Nashville, TN Mark Wills announced today that a portion of every sale of his next album “2nd Time Around” in stores June 16th will benefit military families through USA Cares and has created a free USA Cares music sampler at www.markwills.com. Just log on to the website, view the pop up window which will allow you to receive three music downloads and an interview with Mark and Dennis Miller talking about their role with USA Cares. The talented musician has received many acclamations since his debut on the country music scene, including being named as the top new male vocalist by the Academy of Country Music in 1999. Wills followed that up with the hit single, “19 Somethin’” and his new single “Entertaining Angels” is climbing the charts.
Mark has seen the faces of our military men and women in Iraq, Afghanistan, at home and in the Walter Reed Army Hospital. He knows that military service is more than just a job, it’s a lifetime commitment. Mark also knows that sometimes, the price of service is doubly paid by those who are invisibly wounded with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD). Having seen firsthand the good work that Radcliff, Kentucky based USA Cares is doing for these families as they go through rehabilitative care, he knew he had to do more than just add a celebrity voice.
In their Warrior Treatment Today program, USA Cares provides financial resources to veterans who are reluctant to seek PTSD treatment due to their obligation to provide for their families. The program is already underway in several states, most notably in Texas, where over 6,000 Veterans have been screened and diagnosed with PTSD. A recent news article noted that the VA has identified as many as 338,000 Veterans who could be suffering with PTSD nationwide.
During a recent interview by Dennis Miller on his national radio show on Westwood One, Mark revealed his personal experience with the disorder. “When my dad came home from Vietnam, he was different and there is no doubt in my mind that he was suffering from PTSD, we just didn’t know what it was back then.” He went on to say, “Today, that National Guardsman who works at Home Depot on Monday, can find himself in combat the next week, and you just can’t expect that when he comes home that everything will be just fine and he can go back to working at Home Depot.”
USA Cares Board of Director, Ron Steptoe, himself a West Point Graduate, is currently devoting time and effort on a national scale to help establish a basic foundation for understanding PTSD and to help limit the enormous emotional and physical toll that accompanies those who suffer from it and their families when it’s symptoms are misunderstood and untreated. From his offices in Washington DC, Steptoe added, “Having a person of Mark’s stature, considering his repeated visits to Iraq and Afghanistan, seeing firsthand what these men and women are facing and then wanting to share his time and talent with those of us who are working to make sure they don’t have to suffer twice is a credit to Mark, his family and his industry.”
In addition to a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the album, Mark has also put a USA Cares insert inside the case that tells the buyer about USA Cares and asks them to do one more thing; use their cell phone to text the word “TROOPS” to 90999 which will cause a onetime charge to their cell phone bill of $5, which will go directly to USA Cares. Wills said, “The idea of allowing my fans to help make a difference in a Veteran’s life by simply picking up their cell phone is not only cutting edge technology, it is a way that we as Americans can make our voices heard too, and that we take care of our own. So I am going to remind my fans, in audiences and one at a time, to pull out their cell phone and let’s make a difference together!” adding, “And don’t forget to reply with “YES” when prompted!”.
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