On Thursday nights, the sound of music can be heard on East Walnut Street in downtown Troy. But, not from the usual venues, the Johnson Center for the Arts and The Studio, but over on the corner at the VFW building.

Guitar music.

And, the pickers were men, who “were not new to life but, maybe to picking a guitar.

“And, we aren’t there yet,” the guitarists said in one voice. “But we’re getting better and, hopefully, even better.”

The strumming and picking was coming from one picker who said the pickers are just a bunch of old veterans who “just need somewhere to go and something to do and something to forget.”

The veterans all have connections to Pike County and military service scars that are not readily visible.

The veterans said they continue to have trouble leaving war behind. And, for whatever reason, “picking a guitar” helps push those memories behind.

The guitarists are members of the non-profit organization of Guitars for Vets, an organization with currently with more than 100 chapters that provide veterans living with challenges of RTES and other injuries unique alternative to healing.

G4Vs put the healing power of music in the hands of heroes and brings about a feeling of joy and purpose that veterans can lose after suffering traumatic experiences.

The veterans said there’s just something about the team work and comraderies that assists as they continue to work their back into their individual communities.

To date more than 50,000 guitar lessons have been provided and more than 5,000 guitars have been distributed to veterans and have been are making a difference in mental, physical and emotional distress.