Wounded Warriors having fun in the water. Photos by Joshua Ryan
Butch Freeman is, in some small way, fortunate. In 2004, while serving overseas in Mosul, Iraq, his leg became so damaged that he had to be carried off the battlefield. He almost lost the leg – but, instead, has made an incredible physical recovery.
However, he was unable to do so to the same extent mentally.
Freeman, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, found that one of the ways he was able to cope mentally was by helping others through the Wounded Warrior Project.
The WWP, an organization that focuses on war veterans who have been injured while serving after Sept. 11, 2001, tries to help veterans cope in a world that often seems far too daunting to face after they return from places like Iraq and Afghanistan. They focus on four different categories: the mental aspect, the physical aspect, economic empowerment and engagement. One of the ways they treat veterans is through their annual adaptive water sports festival, the 10th incarnation of which was held in Far Rockaway last weekend.
The festival allows veterans to do a host of water related activities, including surfboarding, scuba diving, and kayaking. The WWP enlisted a host of veterans and other community members to help out. Instructors could be seen helping veterans go scuba diving in a pool, helping veterans catch a wave on a surfboard, and even giving back massages.
Freeman acted as mentor and motivator for other veterans at the event, which gives him a great sense of pride.
Dana Cummings, a Gulf War veteran, founded AmpSurf to help rehabilitate those returning from combat.
“Now it’s my turn to be the guy carrying somebody off the field,” Freeman said.
Michael Richardson, director of physical health and wellness at Wounded Warriors and a veteran himself, said he tried to establish a “new normal” for the warriors and that the main key is ensuring the former military members do not limit themselves. Richardson said the difference between a disability and a challenge for a veteran is that they sometimes put a barrier up to the latter, making it the former.
Not all veterans are like that, though. Dana Cummings, a Gulf War veteran and founder of AmpSurf, wasn’t somebody who took no for an answer. AmpSurf, which helped out on Saturday, is a program that teaches disabled people to ride the waves as a way to rehabilitate. It came about from Cummings’ own experiences. In August of 2002, he lost most of his left leg in combat. After waking up in a hospital, he was asked what he wanted to do. His answer? To surf.
After four months in a hospital, Cummings hooked up with a fellow amputee to go surfing in Pismo Beach, Calif. and was able to accomplish it on his first day, which inspired him.
“If I can do this, anybody can do this,” Cummings said.
Cummings likes surfing, which he says Hawaiians call “the sport of kings,” because it gives him a sense of release.
“The adrenaline starts rushing and you just feel good,” he said.
Wounded Warriors and other volunteers take a break from their water activities.
While the organization and event represent large successes, the damages of war are still all too apparent.
A 2012 study by the Department of Veteran Affairs found that nearly 30% of the more than 800,000 Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans the department has treated suffer from PTSD. A 2011 Pew Research Center survey found that one in 10 veterans has suffered a major physical injury and that three-quarters of those veterans suffered the injury in combat.
Rafael Nieves, an Army veteran who was injured in combat last August, said it is difficult for the general public to understand what soldiers have gone through while serving overseas. One of the ways he has tried to cope with his mental and physical ailments has been to help other veterans and to accept whatever help people try and present to veterans.
A refusal to say no and a willingness to try anything, nurtured by the WWP, also helped him. Initially after his injury, Nieves said he was scared he wouldn’t be able to any of the things he used to be able to do. However, since joining up with WWP, he’s gone surfing, kayaking and fishing. Nieves said that one of the ways he was able to accomplish these things was looking at his own fear, challenging it, and not being a “what if” person.
“The first thing is, if you’re scared to do something, do it,” Nieves said.
A big contributor to the event on Saturday was the FDNY, who provided transport vehicles, assistant to help the veterans in the water, and medical personnel.
“It’s probably the most important thing we can do,” Rico Boletti, a firefighter for Squad 1 in Brooklyn, said. “These guys gave up everything.”
Ragtime Gourmet Market donated food for the hundreds of participants, families and volunteers at the Wounded Warrior Project’s 10th annual adaptive water sports festival in Rockaway last weekend. Photo Courtesy of Ragtime
The festival also got a major boost from Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder (D-Rockaway), who secured a landing dock for the event. After Hurricane Sandy, Wounded Warriors was left without a landing dock to continue a portion of their annual festivities – placing the festival in danger of being altered or cancelled, and Goldfeder worked with community partners and government agencies to securet he use of the new dock at Beach 108th Street.
“Our veterans fought to protect our country, and we are proud to welcome them back to Rockaway,” Goldfeder said. “It has been eight months since Superstorm Sandy ravaged our community, and we could not let the storm prevent us from continuing our traditions of celebrating our Wounded Warriors.”
Additionally, Angela Gurino and his wife, Annmarie, of Ragtime Gourmet Market, supported the festival for the fifth year in a row. The store has been supplying the food for the event for the last five years.
This year, they fed more than 300 of the festival’s participants, as well as their families, and festival volunteers – including those from the NYPD, FDNY and local volunteer firehouses. The two served tray after tray of pasta, chicken, meatballs, sausage, eggplant, broccoli rabe, salads, and more.
By Joshua Ryan
