Project D.R.E.W. brings together veterans and songwriters to turn their stories of service into songs.

The nonprofit was founded by Marilyn Zeidner, Mike Winnen and Brian Ferguson in honor of Captain Drew Ferguson, an Army Green Beret and Special Forces team leader who carried a guitar with him on deployment. Frank sits down with Marilyn, Mike and Brian to talk about what happens when a veteran hears his own story sung back to him for the first time.

In this episode, we discuss:

The Story Untold: How a song can surface something a veteran has held in for 40 years or more.
Hearing It Sung Back: What actually happens when a veteran hears his own song for the first time.
The Lyric That Lands: The moving, powerful lines that come out of this work — including one that brings a Navy SEAL to tears.
A Living Memorial: How Project D.R.E.W. is building what it calls "a registry of collective national memory."

Chapters:

[06:29] The Barn That Started It: How a few bands in a driveway became "Barnegie Hall" — and, eventually, a nonprofit.

[15:02] Delivering Restorative Energy: What Project D.R.E.W. actually does over one weekend — Saturday, they talk; Sunday, the song is played out loud for the first time.

[16:02] The Stories They've Never Told: How a stranger with a guitar reaches what decades of family never could.

[23:19] Why It Works: Brian Ferguson on why songwriters who never served are exactly the right people to draw a veteran's story out.

[35:15] A Crazy Good Turn: Our guests on who has done a crazy good turn for them.

[39:50] The Man in the Song: A veteran hears a song about a rescue mission — and realizes he'd been among those rescued.

[42:00] Captain Drew Ferguson's Song: The song Drew wrote as a young man, now sung by the whole room at the close of every workshop.

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