DJ educates civilians and builds military morale

Marisa Petrich/Northwest Guardian

Deborah Semer knows that some things are just necessary — and one of those things is music.

Semer, a Seattle-based music industry professional by day, is also known as DJ Hooah. Like many DJs she provides the music for parties and events, but she does so specifically for the military community. For her, it’s a public service for the group that serves the most.

“They deserve it,” Semer said. “They need it.”

In fact, things started by chance a few years back when she was working on a different project to help servicemembers. At the time, she was married to a Soldier working with wounded warriors on Ward 57 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Semer wanted to do something to help, too, so she started the nonprofit Operation Ward 57 to raise funds and provide support for those on the ward.

Semer, who managed bands and worked in the music industry for years, brought famous artists to visit and sometimes perform for the troops, and in 2007 she planned a Christmas party to boost morale — but at the last minute it was decided that live music would be too disruptive and the bands were canceled.

She knew a party wasn’t a party without music playing, so Semer took matters into her own hands and decided to DJ the event herself.

“That’s how the idea got started, just sort of out of necessity,” she said.

The idea snowballed, and since then Semer has worked everything from major military balls to individual homecoming parties. She says that servicemembers are her favorite group of people to work for.

“They’re the best audience,” Semer said. “They love their music, and they know their music very well.”

She loves the diverse mix of people and musical tastes she gets to interact with at military events now, but there was a time when such things weren’t even on her radar. In spite of growing up in Puyallup near Joint Base Lewis-McChord, she knew almost nothing about Soldiers and their lives until she met a few at a show for a band she was managing.

Semer was at a benefit concert for the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 when she saw two big, bald men in the crowd. One was wearing an Iraq T-shirt, so she started asking questions.

“I was just fascinated,” she said. “That’s when it hit me — I just met someone that changed my world.”

Now she chooses to pay attention, and she wishes other civilians would as well.

“I didn’t know it or understand it before,” Semer said.

For her, giving back to servicemembers has nothing to do with politics. She hopes that other civilians won’t let their feelings about the war get in the way of their support of the military, but she knows in order for that to happen they need to be reminded that servicemembers are real people.

Now that she's aware, she’ll never forget it. And she chooses to give back using the most healing thing she knows.

“Music is one of the most powerful forces that we have,” she said. “It’s critical for celebration, for death ... We use music for worship. We use music for every aspect of our lives.”

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To learn more about Deborah Semer and DJ Hooah, visit www.deborahsemer.com