NORFOLK, Va. — A Virginia veteran has turned to wood carving to make sure other veterans know they're not alone this holiday season, or any other time of the year.
Retired U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander John Jones started woodworking in his childhood, building models with his dad.
"He was big in woodworking also, but I have never done anything quite like this," Jones told WTKR at the Woodcraft of Virginia Beach/Norfolk shop.
Now he's crafting 'comfort birds' after he was inspired to learn wood carving with a Ukraine-made comfort bird kit.
"[Comfort birds] are kind of like those stones, those worry stones, that people keep in their pockets. It's just kind of nice to have and especially with John's work — he's made them beautifully," said Brooke Shannon, retail associate and instructor at Woodcraft of Virginia Beach/Norfolk.
The objects aren't just beautiful. Those at the Woodcraft shop add a special engraving to each one. It's the 988 crisis number.
"[The birds are] something that's tactile, it kind of distracts people in dark times, and this right here is what really makes it," said Jones as he pointed to the engraving.
That's because he knows how important both comfort and support is.
"My era was the Vietnam era, and the rescue operations, and then the Persian Gulf and Beirut," Jones said. "There needed to be something that the guys could hold on to and there's precious little that they can. And I know a lot of these guys with PTSD and a lot of other things. It rears its head at the most inopportune time, you don't know when it's going to happen. Usually when it happens it's the cold, dark night when you're by yourself and things aren't going well. Maybe one of them — I need one guy that would pick this up and call up the 988 and say, 'I need help. Can you help me?'"
Jones has made roughly 70 comfort birds so far. He said about a dozen have already flown the coop.
He plans to grow the flock and hopes to get most of them in the hands of veterans by Christmas.
He's not the only one helping either. The Woodcraft shop has been donating wood and helping with engraving. Jones said others, like Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Mike Davison in Boston, have taken on similar projects.
Seven percent of all veterans will be diagnosed with PTSD at some point in their lives, according to the National Center for PTSD. That number is 29 percent for veterans who served in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. According to the VA's 2023 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Report, as of 2021, an average of 17.5 veterans died by suicide each day. That's up from 16.4 in 2001.
If you or someone you know is struggling or experiencing a mental health crisis, you can call the national crisis hotline at 988.
