thedrifter
06-28-09, 09:44 AM
Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to get wet at Adaptive Water Sports Festival
BY Leigh Remizowski
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Sunday, June 28th 2009, 4:00 AM
Imagine learning to water-ski after losing a leg, or scuba dive without an arm.
For a group of wounded Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans, a festival in the Rockaways will get them off dry land to do exactly that, in spite of their life-changing injuries.
The fifth annual Adaptive Water Sports Festival begins July 9 and will give about 45 veterans a chance to try their hand at kayaking, scuba diving, water-skiing and sailing.
"They want to continue to do what they used to do," said Al Giordano, deputy executive director of the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization helping to coordinate the event.
"They don't want their disability to hold them back."
The festival gives veterans a chance to tackle physical challenges with people they can relate to.
"Going through combat and being wounded, you stick out to the everyday person," said Marine veteran Justin LaPree.
"Here, you already have something in common," said LaPree, 27, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury from shrapnel wounds he sustained while serving his second tour in Iraq in 2004.
For LaPree, who will attend the festival for the second time this year, it's also the outpouring of support that brings him back.
"These are the people we went over [to Iraq] for," he said. "For them to open their doors and their hearts to us shows the appreciation they have."
LaPree said he is "shy being recognized" for his military service, but that it feels good to be thanked by a community.
Locals pull out all the stops for their four-day visitors, said John McCann, a member of the Graybeards, a local group also helping to organize the event.
There will also be a block party, memorial service and parade.
"It's the homecoming parade they never got," McCann said.
Many soldiers stay with locals, who offer up spare rooms for out-of-town guests. They are encouraged to bring their families.
Coping with the injury of a spouse or a parent comes with its own difficulties, said McCann.
Seeing a parent water-skiing or kayaking after what is often months or years of rehabilitation "is very encouraging for the kids," he said.
For wounded soldiers who might feel alienated upon their return, the festival is a reminder that they are appreciated, Giordano said.
"You cannot quantify the boost that does for self-esteem, for morale," he said.
Nancy Schiliro was injured in her right eye in a mortar attack in Iraq, where she served with the Marines from March 2004 to February 2005.
When she returned to the States, she had to have her eye removed and deal with the hardship that comes with being a 25-year-old woman without an eye.
"Being a female, no one ever looks at me as a wounded veteran," she said.
Schiliro has participated in other Wounded Warrior events, and now works for the organization.
Taking part in the festival allows the community to recognize her as a soldier, she said.
"There, it's like, 'Hey, I'm a combat veteran - this is who I am,'" she said.
"There's a reason why this happened to me and I'm really proud."
Ellie
BY Leigh Remizowski
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Sunday, June 28th 2009, 4:00 AM
Imagine learning to water-ski after losing a leg, or scuba dive without an arm.
For a group of wounded Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans, a festival in the Rockaways will get them off dry land to do exactly that, in spite of their life-changing injuries.
The fifth annual Adaptive Water Sports Festival begins July 9 and will give about 45 veterans a chance to try their hand at kayaking, scuba diving, water-skiing and sailing.
"They want to continue to do what they used to do," said Al Giordano, deputy executive director of the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization helping to coordinate the event.
"They don't want their disability to hold them back."
The festival gives veterans a chance to tackle physical challenges with people they can relate to.
"Going through combat and being wounded, you stick out to the everyday person," said Marine veteran Justin LaPree.
"Here, you already have something in common," said LaPree, 27, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury from shrapnel wounds he sustained while serving his second tour in Iraq in 2004.
For LaPree, who will attend the festival for the second time this year, it's also the outpouring of support that brings him back.
"These are the people we went over [to Iraq] for," he said. "For them to open their doors and their hearts to us shows the appreciation they have."
LaPree said he is "shy being recognized" for his military service, but that it feels good to be thanked by a community.
Locals pull out all the stops for their four-day visitors, said John McCann, a member of the Graybeards, a local group also helping to organize the event.
There will also be a block party, memorial service and parade.
"It's the homecoming parade they never got," McCann said.
Many soldiers stay with locals, who offer up spare rooms for out-of-town guests. They are encouraged to bring their families.
Coping with the injury of a spouse or a parent comes with its own difficulties, said McCann.
Seeing a parent water-skiing or kayaking after what is often months or years of rehabilitation "is very encouraging for the kids," he said.
For wounded soldiers who might feel alienated upon their return, the festival is a reminder that they are appreciated, Giordano said.
"You cannot quantify the boost that does for self-esteem, for morale," he said.
Nancy Schiliro was injured in her right eye in a mortar attack in Iraq, where she served with the Marines from March 2004 to February 2005.
When she returned to the States, she had to have her eye removed and deal with the hardship that comes with being a 25-year-old woman without an eye.
"Being a female, no one ever looks at me as a wounded veteran," she said.
Schiliro has participated in other Wounded Warrior events, and now works for the organization.
Taking part in the festival allows the community to recognize her as a soldier, she said.
"There, it's like, 'Hey, I'm a combat veteran - this is who I am,'" she said.
"There's a reason why this happened to me and I'm really proud."
Ellie