VA nurses share their stories through songs

This National Nurses Month, Freedom Sings USA will debut songs written by VA Veteran nurses who told their stories through the creative songwriting process, thanks to Freedom Sings USA, a nonprofit based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The organization’s mission is to help Veterans, military personnel and their families tell their stories through song. 

“I walk the halls
In scrubs not fatigues
Reaching out,
To people just like me.”

Loretta Gorucki, “Invisible Scars”

In Loretta Gorecki’s powerful song, she writes that when her uniform changed from military fatigues to scrubs, her mission did not. She still proudly serves her fellow Veterans as a VA nurse.

“As VA nurses, we have a unique journey to help those who have borne the battle. Veteran nurses understand and relate to the invisible scars. All VA nurses are here to help heal visible and invisible wounds,” said Gorecki, who served in the Marine Corps and as a nurse manager at Chicago’s Hines VA.

This Nurses Month, Freedom Sings USA will debut 11 songs written by VA Veteran nurses. They are:

• James Adams “Blessed By My Career”
• Mariva Balfour-Coleman “A Nurses Prayer”
• Loretta Gorecki “Invisible Scars”
• Nikki Kemp “Soldier On”
• Susan Pelz “Angels of Mercy”
• Roland Sauerland “The Forgotten”
• Hansel Moore “Everlast”
• Christine Brooks “Welcome Home”
• Kristine Sorto “ People Don’t Know”
• Stephanie Leach “Yes You Can”
• Ramona Ross “Just a Girl”

No experience necessary

Marvia Balfour-Coleman, who served in the Army National Guard and is a registered nurse at Memphis VA, always sang in church and school choir when she was growing up. As a child, Nikki Kemp rapped with his brother in an Egyptian commercial selling neckties.

The other nurse Veterans had little or no musical experience except for James Adams. The former Army Specialist and licensed vocational nurse is a musician who plays the guitar, drums, sings and writes songs.

Regardless of background, all any Veteran needs to participate in Freedom Sings USA is a desire to tell their stories.

“They can feel they are not forgotten.”

“I see you,
I see your pain,
I served too.
I’m one of you.”

Roland Sauerland, “The Forgotten”

The Veteran songwriters’ understanding of their patients is evident throughout their songs. Sauerland, an Air Force Veteran and psychiatric nurse at South Texas VA in San Antonio, cares for Veterans who have moved away from society to rural areas.

“By building trust and checking in on them, they can feel they are not forgotten,” Sauerland said, as the inspiration for his song.

A Nurses Prayer

The experience of caring for Veterans during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic inspired pieces by Balfour-Cleman and Susan Pelz. Balfour-Cleman’s emotional journey with COVID patients in a state Veterans home led to these lyrics in A Nurses Prayer:

“I’ll be the one to hold their hand,
I’ll be the one who listens when all they need’s a friend,
And when you send your angels to call them home,
I’ll be there.
They’ll never die alone.”

“Nurses are tough physically and emotionally, as tough as many Veterans. However, no one can experience the level of stress for the period of time we did without it breaking us down,” said Susan Pelz, an Air Force National Guard Veteran and nurse manager at Central Arkansas VA in Little Rock. In her song Angel of Mercy, she wrote:

“Every day your heart is broken
Every night pick up the pieces
Then come morning we do it all again.”

“You’re gonna be all right.”

Kemp wanted Veterans to know that he is with them through their fight to regain their life and health. In Soldier On, he wrote:

“I’ll do everything I can
Together we can do this,
You still have purpose
We can give you back your life
You’re gonna be all right
Be brave
Be strong
Soldier on.”

Making the Music

During late March, a songwriting retreat was held near Nashville. During this retreat, VA nurses collaborated on the creation six original songs, sharing their most personal stories of triumph and loss. Making the Music is a compelling video that shares the behind the scenes view of how these songs were created, provides personal insights from both the nurse and songwriter perspective. It’s where you’ll hear VA nurses share their thoughts on the healing power of music.

This month is the debut of the nurse Veterans’ songs on an album titled The Way Back: Songs of Healing.  Show your support for VA nurses and other Veterans and listen to their songs at Freedom Sings USA. If you are a Veteran who wants to learn more about Freedom Sings, please Contact – Freedom Sings USA.