This slideshow requires JavaScript.

By K.D. Norris

ken@wktv.org

Electric Forest, on first glance, may be a strange place for military veterans to get their heads straight, their lives moving forward, but stories of aimless Vietnam veterans who found themselves by taking the dirt road to the first Woodstock festival in 1969 have become the stuff of generational legend and film documentary.

So it is not surprising that the Electric Forces veterans support effort at the annual West Michigan music festival has become a vital part of the rainbow fabric of the music, arts and cultural event.

And this year, under the wishful thinking of Michigan resident, veteran and longtime Forest Family member Angela — at the festival, first names are all that’s really needed — in partnership with Electric Forest’s Wish Machine, more veterans than ever before found a home in The Forest.

Invited to make the Forces program more understood and accessible to West Michigan veterans, WKTV interviewed six members: Charles, 25, a U.S. Marines veteran; Jeremy, 23, U.S. Navy; Jessica, 32, U.S. Army; Kyle, 30, Army; Greg, 28, Army; and Nate, 36, Navy.

The six come from different parts of the county — one identified himself as being a “gypsy — as well as different military and life experiences, and, when you drill-down, different reasons for plugging into the Forces. But when you listen, all six talk about the “community” they have become part of.

“There is a community here, I think,” said Kyle, who served until 2009 and has been at the festival five times over the years. There is “a veteran’s community, a community of people I have met. … I came to (Electric Forest) back when I got out, and that was such a big part of my healing process. Coming back to the forest has just become automatic.”

The Electric Forces program started in 2013, and it has grown in both size and scope over the years. And, while it may morph as years pass, it will likely continue.

“Electric Forest HQ is committed to continuing the Electric Forces program, collaborating with those veterans who have been with us since the beginning, and providing expanded opportunities for new veterans to join the experience,” Jeremy Stein, Electric Forest founder and director with Madison House Presents, said to WKTV.

“As we have understood from the program’s inception, Electric Forces will continue to evolve. Each year we gain a deeper understanding of what kinds of experiences and opportunities are of most value to our young veterans, both as individuals and as a community, and about how the program and the festival community as a whole can best support.”

The continuing evolution of Electric Forces

Initially, and still, veterans can apply to use their skills and willingness to learn to be part of the “build crew,” which quite literally builds the stages, temporary buildings and pathways, and whatever else needs to be built on the grounds of the Double JJ Ranch in Rothbury, which has hosted Electric Forest festival annually since 2011. (There was a music festival on the site for two years prior to Electric Forest.)

But the Electric Forces also includes participants who work in artist relations, visitor hospitality, and high tech and sound engineering.

And this year, the continued expansion of the Electric Forces program was also the first wish granted by Electric Forest’s “Wish Machine”, a new-in-2018 fan participation initiative which encourages the Forest Family to “spread positivity beyond the Forest and into their everyday lives,” according to supplied material.

The Wish Machine “called upon everyday heroes to be the change they wish for in the world” by asking fans to submit ideas, specifically what they were willing to do to have their wish granted.

And that means more stories like those of Nate, Greg, Jessica, Charles and Jeremy.

Every picture tells a story, don’t it?

While all of the veterans in the Forces contribute their past experiences, their personal story, to the festival, some are looking to the future as well.

Nate, who got out of the service in 2017, is now going to school for radio production, so being at the Forest is a chance to get real-world career experience, make some connections — to become part of another “community.”

“I am working with the sound engineers on the Jubilee Stage … actually three or four of the stages … doing everything that goes into he sound,” he said. “A lot of the technical stuff we have been learning at school, this is an opportunity to get hand’s on.”

For others, the jam/EDM/alt-eclectic musical mix at Electric Forest provide healing sounds.

“The Forest, the concerts, I think, are a real healing place,” said Greg, who has been to the Forest once befoe, in 2012, before being accepted into the Forces program. “I used to go to concerts every weekend. It would help me destress. The dancing really helped me feel less depressed and more energetic.”

For some, it is a place to help veterans who are often overlooked when it comes to veterans support programs.

“Being a female veteran can be a little hard, because you sometimes get overlooked,” said Jessica, who is in her first year with the Forces but had been to the Forest previously. “There are female veterans out there, but we don’t necessarily ask for help too much because most people don’t know what we are going through. … Female veterans have issues too.”

Others see the ethos of the festival as being not unlike that in the military, you bring something to the team; you get something from the team.

“I bring a sense of ownership to the festival. There is a good culture here where you take care of the space, you clean up after yourself, you take care of each other,” said Charles, in his second year with the Forces, “Coming from the military, that is very easy for us.”

For some, the ultimate goal is to connect with people: veterans connecting with non-veterans, and veterans with other veterans.

“I like putting our name out there, letting people know we are here and what we are about,” said Jeremy, who is new to the Forces this year. “Also, on the therapy side of Electric Forces, I would say I am kind of like a rock — that has been my role in most people’s lives. I was, like a shoulder to lean on. I don’t judge what is going on. I just let if flow naturally.

“Being in a group of veterans who have, pretty much, gone through what you are going through, the same thing or something very similar, even if you do not know the person … you know the person.”

That is the way it is with veterans; that is the way it is, often, at the festival.

An opportunity for veterans

For more information on Electric Forces, and to sign up to receive info on how to be considered for participation in 2019, visit here.