(Jefferson City, MO) — Dave Dunklee says he’s lost track of how many veterans have benefitted from the Healing Box Project, since it began 14 years ago, but he says its in the hundreds. He says for many veterans, learning to play the guitar sooths their troubles. Dunklee says one veteran told him the guitar saved his life, when he was thinking of ending it. He says other veterans enjoy the sense of accomplishment, and just feel good when they play the guitar.
“When you hold the guitar and strum against your side, you can feel the instrument come alive. You can actually feel it vibrate, actually feel the instrument talking. Sometimes when they get a little better, they can feel the instrument singing to them,” said Dunklee. He says when they get together for a jam session he’ll see smiles. Another veteran told Dunklee his troubles were sort of like a mental chalkboard covered with lines of pain, which one by one were erased with each strum of the guitar.
Participants meet at the D-A-V in Jefferson City and at the Elks Club in Osage Beach.
The motto of the Healing Box Project is “The Healing Starts with the first Strum.”
