APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – In a small classroom inside the Wisconsin Veterans Village, the sound of guitars is helping silence something heavier: the lingering effects of war.
The nonprofit program Music Success is giving Veterans a new way to heal—through music. Partnering with the Village, the program offers free guitar lessons and therapy-based instruction to help Veterans cope with PTSD, anxiety, and isolation. Each graduate receives their own guitar to keep.
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Retired Army Special Ops veteran Kevin Crawford volunteers as an instructor. “Our motto is to combat PTSD with music and put the healing power of music in our brothers and sisters’ hands,” he said. “When you come home… you never really come home. This calms the demons. Honest to God, we can’t heal anybody—but we silence them.”
Marine veteran Bob Wiese said the program has changed his life. “It helped me a great deal to focus on things I want to focus on and not the things I don’t want to focus on,” he said. “To be with a band of brothers with a common goal… just being in a group like this is overwhelmingly joyful.”
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The Wisconsin Veterans Village provides housing and support for those in the program. Resident Thomas Andrejeski said Music Success not only brings purpose—it brings hope. “It helps pay off the guitars and makes Veterans feel like they’re wanted,” he said.
Donations help keep both the program and the Village running. Andrejeski says their “buck-a-day” campaign could wipe out the Village’s loan in five years if enough people join in. To support their efforts or donate directly, visit wisvva.org.
