PTSD veterans find guitar stings help restore their soul

Six String Heroes
BY CYNTHIA BILLHARTZ GREGORIAN
July 13, 2011

Army Sgt. Nate Shumaker (right), 24, who served in Afghanistan, works with instructor Steve Stoner as part of the Six String Heroes program at Jefferson Barracks. (Sid Hastings)

When Army Sgt. Nate Shumaker is playing guitar, he's not thinking about May 4, 2010.

That's the day a mortar round landed in his gun pit in Afghanistan and exploded, taking off his left leg just above the knee.

"It keeps my mind occupied right now and not thinking about it," Shumaker, 25, of Barnhart, said. "I'm thinking about what chord to go to next."

He and guitar instructor Steve Stoner had just finished strumming along to a digital recording of Waylon Jennings' "Luckenbach, Texas" one evening at the Veterans Administration at Jefferson Barracks.

"That's a hard one to start with," Stoner said. "Get that one mastered, and you won't have a problem with too many songs."

Stoner is one of seven volunteers with Six String Heroes, who teach veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to play guitar.

They do it, their mission states, because they "believe music has the power to restore the soul." Many of the vets they've taught would say that's true.


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