http://www.projecthealingwaters.org

Angling Publications - Index

Angling Publications - Fly Fish America - September 2007 Issue - Index

Eric Stroup tried to appear casual, leaning on a longhandled
fishing net and watching his partner, J. R. Salzman,
attempt to land another finicky trout. Salzman was feverishly
working a black ant pattern over a group of boulders submerged
just below the surface of the water in the middle of the river. From
my vantage point on a high bank overlooking the river, I watched
the large trout cautiously advance on his fly. In a matter of seconds
the last few feet of distance between fish and fly disappeared, and
J. R. set the hook like a pro. Abandoning all pretense to calm,
Stroup cried "Fish on!? to J. R.'s father a few feet away.
J. R. played the fish well-no mean feat with a prosthetic arm.
In a series of fluid moves, he'd shift the fly line between his mouth
and hand, working both line and reel and continuing to keep rod
pressure on the fish. Like clockwork, he and his partner brought
to hand, netted, measured, and released a broad-shouldered
rainbow trout. Just an ordinary day on the water for J. R. and a
host of other wounded veterans-a long day that had begun on
a battlefield and had ended on Virginia's quiet Rose River.
Stream Medicine
Ed Nicholson had retired from private industry in 2004-and
from a 30-year career in the U. S. Navy some time before-but
had continued to return periodically to Walter Reed Army
Medical Center. Leaving Walter Reed one day his thoughts
strayed to fly fishing and how much he looked forward to returning
to the river, when some young wounded soldiers-no
doubt veterans of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq-caught his
eye. He was struck with an idea: Why not take a wounded vet
fishing? He found fly fishing relaxing, even therapeutic; perhaps
the young soldiers would as well.
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Article & Photos by Beau Beasley
Ed called friend and longtime fly angler George Gaines, current
president of the National Capital Chapter of Trout Unlimited,
for assistance and advice. And the result of their collaboration?
Project Healing Waters (www.projecthealingwaters.org),
which brings vets and anglers together for onstream fun, competition,
fellowship, and healing.
The concept seemed simple enough-vets, fly anglers, fish-
but the logistics plagued Nicholson and Gaines. How would they
stir up interest among vets? Where would they find fly anglers
willing to participate? Would the Veterans Administration balk
at the unusual proposal? How would they move disabled veterans
from the hospital to the stream and back? And where would they
take the vets once they had them? Faced with more questions than
answers, Nicholson and Gaines continued to push the project
through anyway, convinced their idea was a winner.
Healing What Hurts
Eivind Forseth is a former Army captain and a wounded
veteran who participates frequently with Project Healing Waters
events. The project, he says, "brought me back from a deep, dark
place. They literally saved my life. I don't think the American
public truly comprehends what it means to be severely wounded.
These are not John Wayne injuries we are receiving on today's
battlefield, where a little dirt and a Band-Aid will fix everything.
Veterans often have burns, broken backs, traumatic brain injuries,
and amputations. No one is going to wave a magic wand and
make this go away.? Those who are fortunate enough to survive,
he says, often return to civilian life feeling angry or severely
depressed; many experience symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder. They leave one battlefield, he says, and come home to