MARION, Ill. — Let freedom sing! The city of Marion is honoring local veterans with a downtown event featuring a free concert consisting of songs written by veterans.
The concert will take place at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Tower Square Plaza in Marion. It is free to the public, and attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs to the event.
The event is a partnership with Freedom Sings USA, a Tennessee-based nonprofit organization that specializes in pairing songwriters with veterans to help them express their feelings and experiences through music.
Bobbie Allison-Standefer, co-founder and executive director of Freedom Sings USA, said the organization wraps several different outlets of therapy into one model to help veterans in need.
"It's like creative writing, music therapy and vet-to-vet therapy all in one," Allison-Standefer said. "It opens the door for a lot of veterans who won't get help any other way, but it's so easy because music is so therapeutic in itself."
For more information, visit the "Freedom Sings Marion" Facebook event or the city's Facebook page.
Earlier in the week, local veterans met with award-winning songwriters to turn their stories into songs, which will then be performed during Saturday's concert.
Dr. Bill Chenault is a retired therapist and pastor. He served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.
Dr. Bill Chenault is a retired therapist and pastor. He served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.
Chenault said meeting with fellow veterans and sharing stories of his experiences helps him in the healing process.
"I believe each time you tell about where you've been and what you've done, especially in connection with combat and being in Vietnam, in my case, it continues to bring healing," Chenault said.
Chenault was part of the songwriting process on Friday, where he got to share stories about his time in Vietnam and what his experience as a veteran is like.
He said sharing that experience with others, including nonveterans, takes a weight off his shoulders.
"You're not carrying this burden that eats at you all the time," Chenault said. "It's like if you're carrying a five-gallon container of water, and you struggle with that for however far you have to take it. When you get to the place that you can finally unload it, that keeps you from bending over and breaking down."
Angela Hunt is an Army veteran and the executive assistant of Freedom Sings USA. After exiting the military in 2012, she said she didn't have a great experience and wasn't proud of her service.
Then, years later, Hunt discovered a volunteer opportunity with Freedom Sings and decided to try to help out her community.
"Now I run the women's class, and just being a part of that group and getting support from women that are also veterans has kind of helped me become proud of my service and what I did for my country," Hunt said.
Hunt said Freedom Sings helps her, and many veterans like her, process their emotions and trauma together in a way that helps remove the stigma from the equation.
"When I joined the military, they said, if you go to behavioral health, we're going to kick you out and take your bonus. That's the mindset going into the military," Hunt said. "You become very afraid to get the help that you need because of the stigma surrounding mental health. You're told getting help is wrong.
"Being able to walk into a group of veterans that you feel comfortable with, it's easier to open up that box," Hunt said. "It can be the start of the journey. Because we're not therapists, but we do what we can to break the stigma."
Hunt faced barriers and pressures as a woman in the Army that she has shared with fellow women veterans in order to help heal from the trauma she and others faced.
"As a woman in the military, it's really hard. It's competitive. It's not as supportive as it should be," Hunt said. "I really needed the support from other women, and so being able to get that support and being able to find that group that understands it is really empowering."
Local veterans met with award-winning songwriters to turn their stories into songs, which will then be performed during Saturday's concert.
Chenault praised the casual environment of the Freedom Sings event, where he felt more comfortable sharing his story with people who were genuinely interested in hearing from him compared to other outlets for veterans.
"I've been to a lot of seminars, workshops and counseling sessions, but this is better than a lot that I've experienced," Chenault said. "It's a more relaxed atmosphere. It's a more sensitive atmosphere also, and to know that they take what you're saying seriously."
During the workshop, Chenault had the opportunity to speak over the phone with country artist Bill Anderson by working with songwriter Bobby Tomberlin.
"My writer is good friends with Bill, and he just called him at the drop of a hat, and I was able to talk with Bill," Chenault said. "He impressed me that he is what I thought he was all these years, just a genuine, kind and caring person."
Allison-Standefer said the organization came to Marion at the request of Mayor Mike Absher and said there is interest in hosting live classes regularly in the city.
"Marion is a very patriotic city," Allison-Standefer said. "You see how they celebrate their veterans and lift them up, and they should."
