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Join Telegram ChannelMusical duo War and Treaty is taking action to support America's veterans by partnering with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Ad Council to promote the “Don't Wait, Reach Out” campaign, which aims to help veterans facing overwhelming life challenges.
Grammy-nominated singer-songwriters Michael and Tanya Trotter spoke about what inspired them to get involved in helping veterans and the importance of early support for various struggles during “Fox & Friends.”
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““It’s very important not to wait,” Michael, a veteran himself, said Friday. “And a lot of times we wait for someone to reach out to us first, but what I’ve learned is the quicker you reach out to someone, the quicker your situation can be resolved, and a lot of veterans suffer in silence… I suffered in silence for many years.”
“In fact, when I met my wife, I didn’t even tell her I served,” he continued. “I was too embarrassed because of the conditions… I served from 2003 to 2007 and I was in the war from 2004 to 2007, and when I got home to Baltimore, at the airport, there were a bunch of protesters protesting me, men and women who serve and protect our freedoms.”
Michael Trotter, a member of The War and Treaty, got his start in music while serving in the military. Now, he's teaming up with his wife for the “Don't Wait, Reach Out” campaign to help his fellow veterans. (Screenshot from “Fox & Friends”)
“So I quickly realized that it was probably not a good idea to share this information because you end up being discriminated against. But she reached out to me and saw that I was struggling, and from that point on, the VA in our country took great care of me.”
According to the website, the “Don’t Wait, Reach Out” campaign aims to provide resources to veterans before their problems reach a critical level. It links to a page on the VA website that provides a series of resources for those struggling with health issues, post-traumatic stress disorder, family issues, depression, isolation and more.
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But Michael's efforts to help those who served in the military began long before he joined the new campaign.
While serving overseas, he became interested in music as a means of healing for himself and his fellow service members. When one of his fellow service members died, he wrote a song and performed it at his memorial service.
The rest is history.
“What a joy it is for me to write songs about my fellow soldiers, about the fallen,” Michael said. “It all started with one of them… a fallen comrade. And I asked to sing the song for his tribute, and it brought a lot of healing and resolution to our guys.”
“My colonel at the time, Peter Jones, said to me, 'Michael, this is what you're going to do now. You're going to learn about as many of the dead as you can, you're going to write a song and you're going to sing it this afternoon at the commemorations,'” he continued.
Veterans in distress are encouraged to visit https://www.va.gov/REACH/.
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