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Jacksonville veterans using the power of music to tell their stories

The Veteran's Music Project was started in 2019 through the Alchemy Sky Foundation. The organization works with Wounded Warrior Project.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — This 'Stories of Service' features veterans using the power of music to tell their stories.

We spoke to wounded warriors along the First Coast who have written a special song in their own words. It talks about the challenges wounded veterans face as they transition to civilian life. 

"We each got a chance to kind of write something that's near and dear to our heart," Natalie Marcano-Sidberry said. "Maybe something that we struggle with in the service or something that we want to kind of impact people with."

Marcano-Sidberry is a Navy veteran. She and other veterans wrote a song called "I am a Warrior." You can hear words from her own personal journal in the song.

"The part that says, 'I am the hero that I desire,' and to hear how our music teacher was able to put that into a song really touched me," she explained. 

Ricky Herndon is a Marine veteran who contributed lyrics to the song. 

"When we started putting it all together, our whole aspect was what can we say about our own stories that other veterans and just people in general would hear and be able to say, hey, I'm going through that in my life," he added. 

This Veterans Music Project was started in 2019 through the Alchemy Sky Foundation. The organization works with Wounded Warrior Project. It walks our nation's heroes through the process of writing and recording songs using professionals in Jacksonville and Atlanta. 

"I enjoyed the songwriting process because we got to do it together," Herndon said. 

Stories of service through the power of music.

 "I hope that it pushes more of our veterans to write songs," Marcano-Sidberry added. 

The song "I am a Warrior" is available on a number of streaming platforms. You can also listen to it by clicking here.

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