By Mac Minard, Executive Director
Montana Outfitters and Guides Association
I want to share with you a brief account of an amazing experience we have just had serving a Montana Veteran under the Big Hearts under the Big Sky program run by the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association.
John and his three children (two girls ages 15 and 14) and his son age 11, recently traveled to a MOGA members lodge for a week of elk hunting, family time and to just get away from the daily strain of the world today.
John joined the Army and had graduated boot camp just three days before 9/11/01, a date that forever changed the lives of American Service men and women. Plans for the immediate future were placed on hold and family time was at a premium or non-existent. See John, like every other veteran who has voluntarily signed up to serve our Nation in a time of war had is so doing issued a blank check made payable to ‘The United States of America’ for an amount of “up to and including his life” while in service to our country.
John’s time in Afghanistan was unique in some ways in that he was assigned to the NATO command and served as an international soldier. There he saw first hand the progress American and troops from other nation’s troops were making in the war on terror and creating a better place for the people of Afghanistan.
Unfortunately, and not unique to service men and women serving in combat today, closely detonated IED’s left him disabled with a variety of physical ailments and suffering the symptoms of PTSD, a very real affection not visible to those around him. Depression and anxiety were/are his constant companions.
Upon his return home to Montana John struggled. He found it hard to get a job, money was tight and things were not going well. . He was concerned about the stigma some people associate with soldiers diagnosed with PSTD. Eventually John accepted an invitation by the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) to a function and began exploring ways to receive help.
WWP is an affiliate partner in the Big Hearts under the Big Sky program (BHUBS). BHUBS is dedicated to providing outdoor experiences to children who suffer a life threatening illness, service men and women who have provided extraordinary service to our country and women who have suffered breast cancer. WWP refers candidates to us and MOGA provides the dream adventure they desire. Our focus in on the family and the fishing or hunting trip is really a backdrop for that experience. We create an environment where families like John’s can come together on neutral ground and rediscover the things they did before military service and before injury. The kids see dad out doing the things they remember him enjoying and they have time together away from the daily strain and in a setting of fellowship and support.
John’s elk hunt was a stunning success. The family dug for crystals, they went fishing for trout, visited an old ghost town and hunted elk, all the while sharing some quality family time in a safe and supportive environment.
To see the difference and the way a family responds when afforded the chance to come together is life changing for all involved. Surrounded by people who are there to honor his service and the sacrifice he and his family have endured on our behalf has a profound and positive impact. By the end of the week many great family memories had been made and the family left with an understanding that there are many people out there who care about them and appreciate his service to our nation. They know they are not forgotten.
Our partnership with WWP is an important component to the Big Hearts program and we are honored to help support their mission in service to these extraordinary families.
By the way John scored on a very nice bull elk that will make a great mount and fill a freezer with meat for the winter.
