But we’re very deliberate about getting the right people in the right locations.” “We get multiple inquiries a week,” Weinstein said. It has only four paid employees and operated on a budget of $250,000 last year. He said the group would like to expand but is limited by its resources. Now, there are now more than 60 chapters of Guitars for Vets across the country.Įric Weinstein is executive director of the organization. “You start by opening these windows of serenity and you build on that.”īefore long, the two men were teaching other veterans at the local VA hospital. “It opens up these little moments of not being caught in the traps of tragedy,” Nettesheim said. Both men realized the therapeutic benefits of the process. He’d been teaching guitar for years, but in 2006, he took on a pupil, Dan Van Buskirk, who was a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. “It started in my attic,” Nettesheim said, referring to his home in Milwaukee, Wisc. Some members and graduates of the group were also on hand, as was Patrick Nettesheim, founder of the organization. Robledo brought a handful of other instructors with him. RELATED Rock & Brews is ready to roll at San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino James Robledo, 68, of Ontario, heads the chapter.

Based in Chicago, the group has had an active chapter at the Loma Linda VA Medical Center since November 2011. I didn’t know before that they’re all about patriotic stuff.”Īmong those gathered for lunch were a number of members of Guitars for Vets, a non-profit organization that teaches veterans to play guitar as a form of therapy. “This was my band in high school,” Madison said.

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