MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you ask James Short how long he served in the Army, he'll tell you.
“Twenty years, four months, sixteen days,” he said.
But talking about that time didn't always come easy, until he joined Operation Song.
“They turned me around, made me want to be a social person again and I’ve seen it happen with so many veterans," said Short.
The organization helps veterans share their stories through music by pairing veterans, active military members and their families with songwriters.
“It’s amazing the stories that people don’t mind telling once you get comfortable enough to start telling your story," said Board Member of Operation Song, Dennis Buchanan.
Performers took the stage at Operation Song's fourth annual 'Voices 4 Veterans' fundraiser in Mt Juliet. The event included auction items autographed by some of country's biggest names.
"It's all veterans helping veterans," said Buchanan, who also performed at the event.
Buchanan is a Vietnam War veteran.
“When we left the airport we got spit at, cussed out, thrown things at, and we were already on a roller coaster ride for all the ugly that we had to go through."
That 'ugly' still playing in his head decades later, until he was introduced to Operation Song.
“You have to go through the class first, then you get your song and a CD with all the people you wrote with and then you become alumni,” said Buchanan.
Now, the organization has written nearly 1,500 songs with veterans across the country, helping put lyrics to words that for so long went unsaid.
"And that's what we're all about, is trying to get our stories out to make someone else feel comfortable and if they can hear our story and save their life – it’s worth every bit of it,” Buchanan said.
