BTM88 - Richard Casper - CreatiVets
Show Summary
On this episode, we feature a conversation with Marine Corps Combat Veteran, Purple Heart recipient, Artist, and Entrepreneur Richard Casper. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of CreatiVets, a non-profit that provides art, music, and writing programs for wounded veterans with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries.
About Today’s Guest
Picture Credit: Jason Myers Photo
Richard Casper is a United States Marine Veteran, Purple Heart recipient, Artist, and Entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and Executive Director of CreatiVets, a non-profit that provides art, music, and writing programs for wounded veterans with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries.
Richard was named a CNN Hero in 2022 and named TIME magazine's Next Generation Leaders in 2017. He is the feature of TIME’s documentary Evidence of Things Unseen, and recognized by President George W. Bush and The Bush Institute for his passion and work helping combat veterans. He was one of thirty-three scholars chosen to be in President Bush’s inaugural Stand-To Veteran Leadership Program.
Richard served in the USMC from 2003-2007. During the first portion of his enlistment, Casper served as Presidential guard at Camp David. Later in 2006-2007 during his tour in Iraq, Richard survived four IED blasts which left him with a left-traumatic brain injury and witnessed the death of his friend which caused his post traumatic stress. After nearly giving up, he discovered art and song-writing as therapeutic forms of expression, and went on to attend and graduate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. From his experiences, he later created art and songwriting programs for CreatiVets to help other combat wounded veterans heal.
Richard has taught art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Virginia Commonwealth University, Belmont University, and the University of Southern California. He is a keynote speaker, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He resides in Nashville TN with his wife Ashley and son Barret.
PsychArmor Resource of the Week
The PsychArmor Resource of the Week is the PsychArmor course Traumatic Brain Injury. TBI is considered a signature wound of the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and its prevalence in military service members and Veterans makes it an important topic to review for those who support veterans.
You can find a link to the resource here: https://learn.psycharmor.org/courses/Traumatic-Brain-Injury
Links Mentioned In This Episode
Theme Music
Our theme music Don’t Kill the Messenger was written and performed by Navy Veteran Jerry Maniscalco, in cooperation with Operation Encore, a non profit committed to supporting singer/songwriter and musicians across the military and Veteran communities.
This Episode Sponsored By:
This episode is sponsored by PsychArmor, the premier education and learning ecosystem specializing in military culture content. PsychArmor offers an online e-learning laboratory with custom training options for organizations.
Producer and Host Duane France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and clinical mental health counselor for service members, veterans, and their families. You can find more about the work that he is doing at www.veteranmentalhealth.com
