Getting ready for a patrol in Afghanistan in 2007.
I served our country for eight years. I served in Iraq and Afghanistan for a total of about 850 days. I fought alongside our nation’s best and brightest. I recall vividly the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the night we motored through the Kuwaiti desert enroute to the Iraqi border and I remember feeling the most intense rush of adrenaline when we arrived and were waived through the berm into hostile territory.
I frequently remember the fear and anxiety of patrolling the southern Helmand Province in Afghanistan in 2007 which was home to the Taliban and a hot bed for insurgent activity. Everything was different in Helmand. The air, the streets, the plains all had a villainous tinge to them. Evil lurked around every corner.
And I could go on. These are my memories of my service to our country – some fond memories but lots of difficult memories. And there are many, many veterans who live each day with even worse memories and trauma. There are so many veterans who don’t have anyone else to talk to or relate to. Sometimes I feel like I am one of those.
So to any veteran out there – please send me a note. Connect with me. Let’s start our own network that allows us to zip line and climb together. Let’s find time to talk about what we did, what we saw, who we miss and remember those that didn’t come home. Let’s come together as a veteran family and overcome those feelings of hurt and difficulty together in a therapeutic way.
I invite you to email me to sign up for a FREE Veterans Therapy Program taking place at Empower Adventures Tampa Bay on January 6th, 2018 starting at 0730. Space is limited so just email me if you’d like to be put on the list. My email is Joe@ZipOnTampaBay.com.
If you have a friend or neighbor who you think could benefit from this program please forward to him/her. We’d love to have them join us.
There is no “catch” and no fee for this although we do have to limit the space. As a veteran I would like to reach out to other veterans. Partly because I would like to meet more who’ve had experiences similar to mine and I hope to help others using the power of adventure sports.