Wide net is cast for vets, first responders
LAKE GENEVA – There are more difficult skills to learn than fishing with a spinning rod and reel.
And certainly Javier Luna, a 32-yearold former U.S. Army sergeant and veteran of two deployments to Iraq, has had tougher challenges in his military career and personal life.
But if you've never handled an openfaced spinning reel before, it's a big help to have an experienced friend show you the ropes.
Luna got just such assistance last Sunday from Rob Johnson, 51, a former Army Ranger.
After a few practice casts on a grass lawn, Luna turned his attention to the lake at Lakewood WWV Camp near Lake Geneva.
Johnson tied a Texas-rigged rubber worm to the end of the line and told Luna to expect to feel ticks and snags as the bait contacted weeds.
On his seventh cast from shore – Johnson was counting – Luna felt the line move in a different way.
"Something was tugging," Luna said. "And I pulled back. Then I said 'Oh, I've really got something.'”
He really did. A 32-inch-long northern pike splashed at the surface and then bull-dogged to the bottom. Eventually Luna led the fish to shore and Johnson landed it.
For a beginning angler, the learning curve rarely goes so quickly from "this is what a spinning reel looks like" to "here's how to hold a big, toothy northern you just caught." And precious few people can claim a dandy pike as their first fish. But don't confuse rare with random. Luna was taking part in a Wisconsin Hero Outdoors event at Lakewood. His appearance Sunday in Lake Geneva, as with the other 50 people on hand, was the result of a series of willful actions and events.
Consider, too, that the most valuable catches on such outings may not be measured in inches of fish but in time spent outdoors in the company of fellow veterans and first responders and in deepened human connections with friends and mentors.
Such possibilities are among the founding principles of WHO, a non-profit organization based in Waukesha.
The group seeks to use the camaraderie of outdoor activities to address the physical and mental health challenges brought on by the stresses of service. It has focused its programs on military veterans, first responders and their families.
The idea for the group is traced to 2016 when WHO co-founders – U.S. Air Force vet Jason Bartol, 43, of Wind Lake, Marine vet Eric Falkner, 37, of Pewaukee, and Army vet Johnson, 51, of Barrington, Illinois
– met through kayak fishing.
Falkner, who is also a former firefighter, was battling alcoholism and depression at the time. He entered a substance abuse program at Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee.
At the suggestion of a VA staff member, Falkner called Bartol, who had also been in treatment at the facility. Bartol invited Falkner on a weekend fishing outing that proved life-changing.
It helped turn Falkner's isolation and despair toward healing and optimism.
WIthin two years, Johnson – who had experience leading another group called Heroes on the Water – and Bartol and Falkner formally established WHO as a 501(c)(3) non-profit.
The organization has grown rapidly; through the first eight months of 2019 it has hosted 20 events.
That's also part of WHO's philosophy. "We didn't want to be a one-and-done type of outfit," Johnson said. "We want to help form a community and build relationships, become a continuing part of people's lives."
By the end of this year, the roster of vets and first responders who will have attended a WHO event is on track to reach 500 individuals.
The organization has worked to leverage the skills of many and actively works with other groups. It has a close relationship with the Zablocki VA, which provides a bus to take members of its in-patient treatment programs to WHO events.
Thirty-one vets from Zablocki made the trip Sunday to Lake Geneva.
WHO is also working on outings with
the veterans facilities in Madison, Tomah and Chicago.
It has joined with Veterans on the Fly, Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin, Adaptive Sportsmen, Inc. and other groups for events, too.
"You can't do it alone," Falkner said. "Anybody who wants to accomplish the same mission we want to link arms with."
It remains all-volunteer; no one is paid for organizing or leading an event. And vets and first responders and their families don't pay a penny to participate.
To that end, WHO has worked to attract sponsors, including Northwestern Mutual, Waterstone Bank, Husar's Jewelry, Tabak Law, Waukesha County Community Foundation, Wisconsin Freemasons and Wisconsin Athletic Club Fund.
Courtney Zeller, a recreational therapist at Zablocki who has attended about 10 WHO events, said the group has created exceptional programs.
"It's run by veterans who have gone through similar things to our vets," Zeller said. "Their compassion really shows and helps our vets build their social support network so they feel they have a community around them, that whatever they are dealing with there is someone there and they are not alone."
The Sunday event at Lakewood helped highlight WHO's success as it works to cast a wider net and provide more programs.
It recently formed an agreement with the owners of Lakewood, a private 336acre facility which runs a golf club for paid members as well as a non-profit for military veterans.
The property features a lake, golf
course and horse stables.
On Sunday, WHO participants groomed horses, played golf, fished, ate lunch, played games on the lawn, walked the trails and sat along the shore and just enjoyed the view.
It had the feeling of a family reunion. For Luna, who was in treatment for substance abuse and still deals with PTSD and depression, it was his second WHO outing. The first he watched people fly fishing.
This time, after another invitation from Johnson, he decided to give spin fishing a try.
"Exercise and being outdoors is the best for me," Luna said. "This outing gave me a good dose of nature."
Luna, who's been sober for 2 years and 4 months, wants to help other vets get involved with WHO.
He might even serve as a mentor. He's not only gained skills at casting and hooking fish. Johnson gave him a lesson at proper catch and release, too.
After a few quick photos of the pike, Johnson instructed Luna to put the fish back in the water while holding it upright. He then gently moved the northern back and forth to help put water through its gills. Seconds later, the fish swam off.
Luna handled it all with an ease that would have made his former sergeants proud.
"I'll be back," Luna said. "Got to beat that 32."
It's tough to predict whether an event will become a life-changer.
But given the history of WHO, it would be wise to never discount the value of an outdoor experience.