It can be tough to talk with a veteran. For many people, the best they can offer is: 鈥淭hank you for your service.鈥� But for the past year, a Cleveland-area musician and a local soldier have started deeper conversation. Together they bring the war experience home in a production of storytelling and music.
Trumpeter Dominic Farinacci said it all began when he fell in love with a song by Tom Waits, 鈥淪oldier鈥檚 Things,鈥� which tells the story of a veteran trying to sell some mementos from his combat experience.
鈥�Metaphorically, it鈥檚 about a soldier coming back from war and readjusting to civilian life,鈥� Farinacci said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something I鈥檇 never thought about before, so that kind of started the quest to learn more about this world, so that I could further internalize my performance of the song.鈥�
Farinacci鈥檚 quest led him to Jaymes Poling who . The result is , with Farinacci fronting a jazz combo that provides a soundtrack for Poling鈥檚 words.
One night as I go for a walk by my dad鈥檚 house, a life flight helicopter flies overhead, and immediately my heart starts racing and my hands start shaking as I feel everything that I feel when I鈥檓 in a helicopter being lowered into a firefight as tracers are flying by.
But now, I鈥檓 just on a residential street in Ohio with my hands on my knees as I fight to catch my breath.
Jaymes Poling recalls the experience of coming back home from Afghanistan (photo / Modern Warrior Live)
Clinical Psychologist Patrick Palmieri served as an advisor to the show. He directs Akron鈥檚 Summa Health Traumatic Stress Center.
鈥淥ne of the things that this production does is help civilians understand the veteran experience 鈥� not just the military portion, but perhaps even more importantly, the reintegration into civilian life,鈥� Palmieri said.
Palmieri has helped make connections between the project and the larger healthcare community. So far, they鈥檝e performed at gatherings of medical professionals across the country. In addition, they鈥檝e staged it at VA hospitals and other veterans鈥� organizations. But, Jaymes Poling said it鈥檚 also crucial to get the show in front of the general public.
鈥淪o many of the issues about the returning veteran stem from veterans coming home and feeling alone,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd the more we have conversations with the civilian community, the more we can create a more empathetic landing spot.鈥�
Lisa Cole is a former Army master sergeant and Desert Storm veteran. She said the production spoke to some deep feelings that are hard for her to express.
鈥淔or a veteran, for someone who鈥檚 been in the military, to hear somebody else say it out loud to the world is very helpful,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd it makes them think, 鈥橧鈥檓 not alone in this. There are other people going through the same thing. He鈥檚 doing okay, I can do okay.鈥欌��
Lisa Cole during her deployment in the Persian Gulf (Photo / Lisa Cole)
鈥淚 think one of the default views is that PTSD is some kind of life sentence. And that鈥檚 simply not true,鈥� said psychologist Patrick Palmieri.
He said post-traumatic stress can be effectively treated. 鈥淢odern Warrior Live鈥� attempts to show some of the roots of that stress.
I get my shoulder under his and I hold his weight 鈥� because that鈥檚 what we do, we hold each other鈥檚 weight.
A moment later, we wipe our faces, we put back on our masks of composure and we step back out in front of the men that we are leading.
The challenge is to help veterans open up about what they鈥檝e experienced and drop some of those masks once they get back home.
Modern Warrior Live will be staged Saturday at the Ohio Theater in Playhouse Square. More information .
