WEBVTT

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The picture that I painted for the

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cover of my book . We actually called

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it the mom seatbelt . It's using a

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picture of myself in a helicopter doing

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the what the mom seatbelt does to you

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when , when she slams on the brakes in

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the car , slap your , slap your hand

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across the chest of the passenger . And

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the other half of the split screen is

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just a generic male veteran sitting in

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front of a door , holding a pistol and

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contemplating to me that came from my

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own personal experience . I was

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diagnosed with PTSD and traumatic brain

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injury in 2010 , 2011 . After

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deployment to Afghanistan , I had

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multiple passive suicide attempts and

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one active attempt . And that sort of

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was my wake up call to change what I

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was doing . I've never done any art

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before . This program . This is my

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first , uh , was in 2016 with , with

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Greg's instruction . The wounded

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warrior art program is designed to aid

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veterans in their recovery from their

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emotional and physical wounds . Never

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really used art in this way , never

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used music either . And uh both have

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really changed my life as far as being

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able to handle some of the changes that

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have gone on . I think art allows you

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to escape . You can either forget about

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what's bothering you or you can

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incorporate that into your artwork ,

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releasing it . One thing I would

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recommend to others is to get involved

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into a group like this . If , if

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they're still active duty , they are

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really good at helping with physical

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recovery , mental health recovery . And

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a lot of times career recovery to help

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people stay in .