Milwaukee-based Guitars for Vets helps veterans across the country stay mentally in tune

Clad in a black Guitars for Vets shirt and cradling a Fender acoustic, Jeff Puhek played snippets of "Classical Gas" and "Stairway to Heaven" as he patiently showed Justin Skowron a few chords.

Just a couple of guys strumming guitars, hanging out.

Skowron, who served in Kuwait and Iraq in the U.S. Army, is working on learning to play one of his favorite songs, "Under the Bridge" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. After learning about Guitars for Vets from his case manager at the Milwaukee VA Hospital, Skowron recently started going to the twice-weekly classes at the VA.

"I've had a guitar, but I haven't known how to play it," said Skowron, one of thousands of veterans learning to play through Guitars for Vets.

What started with two other guys strumming guitars, just hanging out in Milwaukee, has now grown to 82 chapters in 40 states. More than 3,000 veterans with PTSD and other health issues have graduated from the program since guitarist Patrick Nettesheim and Vietnam veteran Dan Van Buskirk started Guitars for Vets in 2007.

If you ask veterans what they miss most about their lives before they knew war, many will say it's joy. The dark thoughts that lead an average of 20 U.S. veterans to take their lives each day can envelop minds and make it difficult to function.

But sticking a guitar in someone’s hand is a joyful thing. It’s cool and fun. It’s something rock stars do. And making music is a way for veterans to bond.

“Most veterans are not going to sit in the lotus position staring at their navel. But they can pick up a guitar,” said Van Buskirk.

Van Buskirk served 13 months in Vietnam with a Marine reconnaissance unit in 1968-’69. When he wasn’t on patrol near the Ho Chi Minh Trail, he listened to music back at his base — Motown, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan. He lost a lot of buddies in Vietnam, guys he figured would be lifelong friends after he returned home. Soon after he arrived in the country, several recon teams left on patrol and never came back. He feels guilt for surviving when his friends did not.

In the fall of 2006, Van Buskirk was looking for a guitar teacher and was referred to Nettesheim. Van Buskirk likes nature and is drawn to guitars because they're made of wood. He was honest with Nettesheim, admitting that his PTSD sometimes makes it difficult to focus. Nettesheim told him guitar lessons would be relaxed and Van Buskirk could learn at his own pace.

The following April, Van Buskirk suggested he and Nettesheim take their guitars to the Milwaukee VA Hospital and play for patients. Shortly before the gig, Nettesheim stopped at Cream City Music in Brookfield and the owner gave him two guitars to give to the patients.

“Then it was obvious to both of us that we had to teach these guys to play,” said Nettesheim.

Guitar for Vets teaches the instrument through a system Nettesheim invented and called PAGE: patience, acceptance, gratitude and empathy. When students ask how long they should practice each week, they’re told however long they want.

"What we see in these lessons is it's a perfect estuary of veterans and civilians coming together and learning from each other," said Nettesheim.

After Nettesheim and Van Buskirk created the nonprofit in 2007, the next chapters opened at the VA hospital in Tomah, Houston, Miami and St. Louis. Most of the 82 current chapters — there’s no longer one at Tomah — are located in VA hospital complexes and community-based outreach centers for veterans. A few are in universities including the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Loyola University and University of Arizona.

The goal is to open 200 Guitars for Vets chapters and to have them in every state.

Each veteran who graduates from the free program is given a Yamaha FG800 acoustic guitar, a TKL guitar case, a strap imprinted with the Guitars for Vets logo made by Levy’s Leathers, a guitar stand, small tuner from Reverb.com, a Hal Leonard Guitar Method book, picks and extra strings. Most of the equipment and guitars are donated or supplied at dealer cost.

Kraft Music in Franklin offered warehouse space to Guitars for Vets a few years ago and now handles distribution and shipping of guitars and gear, said company owner and president Ben Kraft, a member of the Guitars for Vets board of directors. Each month, 50 to 60 guitars are shipped to Guitars for Vets chapters around the country.

“I’m not surprised by the need. When Patrick told me about what they were doing and his vision for it, it was clear there were thousands of veterans across the U.S. who could benefit from this program,” said Kraft, a Yamaha dealer.

It costs Guitars for Vets $200 for each veteran who goes through the program.

“The biggest piece is finding the money because it’s a struggle for all nonprofits to find funds. The part that breaks your heart — we could double the size of Guitars for Vets tomorrow if we could find more donors, because there’s no shortage of veterans who need this help,” Kraft said.

Fender has donated 70 guitars and sponsors Guitars for Vets chapters in Nashville, Tennessee, and Los Angeles. Guitars for Vets ambassadors who raise money and spread the word include famous guitarists Tommy Emmanuel, Anthrax's Scott Ian and Journey bass player Ross Valory, plus Milwaukee musicians Willy Porter and the WhiskeyBelles.

For veterans with a lot of alone time in their homes, a guitar can be a salve.

“It’s a great distraction. It’s a wise and healthy way of feeling good,” said Nettesheim.

Brad Wallin, who served in the Army in the early 1980s, has been a Guitars for Vets student at the Milwaukee VA since last year. Because Wallin is one of the few left-handed students, Puhek restrung a guitar just for him.

“I have fun learning how to play guitar and it’s nice being with guys who are vets,” said Wallin. 

One of Wallin’s instructors, Tommy Knuth, began teaching soon after Guitars for Vets started. Knuth gets his medical care at the Milwaukee VA and when he saw a flyer looking for guitar students and instructors, he volunteered.

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At their first lesson, students learn the parts of a guitar, fingerings and strings. After showing them how to play the A, D and E notes, Knuth teaches them the first four notes of the rock hit "Louie, Louie."

"They come in here for that first lesson. They're veterans, they have PTSD or drug or alcohol issues. If they don't learn something quick, they lose interest," said Knuth, a Vietnam veteran. "Once they learn a song, they've got a reason to come in and practice."

For more information: guitars4vets.org