J.P. Cormier song on PTSD hits home with veterans, families

A Nova Scotia musician's song about veterans and their families dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder is hitting home for thousands of people around the world.

J.P. Cormier, of Westville, released Hometown Battlefield less than two weeks ago and since then has heard from thousands of people in the U.S., Denmark, Ukraine, France and Australia.

"This song came out and it even surprises me," he told CBC News on Wednesday. "I'm not sure how or where it came from really."

The lyrics tell the story of a soldier returning from deployment with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"We thought the war was over but the headlines do reveal that another soldier died today on the hometown battlefield," Cormier sings.

Cormier asked for photos from veterans and their families to include in a YouTube video of the song. Within hours, they were pouring into his inbox from around the country and the world.

The version of Hometown Battlefield that includes the veterans' pictures has already gotten more than 8,000 hits on YouTube. The studio recording posted to Cormier's Facebook page has more than a million hits.

Lisa Conrod's husband served two tours in the Middle East. She sent Cormier her husband's photo for the video.

"It's just one of those unspoken things that we just knew that song was honest," she said.

"It opens up a lot of topics we need to talk about. It could save lives."

Cormier said he wrote the song hoping to open a conversation about something many people are afraid to talk about. 

He said 20 per cent of profits from all iTunes sales will be going to Paws Fur Thought, a group that provides service dogs for veterans with PTSD.