Marine vet, musician takes stand against veteran suicide

You may not know who John Preston is now, but this Marine veteran may very well be on a fast track to becoming a household name through his newest album that is intended to raise awareness about veteran issues that are being ignored.

Born on a farm in Kentucky, Preston uses “an edgy mix of acoustic guitar and piano rock” to tell his story. Preston currently serves as a firefighter but before fighting fires he served as a Marine and deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

He experienced his first taste of success as a musician when he was still in Iraq when a song and video he made called “Good, Good, America” for his battalion was covered by LA times. After returning home from Iraq, Preston recorded his first single with Real2reel records and was nominated for an LA Music Award in 2007 with his band HWY 42.

Preston’s newest EP, rightfully titled “Your War Is Over,” was created to raise awareness about veterans suffering from PTSD and veteran suicide.  It is currently available on iTunes for download.  Preston understands what his fellow combat vets are going through and expresses it through his songs “This is War” and “Your War Is Over.”

Just last week, a veteran committed suicide in the parking lot of the Phoenix VA and another veteran killed himself after being accidently told by doctors that he was terminally ill.

We asked Preston how this recent news has had an impact on him and he responded by saying,

“The shame of it is, those days that the veterans took their lives there were 21 others that also took theirs. My goal is to make this topic mainstream. The people need to know and understand what we the veteran are going through. We are the backbone and protectors of this great nation and deserve to be heard when asking for help.”

Preston referenced a sad but true figure; twenty two veterans commit suicide every day.

He continued to say, “I am going to do all that I can to spread the message. I will not stop until our music is in the ears of every person in our country and they have had a chance to hear our cries.”

Preston encourages any veteran who is having thoughts of suicide to seek help.

“Find me, call me, and message me! We love you and you are important, you are one of this nation’s heroes and you have sacrificed enough.”

You can message Preston and stay up to date with his music through his Facebook page.

Preston is signed to Pacific Records and cites The Beatles, Billy Joel, and Elton John, to Ben Folds, Garth Brooks and Tupac Shakur as his influences.