Art Helped Him Survive The Trauma Of War — Now He Uses Art To Help Veterans Heal (+podcast)

(Nashville, TN) When Richard Casper closes his eyes and paints, he’s not just creating art — he’s talking to God. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Purple Heart recipient, and co-founder of Creative Vets, a Nashville-based national nonprofit helping wounded veterans heal through art and music, has lived a story that can only be described as divinely orchestrated.

Rather hear the conversation? 

“I shouldn’t even be here,” Richard says. “But God had other plans.”

 

Richard grew up in a tiny Illinois town of just over a thousand people — the kind where everyone knows everyone and faith is often the only thing that keeps you going. Life wasn’t easy. Money was tight. His family struggled.

“I didn’t have role models. I just knew I wanted something different,” he recalls.

Then came September 11, 2001. Watching the attacks on TV, 18-year-old Richard felt a calling stronger than fear.

Two weeks after graduating high school, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps — not knowing that decision would lead him through pain, purpose, and ultimately, a miraculous healing journey.

Richard’s first assignment was unlike any other: he was selected for an elite program known as “Yankee White,” serving at Camp David, protecting President George W. Bush.

“I was just this small-town kid suddenly working in the President’s backyard,” he laughs. “But while I was standing guard in the mountains, my brothers were fighting — and dying — overseas. I couldn’t stay behind.”

So Richard volunteered for deployment to Iraq.

In 2006, he arrived in Fallujah, one of the most dangerous places on earth. Within four months, his Humvee was blown up four times. He suffered a traumatic brain injury, and his close friend Luke Jebson was killed right beside him.

“When Luke died, a part of me died too,” Richard says. “I came home, but I wasn’t really home.”

At 22, Richard returned to Illinois a different man — haunted by memories, crippled by anxiety, and unsure where God was in all of it.

He tried college, mostly to fill the days. Art was the last thing on his mind. But when an art teacher challenged him to paint what he felt, something extraordinary happened.

“When I painted about Luke, I felt peace for the first time in years. I realized God was healing me through creativity.”

Those brushstrokes became prayers — visual psalms of pain and hope. Through painting, Richard began to see that the same God who protected him in battle was now guiding him toward purpose.

Richard’s journey eventually took him to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the top art schools in the country — a leap of faith he couldn’t afford but felt called to take.

“I was broke, scared, and felt totally out of place,” he remembers. “But every time I doubted, God reminded me why I was there.”

Through art, and later through songwriting in Nashville, Richard found a new mission: helping other veterans find healing through creativity and faith.

In 2013, he co-founded CreatiVets, a nonprofit that pairs veterans with professional songwriters, artists, and storytellers to transform trauma into beauty. Veterans have written songs with country legends like Vince Gill and Craig Morgan, capturing stories of loss, faith, and redemption.

“We’ve had veterans walk in planning to end their lives,” Richard says softly. “But through creating, through connecting with others — they find hope again. That’s God at work.”

For years, Richard dreamed of giving Creative Vets a permanent home. There was an old church in Nashville he’d driven by countless times.

“Every time I saw it, God whispered, ‘That’s supposed to be yours.’”

When the church finally went up for sale in 2023, CreatiVets didn’t have the money — but Richard had faith.

He prayed. He waited. And then the miracles began.

Donations poured in, including a $1 million gift from actor Gary Sinise, who wanted to honor his late son. Within weeks, the organization raised over $3 million.

“It was like God said, ‘I told you I’d take care of it.’”

Today, that church stands as a beacon of hope — soon to become CreatiVets’ new headquarters, where veterans will paint, write, sing, and rediscover faith.

Through it all, Richard’s message has remained simple — and powerful:

“If you feel like you’re not where you’re supposed to be, but you know God put you there, just keep trusting Him. You might not see it yet, but He’s already working things out.”

 

From the battlefield to the art studio, Richard Casper’s story is proof that God can turn even the deepest wounds into works of grace.

And with every song written and every canvas painted, more veterans are finding what Richard found:
That healing isn’t just possible — it’s promised.

Richard Casper’s journey is featured in TIME Magazine’s documentary Evidence of Things Unseen, a moving exploration of faith, trauma, and the creative spirit. Learn more at creativevets.org.