-Submitted photo
U.S. Army veteran Anthony Martin, of Meservey, is shown with one of his wood carvings.

MESERVEY — When soldiers return home from serving overseas, many struggle to immerse themselves back into civilian life. While there are programs available to help them assimilate to their newfound veteran status, many men and women battle inner strife, external injuries and issues others can’t even imagine.

Anthony Martin, of Meservey, served in the U.S. Army for 14 years. He embarked upon tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. His dad, his uncle and numerous relatives on his dad’s side dedicated themselves to serving in the military and fought in time of conflict, Martin said.

“My uncle was in Desert Storm and stabbed right above his heart. Seeing him leave before going overseas and coming home after drove me to serve, too,” Martin said.

While serving on one of his tours, Martin was on a mission when a recovery round hit the vehicle in front of him.

“I was a casualty of the blast. I ended up having eight vertebrae fused, my hip operated on and other issues like treatment for PTSD. I even attempted suicide. My recovery took roughly 32 months total,” Martin said. “I struggle today when the temperature changes, for example.”

-Submitted photo
After returning home from a tour of duty with physical injuries as well as post-traumatic stress disorder, Anthony Martin, a U.S. Army veteran, eventually found an outlet in chainsaw carving to help him cope with his “inner demons.” These eagles are samples of his work.

When Martin came home, he spent nearly three years in a hospital for treatment and recovery of his injuries. While in the state of Washington for treatment and recovery at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Martin discovered there were chainsaw carvings and coffee shops on seemingly every corner.

“I wanted to start my own business but while in recovery, my legs would give out and I was in a wheelchair, so a coffee shop wouldn’t work. I watched a guy carve wood at a post exchange and was hooked. I came home with a love of coffee and chainsaw carving,” Martin said.

In fact, watching chainsaw carving became therapeutic for him.

“I had to wear a monitor to track my sleep patterns and my heart rate would tell if I was having nightmares. They noticed that my sleep changed dramatically, my morale started changing, and my medical team was like, ‘What’s going on?’ I told them it was chainsaw carving.

“They were going to surgically insert a TENS unit on my spine but the surgery date conflicted with a carving competition I chose to go to instead. (TENS stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, a back pain treatment that uses low voltage electric current to relieve pain.)

“Since I was high risk, I had to explain to the medical team why I missed my surgery date,” Martin said. “They all laughed when they heard it was for a chainsaw carving competition, but the colonel said that since I had no life, no future, they needed to set me up for success and chainsaw carving appeared to be the way.”

So the insightful colonel connected Martin to a chainsaw artist who was carving on the base and that sparked something in him.

When he was released from the hospital, Martin came home to Iowa after the Military Warrior Support Foundation’s Homes4WoundedHeroes program donated a house to him in Ankeny.

But he was still struggling with his “inner demons.”

When his younger brother asked for Martin’s help with a project making a log cedar table measuring 16 feet by 5.5 feet for his fraternity, those eight months lost in the project inspired him to start Logs4Heroes.

In fact, Martin shocked his then girlfriend (now his wife, Autumn) by being willing to battle the crowds at the Iowa State Fair to observe the chainsaw artists there. Normally, he avoided big crowds.

“Andy Klindt, the artist, ended up connecting me to all these other guys. I went to Mowbility and they helped hook me up with what I needed and now, I’ve been doing this for 12 years,” Martin said.

Logs4Heroes, an organization that creates chainsaw carvings to be presented to the families of Iowa soldiers and veterans who have lost their lives in battle or after returning back home, has not only helped Martin, but others as well. He also creates chainsaw carvings for first responders, law enforcement and fire and rescue personnel.

“When we have trees donated to us for a memorial, such as a soldier’s cross, I’ll ask the guys where it came from and we share that information with the family, the history of the wood used to make their carving. We also tell the wood donors a bit about the family who receives the carving using their wood,” Martin said.

But Martin’s compassion doesn’t end there. He uses the sawdust from his chainsaw carving sculptures as compost mixed with leaves and soil to fertilize a large garden his family has. Martin’s family includes his wife and their four daughters.

The produce raised in the garden is then donated to veterans as well as community members in need of produce. Last year, they grew four different kinds of popcorn, sweet corn, five varieties of cantaloupe, three types of watermelon, six lines of tomatoes, seven types of squash, six potato varieties, 34 different types of peppers, herbs, rhubarb, cucumbers, asparagus, beans, cabbage, carrots, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplants and more.

“We also have chickens and might get into meat birds, possibly donating chicken along with the vegetables,” Martin said.

In addition to honoring fellow soldiers who have lost their lives and helping veterans in need of a helping hand from his garden, Martin also wants to show veterans that instead of sitting and playing video games or watching movies at home, they can do anything they put their mind to.

“Iowa is the No. 1 state for suicide among veterans. There are veteran groups out there that try to help, but they’re not putting a dent in it. A lot of vets come home and struggle; they isolate themselves in a small town or rural part of the state and we need to do more, to do better and help them. We need to, as a community, look and see what we can do to help our vets.”

Some seasonal and commissioned carvings are sold to cover the cost of the battle crosses that Logs4Heroes gives to families of the fallen. Anyone interested in learning more about Logs4Heroes can visit their Facebook page at Facebook.com/Logs4Heroes.