A Wisconsin Veteran Turns his Military Trauma into Song Albums

A Wisconsin Veteran Turns his Military Trauma into Song Albums

When Jason Moon returned from serving in Iraq in 2004, he was, in his own words, broken. A musician since the age of 13, Moon found himself unable to write songs. He was suffering from anxiety, insomnia, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2008, he attempted suicide and lived.

 

 

Songwriting was an important part of Moon's healing process. He wrote a song for a documentary in which he was featured, called On the Bridge, and then began traveling and singing to "anyone who would pay attention."

 

One conversation transformed his healing into what would one day become Warrior Songs.

"I met a woman who had been raped in the Navy, and she said, 'if someone could help me turn my trauma into a song, I might have a healing similar to you,'" Moon said.

 

"That was the a-ha moment. I looked around and didn't see other organizations doing that, so I started collecting veterans' stories and songs."

 

Warrior Songs' first album was released in 2016 and was titled "If You Have to Ask." Moon paired veterans who wanted to tell their stories with professional musicians, songwriters and producers to create the album. Their second album, "Women at War," came out in 2018.

 

Moon's nonprofit organization Warrior Songs will release its third album of veterans' stories transformed into music on Sunday at Milwaukee's Turner Hall Ballroom.

 

The new album is titled "The Last Thing We Ever Do" and focuses specifically on Vietnam veterans' experiences. The album features songs such as "Let It Go," about one veteran's survivor's guilt after a friend died in his arms, and "Seeds of Peace," a song about reconciliation recorded in Vietnam.

 

"Face Down," the third track on the upcoming album, took almost two years for the veteran and musician to write together. The songwriter, Saji Villoth, said that the process was filled with "leaps of faith" from everyone involved. It addresses a veteran's experience with sexual assault during his time serving in Vietnam.

 

"It's a veteran's story, so you have to be extremely sensitive and respectful of their wishes, especially with this particular veteran," Villoth said. "A lot of the process centered around him not wanting to be defined by trauma. For a veteran to come out with his story and to see all the support that people put into it, it might help validate the journey toward healing."

 

Performing also has been an important part of healing for Moon.

In front of a small gathering at Pewaukee's South Park on Wednesday evening, Moon performed a little stand-up comedy, many original songs and mostly the vulnerable story of his time in Iraq and the PTSD that has burdened him for years after his discharge.

 

"When I'm asked what happened (in Iraq), it triggers my PTSD because I think about it linearly," Moon said. "But then you can look at the emotional pain behind that reaction and take out one piece of the pain. I also noticed it was externalized. I could hold up the CD and look at the track and think, 'it's outside of me,' and it started to feel lighter."

 

Warrior Songs has no financial interest in the albums and offers art-based retreats to veterans free of cost. They can paint, write songs, or do anything that they feel is necessary to express their emotions through creativity.

 

"PTSD makes us feel defeated. The trauma beats you down, and we can reach in through it with the music," Moon said. "Everyone knows that music can just touch. Relating to people and putting it in songs can inspire other veterans in the same position."

Moon is nowhere near done with this project — the Warrior Songs website lists planned album releases through 2030 focusing on Indigenous, LGBTQ+ and disabled veterans.

 

SOURCE- https://www.sheboyganpress.com/story/news/2021/08/06/wisconsin-veterans-songs-and-stories-performed-sunday/5454515001/