In July 2014,
CreatiVets was honored to take veteran Tommy Houston to Nashville, TN, where he
wrote "Yellow Balloon" with professional songwriters Dave Pittenger
and Matt McClure. "Yellow Balloon" is a song written for Tommy's
daughter, Emily. While Tommy is proud to have served our country, he points out
the difficulties of balancing a military career with family life. He wanted to
dedicate his song to Emily, to reconnect with her before starting college in
the Fall.
Tommy began his military career in 1987 when he
joined United States Navy. He was in
aviation ordnance( air-crewmen) on P-3 Orion C.
Tommy left the Navy honorably after Desert Shield and Desert Storm and
went to college at the University of Montana where he studied English
literature. In 1996 he joined the Army and became an infantryman. During his
time in the Army, Tommy served as a Machine gunner, fire team leader, squad
leader, Platoon Sergeant, training NCO, readiness NCO, and a recruiter. His
last tour of duty was as a United Nations training assistance team member where
he trained foreign armies to conduct peacekeeping operations for the UN all
over the Pacific Rim. Tommy closed out his military career serving as a
Reintegration team member and a suicide intervention counselor.
See an interview with Tommy below, followed by an
interview with Emily. You can listen to Tommy's song, "Yellow
Balloon" at the end of the post.
Interview with Tommy
1. What were your expectations for the
songwriting trip to Nashville? Did you already have in mind what kind of song
you wanted to create?
"I had no expectations or ideas as to what was
going to happen in Nashville. I heard Sean Davis's (previous veteran who
participated in the CreatiVets program) song and saw what kind of an impact it
had on him and was excited to be a part of that. I had 7.6 million different
ideas as to what kind of a song I wanted. What I ended up with was so much
better."
2. Please share whatever you feel comfortable with about your time in the
Army, your time deployed, and the struggles of raising a family while serving
in the military.
"My biggest struggle upon returning home was
learning how to be a part of the family again. I've struggled with a lack of
emotion on certain issues that my family tends to be emotional about, and there
seems to be a quiet ,passive sort of separation or distance between my family
and me. The loss of participation in my children's lives while I was gone is
something I can't make up. I mourn the loss of it."
3. What did this experience mean to you? Did it allow you to connect with
your daughter in a different way?
"The song gave me a chance to tell
my daughter, Emily, something I never could quite figure out how to do. I felt
as if I was put in a position where even if I had said the words to her
face-to-face it didn't have nearly as much impact as the song did, and it
definitely brought Emily closer to me again."
Interview with Emily
1. What did you know
about your Father's trip to Nashville? Did you have any idea he was creating a
piece for you?
"I didn't really know anything
about what he was doing in Nashville. I knew he was going there to do something
with CreatiVets, but I didn't know much about it, or that the trip had anything
to do with me."
2. Please describe how a family must
demonstrate strength while a parent serves in the military. What was difficult
about having a father who served in the Army?
"When my dad left for Iraq, which was the longest/most important leave he
took, I was only about 6. I didn't completely understand what was happening, as
I was barely in 1st grade, so it was difficult for me in a different way than
for somebody who fully grasped the idea of what their loved what was doing when
they left. An older person might worry if the deployed family member has had
enough to eat, or sleep, or if they've been shot at that very second they were
thinking about them. For me, and most younger kids who have parents or older
siblings in the military, you don't even think about those kinds of things. You
wonder why they aren't there to make you your bowl of Cheerios in the morning,
or why they missed your most important birthday party, or where in the world
this 'Iraq' place was that was so far away Dad couldn't come home to say
goodnight."
3. What did this song mean to you?
"This song meant a lot to me, because
it helped me grow closer to my dad."
Emily adds that she is so proud of
her dad for his bravery and for serving our country.
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