SAN ANTONIO — September is national suicide prevention month. Warriors Heart, an organization out of Bandera, is working to treat those with PTSD and battling addiction.
Retired master sergeant Tom Spooner, is the co-founder & president of Warriors Heart. He believes everyone deserves to be heard, even through non-verbal communication - like art.
“It’s one warrior passing it on to another warrior,” Spooner said.
Markers and paintbrushes aren’t the only things exchanged at the "art shop."
“It enables them in their journey while they’re here to heal and get better,” Spooner said.
Spooner’s military career includes 21 years in the U.S. Army and Delta Operator – primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also wrestled with addiction.
“I didn’t know there was another way out," Spooner said. "I didn’t care if there was a way out. I just thought no one thought, felt or did what I had done. And then I found out that that wasn’t true.”
He says he found a tribe with others battling the same internal struggles – then he got sober. But an undiagnosed, untreated traumatic brain injury complicated his life.
“I didn’t think about suicide as far as, ‘Hey I want to kill myself,' I thought about suicide as a valid course of action to stop what was going on in my head," he said.
Taking what was inside his mind and placing it on paper, as art – has been therapeutic for him and other warriors.
“The mask is what we show the world on the outside,” he said.
What’s behind the mask tells another story. The unifying theme that can be found amongst all the artwork at the art shop is the flag.
"It’s what we salute," Spooner said. "It’s what we’re a part of. It’s what goes over our caskets.”
Spooner shares this message with anyone who is hesitant to ask for help.
“You’re worth it to your community, you’re worth it to your family. You’re worth it to yourself.”
Warriors Heart has a 24-hour hotline answered by veterans and former first responders who understand your pain: 866-955-4035.