A traveling memorial to veterans is coming to Tampa Bay; we talk with vets about mental health support

Share
Eyes of Freedom veterans memorial.

Veterans Day is Thursday, November 11. On Tuesday Café this week, we focus on veterans‘ issues, especially mental health.

Veterans Art Center Tampa Bay

Host Seán Kinane speaks with two guests: Mack Macksam, the founder and CEO of the Veterans Art Center Tampa Bay (VACTB) and John McKitrick, a volunteer ops officer with VACTB. McKitrick is retired from the U.S. Army.

The VACTB provides alternative art therapies to the military, veterans, first responders and their families. So on Tuesday Café, we talk about using art for mental health, healing and suicide prevention among veterans.

Traveling memorial to veterans

A traveling memorial to veterans will be in Brandon next Tuesday through Saturday. It will be at Brandon Harley Davidson, 9841 E. Adamo Drive.

Eyes of Freedom memorial

It’s called Eyes of Freedom and includes 23 life-size portraits depicting soldiers from one Company who died during Operation Iraqi Freedom. The opening ceremony is Wednesday, November 17, at 10:00 a.m.

The artist and creator of the exhibit is Anita Miller. She said, “The main reason for creating The Eyes of Freedom was to heal family members and loved ones after suffering such loss in 2005.”

Bronze sculpture: “Silent Battle”

In addition to the portraits, there’s also a life-sized bronze sculpture called “Silent Battle,” which the artist says, “honors the losses due to post-traumatic stress and veteran suicide.” It “illustrates the difficulty that many veterans experience as they navigate life after combat.” It’s based on the stories of an Army veteran who said, “The first step in healing is knowing we aren’t alone.”

The bronze sculpture depicts a grieving veteran holding the dog tags of his friends. It’s an interactive piece since attendees are given blank dog tags on which they can write the names of their loved ones.

Listen to the full show here:

Also on the show: a conversation about plastics with Greenpeace.

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

student meal
Next school year Hillsborough public schools are offering free meals

Hillsborough Public Schools are offering students free meals for the...

Correspondence Through Poetry. A Mind-Numbing Week.

Father Verses Sons: A Correspondence in Poems by Herbert Gold...

The sound of change: Music’s influence on anti-war and human rights movements

Throughout history, music has served as a powerful catalyst for...

a man in a tye dye shirt talking on a radio microphone
Recreational pot for Florida is on the ballot this fall—let’s talk about it

In four months, Florida voters have the opportunity to vote...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

Poetry Is
Player position: