Disabled vets get back in the hunt at Wright-Patt

Published Jan. 6, 2023
By Brian Dietrick
88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Two hunters sit in an elevated deer stand. — Hunters Helping Heroes

Two hunters sit in a wheelchair-accessible, elevated stand during a Hunters Helping Heroes deer hunt Dec. 18, 2022, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Hunters Helping Heroes is a nonprofit organization that arranges recreational outdoor activities for disabled veterans and first responders. (U.S. Air Force photo by Brian Dietrick)

SLIDESHOW | images | Hunters Helping Heroes

A herd of deer graze on grass at Twin Base Golf Course. — Hunters Helping Heroes

A herd of deer grazes at Twin Base Golf Course during a Hunters Helping Heroes deer hunt Dec. 18, 2022. Hunters Helping Heroes is a nonprofit organization that arranges recreational outdoor activities for disabled veterans and first responders. (U.S. Air Force photo by Brian Dietrick)

SLIDESHOW | images | Hunters Helping Heroes

A man speaks to a group of hunters. — Hunters Helping Heroes

Tony Perkins, Hunters Helping Heroes vice president, gives a safety brief prior to a deer hunt Dec. 17, 2022, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Hunters Helping Heroes is a nonprofit organization that arranges recreational outdoor activities for disabled veterans and first responders. (U.S. Air Force photo by Brian Dietrick)

SLIDESHOW | images | Hunters Helping Heroes

A hunter sets the sights on his crossbow. — Hunters Helping Heroes

Doug Beckley, a disabled veteran from Bucyrus, Ohio, checks the sights on his crossbow prior to a Hunters Helping Heroes deer hunt at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on Dec. 17, 2022. Hunters Helping Heroes is a nonprofit organization that arranges recreational outdoor activities for disabled veterans and first responders. (U.S. Air Force photo by Brian Dietrick)

SLIDESHOW | images | Hunters Helping Heroes

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio - Our veterans often return home with combat-related disabilities that may or may not be visible.

Some are confined to wheelchairs while others deal with traumatic brain injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder. Many try to live with hardships that might not make sense to others while losing the ability to participate in activities they used to enjoy.

One organization is trying to change that when it comes to hunting and spending time in the great outdoors.

Hunters Helping Heroes is a New Jersey-based nonprofit group of sportsmen that organizes outdoor excursions and recreational activities for disabled veterans and first responders as a “thank you” for protecting our freedom at home and abroad. All hunting trips and gear is completely paid for and provided by numerous generous sponsors at no cost to the disabled veterans.

“We use hunting and fishing as a means to thank them for their service and get them back out doing something they thought they might never do again,” said Tony Perkins, Hunters Helping Heroes vice president. “We are trying to develop a community of veterans that offers connectivity to other vets, ultimately to stop veteran suicide.”

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base was the location of the latest trip, where five disabled veterans teamed up with their guides for two days of archery hunting Dec. 17-18.

Matthew Butler, who works in Air Force Materiel Command’s Human Resources Department, was stationed here 25 years ago as an Airman and game warden. He has been involved with Hunters Helping Heroes for about a year and was the catalyst who brought the program to Wright-Patt.

“I was really motivated to get this program up and running here at Wright-Patt for our veteran community,” Butler said. “A lot of vets are struggling and going through major life issues. Some may not have family and a lot of the brothers and sisters they served with are no longer around. I believe programs like this are absolutely necessary because it gives vets a reason to smile when they might not have one.”

Butler linked up with another base employee, Darryn Warner, who is responsible for the installation’s hunting and fishing programs and got the ball rolling.

“That’s where it all started,” said Warner, the 88th Civil Engineer Group’s natural resources program manager. “We have two wheelchair-accessible, solar-powered deer stands that raise and lower once the disabled veteran and their guide are secured. It is on a public part of the base where hunting is prohibited, except for the participants of this program.”

Warner said this program serves up a victory for all parties involved. The disabled veterans get to experience the joys of the hunt again while the base’s deer population gets controlled at no cost to the government.

“This is such a great experience,” said Doug Beckley, a military veteran from Bucyrus. “When I got injured, I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to hunt again. It’s nice to know there are people out there who still care about us vets.”

Hunters Helping Heroes was created in 2010 by Ryan Miller, a military veteran who returned to the U.S. after a three-year overseas tour. A California native, Miller was unfamiliar with the hunting areas in New Jersey, so he reached out and found help from a local hunting forum.

That simple act of generosity inspired Miller to form a group that offered similar opportunities to military veterans and first responders. Over the course of its 13-year history, Hunters Helping Heroes has taken hundreds of our country’s heroes on hunting trips across the globe.

For a complete list of sponsors, visit http://huntershelpingheroes.org/.

For more information about how to apply for a hunt, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HuntersHelpingHeroes.