Our Mission

We believe in the transformative power of story. Through dialogue, workshop, and performance, veterans, first responders, and their families gain new understanding about themselves and the world around them. Empowered, they seek integration back into the community, and at the same time the community gains new perspective and understanding about what it means to serve. 
Group photo

Our Mission

We believe in the transformative power of story. Through dialogue, workshop, and performance, veterans, first responders, and their families gain new understanding about themselves and the world around them. Empowered, they seek integration back into the community, and at the same time the community gains new perspective and understanding about what it means to serve. 
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Our Projects

Veteran's Creative Writing Workshop

All Writers Welcome

Poetry, Prose, Creative Nonfiction and everything in between...

Thursdays 4pm - 6pm PST

Online via Zoom.
Must be registered to join.

Register via Email

The Letters Project

ArtsUP! LA and Returning Soldiers Speak are calling for letters and correspondence written by military personnel to members of their family and friends during times of war. The letters and correspondence should embody the hopes, fears, and observations of those deployed during wartime from the Civil War to Operation Freedom’s Sentinel (1 January 2015 to 30 August 2021).

The letters and correspondence will be the inspiration for an original theater performance.

Learn More

Open Mic

Coming Soon

An opportunity to share stories, poetry, music, dialogue—and everything in between—in an open and supportive community.

More information will be available soon.

Don't forget to check the website, or email us for additional information.

Email Us

Our Story

Since the inception of Returning Soldiers Speak, we have held the belief that a neutral space allows our veterans to express their views and stories without fear of being judged or rejected. If we had said, “We are a liberal organization,” then the veteran with conservative views might have turned away. If we had said, “We are a conservative organization,” then the veteran with liberal views might have fled. It does not matter to us if the veteran’s views are to the left or to the right or in the middle of the political spectrum. What has always mattered is that we offer a safe place for veterans to write their stories, and a venue for them to tell their stories, to speak their truths.
Group photo

Our Story

Since the inception of Returning Soldiers Speak, we have held the belief that a neutral space allows our veterans to express their views and stories without fear of being judged or rejected. If we had said, “We are a liberal organization,” then the veteran with conservative views might have turned away. If we had said, “We are a conservative organization,” then the veteran with liberal views might have fled. It does not matter to us if the veteran’s views are to the left or to the right or in the middle of the political spectrum. What has always mattered is that we offer a safe place for veterans to write their stories, and a venue for them to tell their stories, to speak their truths.