By Kerry McGinley
When disabled Army veteran Scott Owens steps up to share his story, it's an act of healing.
"There's gonna be somebody in the crowd that's either contemplating asking for help or knows somebody that needs to ask for help," he said. "With me sharing my story, I know it can inspire those individuals to be able to go out and say, 'I need help.' Knowing deep down inside that's the outcome, that's the healing property for me."
Healing and connection are the goals of "The Telling Project," a theater program that takes military veterans' stories to the stage. Owens, a member of the SourceAmerica Speakers Bureau, and his wife Shannon were cast in "Telling Tampa Bay," a Florida branch of the national program. His former colleague at ServiceSource and friend Mike Dunlap, retired Marine and employment specialist for ServiceSource's Warrior Bridge program, also took part.
The play was scripted from interviews with a total cast of six – five military veterans and one spouse – about their military experience. Those transcripts were converted to dialog for each actor in the play to share their personal stories. Each cast member plays himself or herself; none were professional actors. The documentary about the project has been nominated for a regional Emmy Award.
In the play, Owens spoke of how his then undiagnosed PTSD and traumatic brain injury prevented him being able to find steady employment and his despair at being unable to support his family. It brought him to the brink of suicide the day he sat in his room with a loaded gun. That's when Shannon called authorities for help.
"A former Marine came inside my bedroom," Owens said of the emergency response to his wife's call. "He put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'I've been there, I've done that, let's go talk about it.' I looked down at his hand and saw his Marine Corps ring and I relaxed and said, 'OK.'"
Shannon Owens was initially reluctant to be a part of the play. She was cast after she spent Scott's interview sitting next to the play's director and adding comments, anecdotes and wisecracks to her husband's story as he was interviewed on camera. For five live stage performances, she shared her experience as an Army wife. Her part in the play reflected her fears of not knowing where he was, if he was safe or when and if he was coming home. She compared it to being a mouse stuck in an elaborate maze with no cheese at the end.
"This was something new we could enjoy together and support each other on throughout the rough times of it," she said. "Having the confidence lift that provided, knowing that people out there care about what we've bene through. To know someone out there appreciates you is amazing."
Their marriage was already strong, but this added a new dimension to that strength, she said.
"We're very blessed – we cherish marriage for what it is," she said. "It strengthened our communication in a major way. Now we have something truly in common other than our children to talk about."
Dunlap's dialog reveals what it was like trying to find his way after leaving the Marine Corps. He described drifting, living out of his car and difficulty finding sustainable employment.
"My biggest concern was I'm going to get up on stage and kinda get undressed in front of everybody," Dunlap said. "None of us knew how the audience would react. What if the audience doesn't really take to this? What if they take to us and look at us like we're stupid?"
But that interaction with the audience proved to be the best part of the experience for Dunlap. In addition to hearing the "hooahs" and "hoorahs" from veterans in the theater during the actual play, the question and answer session following the performance was the most moving aspect of the program, he said.
"The vets in the audience really made the most of out of it," Dunlap said. "They shared their stories. A vet can't get help unless he wants the help. He's not going to go looking for help. These guys realized, 'If Mike can talk about, I can too.' The veterans benefit from talking about it with us."
For Scott Owens, "The Telling Project" supports his life's mission in the wake of his military service: speaking up for other disabled veterans.
"I'm out in the community, I'm talking to employers, I'm talking to community leaders, I'm talking to politicians telling them it's important to hire veterans," he said. "It's really important to hire veterans. That in and of itself – ensuring a veteran is able to take care of himself or his family – that does a lot. It gives a veteran a sense of self-worth they may have lost when they left the military because of an injury."