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| Project Healing Waters |
7/30/2009 |
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This article also appeared in the st. Paul pioneer press on 7/25/09
Project Healing Waters turns to fly fishing to help in the emotional and physical rehabilitation of veterans
By Paul Smith
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The summer sun is shining brightly on the yellowing lawn behind DOM 123 at the Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Administration Medical Center in Milwaukee.
Now, at midmorning, the air is hot. And growing thicker by the minute.
A half-dozen fly lines etch chartreuse and orange loops overhead, joined by a running string of barbs.
Though an impressive array of angling equipment is on hand, these are not the metal variety.
"I don't think you guys should do this in public," says Mike Martinez, an Army veteran from Waukesha, eyeing the fly-casting form of some fellow veterans. "Just watch me."
Martinez proceeds to cast his line around a limb of a shrub on the landscaped grounds.
"I knew you'd be good at something," says Jim White of Pewaukee, a fellow Army veteran.
Martinez, 63, and White, 59, are among the local participants in Project Healing Waters, a program that utilizes fly-tying and fly fishing to aid in the physical and emotional rehabilitation of veterans.
Veterans at Zablocki have been tying flies every Thursday, and, beginning two weeks ago, learning fly-casting.
Volunteers with Southeast Wisconsin Trout Unlimited run the local program. Mike Kuhr of Milwaukee is leading the effort for the club.
Kuhr describes the program as "Fly fishing 101." It covers the basics of tying flies, casting, reading the water, presenting the fly and catching fish.
The national organization distributes fly-tying and fly-fishing equipment to the local
programs. Local volunteers also contribute gear and time.
Pat Ehlers, owner of The Fly Fishers in West Allis, Wis., and a certified casting instructor, is on hand this morning to teach the session. He has brought along an assortment of fly rods and gear for the veterans to use.
Al Dalphonso of Milwaukee, a Navy veteran and Trout Unlimited member who volunteers at Zablocki, also is on hand to help.
In addition to Martinez and White, veterans participating include Jerry Calmes, 43, an Army veteran from Milwaukee; Rick Loehrl, 60, an Army veteran from Menomonee Falls; Miguel Rodriquez, 34, a Marine veteran from Milwaukee; and Dona Zandt, 50, a Navy veteran from Brookfield.
The group has assembled on the back lawn, adjacent to a vegetable garden and just 100 yards from headstones in the VA cemetery.
They cast between shadows of spruce and maple.
Most of the veterans walk with the aid of a cane. Fly-casting challenges their balance.
"Got to find a way to make it work, just like with anything else," White says.
Ehlers stands at the veterans' shoulders and talks them through the steps.
"If you've never done this before, great," Ehlers says. "Then you have no bad habits."
'A GREAT ADDITION'
Ehlers emphasizes that fly casting is not about strength or power. It's timing and control.
"Hey, Bill, maybe you've got hope," Martinez says to White.
"Boy, I wish I had a hook on this line," White retorts.
The veterans assembled participate in rehabilitation programs of Zablocki's mental health division. The most common conditions treated there are post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and traumatic brain injury.
"It's been a great addition," says Kris Kulas, mental health therapist for the past 21 years at Zablocki. "The guys and gals get a little tired of seeing my face all the time and this brings in new people and new experiences."
The volunteers with Project Healing Waters, Kulas says, made the addition of a new program easy, providing equipment and bodies and expertise.
Zablocki has veterans that span several generations and wars — World War II, Korea, Vietnam and more recent conflicts.
"This program reaches all of them," Kulas says. "That's really important."
And because many of the veterans are outpatients, the fly-fishing skills are especially valuable.
"This is something they can do away from the VA, on their own," Kulas says.
After 15 minutes of practice, Rodriquez shouts over to Ehlers: "Am I getting better?"
Rodriquez is twirling the fly line like a rhythmic gymnast with a ribbon.
"I don't know, but you're definitely getting fancier," Ehlers says.
Though the focus is on teaching angling skills, the program transcends fly fishing.
The veterans tease and laugh and challenge themselves with something new. For a morning, their thoughts are on something other than their past.
"We've got a lot of stuff to hide," says White, a patient in various VA rehabilitation programs since he returned from Vietnam. "Mostly we hide it in humor.
"But you've got to keep positive or you get back into funky thoughts. Fishing is a help."
Loehrl, 60, a Vietnam veteran who served in the 1st Calvary, endures severe pain from past injuries and walks with a cane.
"I'm 25 here," says Loehrl, tapping his temple. "The body is something different."
Ehlers taught Loehrl to say, "Milwaukee Wisconsin" on his backcast before initiating forward movement. The delay allowed the line to straighten and load the rod properly.
Balancing carefully without his cane, Loehrl flicks impressively long casts across the lawn at Zablocki.
It was the first time he's ever held a fly rod.
"This is a blast," Loehrl says.
The veterans are looking forward to a fishing outing later in the summer as part of the program.
"It's a treat to work with the veterans," says Kuhr, 32, an architectural designer with no military experience. "I've got the utmost respect for anyone who has served. This is a great chance for me and other volunteers to show our appreciation and share our love of fly fishing at the same time."
Send e-mail to smith@journalsentinel.com
PROJECT HEALING WATERS
The program was formed in 2004 by Ed Nicholson, a retired Navy captain from Port Tobacco, Va. Nicholson hatched the idea while recovering from an operation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
Quoted in a project document, Nicholson said: "The goal is simple. You have a guy who lost a leg, he's in physical therapy, we get him out there wading a stream, he gets a boost. Or a guy who lost an arm, we start him casting, he has a chance to use his new arm and actually do something that's enjoyable.
"It's good physical therapy, and then there's the emotional part."
The first program targeted veterans at Walter Reed; it is now in place at about 50 sites across the country, said Kuhr.
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