Veterans show true colors

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Patrick Brown
  • Defense Media Activity - San Antonio
SAN ANTONIO (AFNS) --  In a jam-packed room, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Dennis Linn stood explaining his artwork to curious viewers, and how his acrylic painting and raised sand/plaster sculpture earned him two gold medals and a spot in the 2009 National Veterans Creative Arts Festival in the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium here Oct. 11. 

More than 3,000 veterans from 123 Veterans Administration facilities across the country entered various categories in the following divisions of art, creative writing, dance, drama and music during the local-level competition phase this past winter. Colonel Linn was one of 120 winners who attended the week-long festival, which concluded with a visual art exhibit and a variety stage show. 

Before the conclusion the festival, the artists attended workshops exploring a variety of artistic venues and toured local art museums.

The festival was a venue for artists from around the country to share artistic techniques as well as swap war stories. 

"This is a great way to meet other creative vets. Talk with them and make new friends and learn new techniques," Colonel Linn said.

Colonel Linn has loved art since his youth. He taught art at the U.S. Air Force Academy early in his career and says he was able to use it throughout his career as a protocol and public affairs officer. Now that Colonel Linn has developed cardiac disease, he says art has become a sort of therapy for him.

"It takes your mind off the fact you have a problem," said Colonel Linn. "It helps me and the other veterans who have some disabilities. It's therapy -- creative arts therapy. You live longer when you're not stressed out."

However, Navy veteran Robert Elling has disabilities that are a little more obvious than Colonel Linn's. A Vietnam veteran, Mr. Elling lost a knee as a result of an aircraft landing accident after a patrol mission. The missing knee isn't what made his intricately stained wooden portrait so interesting, it's his ability to manage his disability. 

"I get the shakes real bad," said Mr. Elling. "When that brush gets down to the wood, the shakes just stop."

Besides the shakes, Mr. Elling still deals with pain from the missing knee and says staining his pieces is as good as any pain medication. 

"It takes my mind off the aches and pains," he said. "I have phantom pain and real pain -- It just removes pain because you're concentrating so much on something else."

Mr. Elling says when he does think of his missing knee, he thinks of the coming reunion. 

"Twelve inches of me have already made it up to heaven," he said. "When I get up there, I'm going to collect all my pieces and be whole again," he laughed.