CONCORD, N.C. — November is National Veterans and Military Families Month. On the top of mind for one organization is veterans' mental health, and they’re addressing it one tattoo at a time.
What You Need To Know
- Operation Tattooing Freedom aims to help veterans suffering from anxiety, depression and PTSD
- Rocky Esparza is a veteran and tattoo artist
- He finds it helpful to connect with other veterans in this way
It’s called Operation Tattooing Freedom.
They link a veteran up with one of their authorized tattoo artists to get a tattoo. Many of the authorized artists are veterans themselves, like the owner of The Lost Sheep Tattoo in Concord.
Rocky Esparza served as a sergeant in the Marine Corps for nine years and completed two tours in Iraq.
He says his brother taught him how to tattoo, and he found the art of tattooing healing.
“I used to find that drawing would take you elsewhere, takes your mind away from everything else, so that has created my getaway,” he said.
“Once I deployed, it got, you know, it's when I came back when it got a little bit more where I needed some therapy of some sort, got into drawing and got back into tattooing,” he added.
He says he got involved with Operation Tattooing Freedom about six years ago.
For him, he says it’s not necessarily the Tattoo itself that makes a difference, but the connection he can make with another veteran.
“It’s not more about the tattoo. It’s about meeting the person and getting to know them. It don’t matter what branch of service you're in, it’s like you click,” Esparza said.
“And it could be a tattoo that lasts one hour or a tattoo that lasts six to eight hours,” he adds. "Within that time, it feels like you met that person, know them for years now.”
Operation Tattooing Freedom aims to help veterans suffering from anxiety, depression and PTSD.
For the Veterans Crisis Line, you can dial 988 and press 1.