. Women tend to choose things like pills and men are more likely than women to choose things like guns.”

Depression and binge drinking are also associated with suicide, for the entire population, not just veterans, but veterans may be of slightly higher risk.

Cahill believes that the number of 22 deaths a day is correct if not very close to that number. He pointed out that the military is more male than the population as a whole. Thus, you would see more suicides “in the military sample simply because there’s more men then there are in the population as a proportion.”

The Beginning

Nettesheim is not a military veteran, but he was teaching at Cream City Music, which is located in Brookfield, Wisconsin. A previous student of Nettesheim, Sarah Gallerberger, also works at Cream City and referred an aspiring guitar student, Dan Van Buskirk, to him. At first, he synced up with another guitar instructor instead. However, after taking the time to talk further with Nettesheim on his style and methods for teaching guitar, Buskirk switched to Nettesheim.

Buskirk is a Marine Vietnam Veteran and at their first lesson he revealed that he has always wanted to play but finds it hard because he deals with PTSD. Buskirk then began learning the guitar with Nettesheim, but they also started talking about their personal experiences as a Vietnam Marine Soldier and a Musician up to that point. With having a bottom line similarity of both having to struggle in their lives (Patrick struggling by trying to make a living as a professional musician), a special bond was formed, ultimately leading the men to create Guitars For Vets.

Nettesheim describes Buskirk’s time in Vietnam, saying, “We started sharing about each other’s lives. I was really interested to find out what it was like to be a Marine in the Vietnam era; he was First Marine Recon…it was a very dangerous job as one can imagine because you didn’t have a lot of backup. You went in there with a small group of guys and the only weaponry you had on with you to protect you is what you carried. And Dan, I know rather than carrying water, just carried ammo so he could cover his comrades in the case of a firefight…”

PTSD translates to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is not only something that people who have served or currently serve in the military solely face anyone can be affected if they suffer a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something terrible and scary that you see, hear, or suffer through, including combat, child sexual or physical abuse or catastrophes like terrorist attacks or serious accidents.

It continues with the four different types of symptoms of PTSD, ranging from reliving the event through bad memories, nightmares of flashbacks, avoiding triggers annd reminders, negative changes in beliefs or feelings (such as guilt or fear), and being hyper aroused.

Nettesheim shared his feelings about what this non-profit represents to him, saying, “It’s my feeling that it helps with the management of the symptoms…Certainly they need to follow up with the VA, and that’s why we teach most, well, I think with one exception, we are teaching in all Veterans Administration Medical Centers, VA hospitals, and what’s called CBOC, Community Based Outreach Centers for Vets because they need the additional intervention…we are not the cure-all for everything they are going through.”

Nettesheim also describes that from 2010 through 2012 a research study was conducted that was granted from the National Institute of Health which was also held in conjunction with the Milwaukee V.A. and the Medical College of Wisconsin. The results that came from veterans that have moderate to severe PTSD were very positive.

Even though this non-profit may only help manage the symptoms, there are veteran military personnel that believe very much in this organization and the power it has.

Wisconsin Chapter Heads

Tom Knuth is a Vietnam military veteran who served in the Army Special Forces for 13 years. He left the service as an E6, which is Staff Sergeant ranking. He explains how he got involved with Guitars For Vets.

“I was at the VA…there was a flyer on the wall, right when they were starting up, and it was offering lessons and guitars,” Knuth said. “I play guitar already; I don’t need lessons, I don’t need a guitar but I could offer my help, so I did.”

Knuth began teaching guitar right away and, as the chapters continued to grow, so did his standing in the organization. Being with them from the start, it has now been 9 years.

Knuth expresses how the guitar has helped him, saying, “I really haven’t sought back on my motives for picking up a guitar again except that I had one at the house that I bought from some guy in a bar a few years back, and I just thought it would be fun to pick it up and play it, and it made me feel good. I quit drinking of course before that, but I think it also helped me stay sober.”

Knuth played guitar as a child, but put it down for a while before picking it back up in the 1990s.

Knuth, along with three other chapter heads, are located specifically in Wisconsin out of the span of 60 chapters nationwide representing Guitars For Vets. Erin Mendoza is located in the Green Bay area, Julie Powers is located in the Madison area ,and Beverly Belfer is located in Milwaukee, specifically on UWM’s campus, according to guitars4vets.org.

In Dr. Belfer’s class, she teaches currently enlisted and veteran military members along with civilian students. She introduced Carlos Berumen, Jacob Kroll and Dave Watters.

More veterans attend UWM than any other 4-year school within the six-state region, according to a Military and Veteran Resource Center pamphlet at UWM.

Berumen served as a United States Air Force member for just under a 10-year frame. Berumen’s specialty was 2E271, which is a Computer, Network, Switching, and Cryptographic Systems Craftsman. The position that he held at the end of his service was the Assistant NCOIC, which translates to Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge for the Quality Assurance section of his specific unit. He left the service with Staff Sergeant ranking.

Watters also served in the United States Air Force for a four-year term as a Weather Systems Support Cadre. This translates to preparing and training others how to deploy and use specific equipment. Watters would also set up in the areas of operation like Iraq and Afghanistan.

As for Kroll, he is currently an Army National Guard infantry Soldier. He serves as a private E3 and Rifleman. He is certified in combat lifesaving, and is over 2 years in.

When asked if they have ever suffered from emotional distress or PTSD, Watters said, “I wasn’t really thinking about that when I was there ‘cause once you become complacent, could be the end of you.”

After expressing how he felt and how campus was a culture shock after coming from the military, Berumen said “you just never really have time to think about it while you’re still in and serving; you got other stuff to do and all of the sudden you get out and you’re start reflecting and you’re like, ‘Wow.’”

Asked if there is any place on campus they can find comfort, Kroll stated: “Last semester, I took a class called Pathways to Success at UWM for veterans, and it basically just kind of showed us like what is all around on campus… We were with people that have been in the military, so like it was, you were more comfortable.”

With that being said, Dr. Belfer however captures what Guitars for Vets means to everyone involved:
“When I was this age, I was the same way… self-absorbed, worried about my private life, worried about getting through school, maybe a job that I had. And if I would say to them, ‘You know, we really need to spread the love; we need to take care of one another,’ they would go, ‘Yeah,’ but if they see it modeled, I think it makes more of an impact.”

Berumen said after meeting outside of Dr. Belfer’s class: “The residual effects from that environment is find more peace, you know, and how do we go about doing that.”