As Crawshaw tells it, Nicholson asked permission to take the soldier fly fishing one weekend.
“The emotional rehabilitation was so dramatic that he was asked if he could take seven more the following weekend,” Crawshaw said.
The Salem project, among the first in the nation, began shortly after. Now there are more than 250 programs serving both men and women nationwide.
Many veterans, Beheler included, are trying to cope with the stresses of day-to-day life outside the military, Crawshaw said. All of them, regardless of what conflict or war they served in, share a common connection. Some have lost limbs while others have traumatic brain injuries. Most have post-traumatic stress.
“Fly fishing is a simple sport that gives them serenity and solitude,” Crawshaw said.
Beheler, who was medically retired from the Navy after serving six years, wholeheartedly agrees. Although he still suffers from nightmares and has moments when he gets easily irritated, when there’s a fly rod in his hand, Beheler is in a good place.
“When I’m doing this, I don’t think about any of those things,” he said. “It’s very rewarding. It’s all I think about, really.”
Scott Barrier, who owns the Bent Mountain property with his wife, Helen, opened his spring-fed pond to veterans in the Project Healing Waters program shortly after meeting Crawshaw. He keeps it stocked with brook, rainbow and brown trout. With its short pier and gentle slope to the water’s edge, the pond is perfect for veterans who might be unable to navigate the steep, uneven terrain found on most riverbanks.
Credit: Source link
