Woodbury Iraq War Veteran Uses Music To Heal And Remember

For Iraq War veteran and Woodbury native Matthew Griswold, Veteran’s Day is a time to reflect, remember and pay homage to those injured and killed in combat.

Griswold, 29, a local musician who enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2003 and spent a total of five years serving in Europe, Kuwait and Iraq with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team/Task Force 135, said most people take time to pay their respects to veterans during the holiday, but his view of Veterans Day has changed since serving in the military.

“As a veteran, it’s definitely something I view as a special holiday,” he said. “I think sometimes Veterans Day is a little neglected—it’s definitely a day that can come and go and people don’t even know it. I think it’s just good to take time to reflect on everybody as a whole. I also want people to remember that it’s a day for all veterans—not just those who were in combat.”

Before serving in the Army, Griswold said he understood the importance of the day, but didn’t observe it like he now does.

“It was very different before my military experience because I didn’t know that many vets,” he said. “I’d tell my grandfathers ‘Happy Veterans Day’ but I don’t think I really knew what it meant until I served.”

Helping veterans through music

Griswold was involved in frontline combat during his time in Iraq, and saw fellow soldiers and members of the Iraqi militia who fought with American troops injured and killed in attacks.

The U.S. soldiers who escaped physically unscathed were often left with emotional scars.

When Griswold came home in 2008, he found the memories burned into his mind from war were often too close to the forefront of his thoughts to deal with on an emotional level.

Griswold had been writing and performing music since about the age of 15 and took a three-year hiatus while in the Army, but came back to music as a way to cope with the melancholy memories.

After Griswold was honorably discharged, he spent some time in Nashville before returning to Minnesota.

“I started working with people tied to the publishing industry (in Nashville), and somebody told me that I should perform my own songs and not just focus on trying to write country songs or anything for anyone else,” he told Patch in June.

Since then, Griswold has penned and performed numerous songs that relate to his combat experience, and released an album in 2010 entitled, “Screaming from the Witch’s Tower.”

Not only has Griswold used music as a way to cope with his own difficult memories—he’s using it to help veterans in Minnesota and across the nation.

Since returning from Iraq, Griswold has been volunteering at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System and the MacPhail Center for Music as a presenter, teacher and adviser.

As a result of the songs he has written and recorded, Griswold has been asked to speak at the American Music Therapy Convention Nov. 19 in Atlanta, Ga.

“I’ve been prepping for it for a while,” he said. “For the past few months its been something that I’ve really been getting ready for—I’m going to be stepping into a bigger environment than I’m used to and away from my comfort zone a bit.”

Griswold said music has been used for generations as a healing tool, but it hasn’t been used much to treat sufferers of post-traumatic stress related to war.

Griswold and others he’s worked with hope to change that.

Recently, Griswold contributed his insights to a presentation at the Great Lakes Music Therapy Association with the help of MacPhail Music Therapist Melissa Wenzel and Music Therapist Kathryn Larson, who heads up the music therapy program at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis.

Griswold will be the featured speaker at the American Music Therapy Convention, with Wenzel and Larson adding their insights as well about how music can help veterans cope with and overcome posttraumatic stress.

“With all we are faced with in fighting the challenges that have affected so many veterans, I’ve seen nothing that can help with finding the needed perspective as much and as music and art have,” Griswold said. “It can help anyone in finding that basic feeling of being human. That will help on a personal level for any veteran, but because something tangible comes from that, society can and will also see vets as people again and that will diminish the social stigma that causes so many issues to begin with.”

For those who would like to see Griswold perform live, he and his acoustic trio will be offering a free performance in White Bear Lake at the Manitou Station Nov. 25 starting at 9 p.m.