Hello,
My name is Dan, and I am a U.S. Army veteran and founder of Shameless Shield. I’ve spent a total of nearly 12 combined years as either a public service volunteer fireman or as a combat medic in the Army doing my best as part of a trained team to protect my country and community. Even today I still serve my community as a passenger locomotive engineer where I help get thousands of people safely home and to work, or out for a night on the town.

In the fire service I was a volunteer and helped in training and rescue and held many certifications and ran many calls. I found it to be one of the greatest joys of my life as a volunteer. I belonged to the Stevens Creek Volunteer Fire Department out of Cupertino CA and started serving in the emergency medical service in 2001 after I nearly lost my own life to a foolish accident and never looked back.

I enlisted in the army in 2010 after unsuccessfully chasing a paying fire career for nearly 8 years. I figured some veterans preference points, and a college degree might tip the odds in my favor, but it never materialized. So, I enlisted as a 68W, or healthcare specialist and distinguished myself in both basic and advanced individual training and earned awards in both my warrior tasks and my specialties.

In 2011 I shipped out to Afghanistan and had a very enlightening year overseas, got hurt, pushed through, and came back. After returning I started having trouble with my chain of command and regular folks. My orders changed, and I was honorably discharged.

During this time, I also got married and started a family. I was having enormous trouble coping with being a husband and father, finding work after the military, having relationships with anyone. My wife stuck by me, and we welcomed our second son. I started with the railroad, and we started to bounce around. My behavior got worse, I drank, smoked, was nasty for no reason.

It was not until about 2018 that I finally found my way to the PTSD clinical team at the VA and started treatment. I can say that it saved my life and my family. Especially instrumental to that is my art therapy, which I am offering to everyone, to bring attention to this tremendous need. Today 22 veterans die every day to suicide, many more of us just fade away not knowing how to cope with our demons or how to find our way back home. This was my story until a few months ago and then art therapy changed my life.

It is my goal through these NFT’s, starting with some of my own pieces, that I put forth on my road to recovery the hope to serve once again my veteran community, my brothers and sisters in any form of service. I do not care if you are a tier 4 operative or a postal carrier, if you serve then you have likely suffered. I call on you to seek the help you need and join me in bringing awareness to these issues, show your scars through your art, so we can come together in our healing. I’ll be donating 15% of proceeds from these NFT’s to 22 Until None, Pass The Boot, Fallen Firefighters Fund, Gold Star Initiative and would humbly ask any who joins me to do the same.

Thank you,
Dan