Twenty years after Sept. 11, a group of post-9/11 combat veterans received a special trip to honor their service in the fight against terrorism.
Platte Rivers Veterans Fly Fishing, a 10-year-old all-volunteer nonprofit veterans support organization, took 19 veterans to New Mexico on Friday for a weekend of fly fishing on the San Juan River.
The veterans were joined by a retired New York City firefighter who worked at Ground Zero, plus eight others — fishing guides and mentors to help with the logistics and organization. The group left Friday morning from Fort Collins, headed toward southwest Colorado and into the Navajo Dam in the four corners.
Platte Rivers Veterans Fly Fishing has a motto of ‘water holds no scars,’ using fly fishing and the group setting as a means of therapy to help a veteran who might be having a difficult time.
Most of the veterans served by PRVFF are from northern Colorado and Wyoming. The trip is paid for through donations, said PRVFF president Joe O’Connor, a Loveland resident. O’Connor, 53, came across the organization about six years ago and became good friends with founder Duane Cook, who died in December.
“I want to take my passion for fly fishing to a level that help others,” O’Connor said. “We want to make sure the future of Platte Rivers continues to prosper and grow.”
Fort Collins resident Kevin Sheehan spent 20 years as a firefighter in New York City before retiring in 2003. Sheehan worked at Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, where he lost about 25 close friends from the fire department.
Sheehan said he learned about the healing powers of water after Sept. 11. Living on Long Island, and while still working with FDNY, Sheehan took a job in a village on Fire Island on the southern part of Suffolk County.
Sheehan used the proximity to the Atlantic Ocean as a place to go when he needed a break to think or cry as he continued to process the trauma of Sept. 11.
“It was beneficial for me,” Sheehan said. “The Atlantic Ocean holds no scars, and any time I had a super bad day, I’d site on the steps and look at the Atlantic. I’d sit there and clear my mind, and it helped me work things out emotionally.”
When Sheehan and his family relocated to Colorado in 2006, he worked for O’Connor and became familiar with fly fishing. O’Connor later told Sheehan about Platte Rivers, mentioning veterans from Long Island were involved. Sheehan was interested enough to give it a try.
“I might not know everything about fly fishing, but at least I could be there for some conversation,” he said. “It was good for me and good for the veterans. I see them fish and I see the smiles on their faces, and it’s so pleasing to me and refreshing to me that these guys get something out of this.”
Sheehan said while PRVFF is a good resource for veterans, there are other organization available to help. Sheehan mentioned Veterans Crisis Line at www.veteranscrisisline.net/, which is free and confidential.
September is suicide prevention month, and additional information is also available through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Veterans may connect with the crisis line by phone, text or online chat. There is also support for veterans who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The Veterans Crisis Line has answered more than 5.6 million calls and initiated the dispatch of emergency services to callers in crisis more than 204,000 times since its launch in 2007, according to the website.
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