ATLANTA, April 10, 2010 – More than 100 Georgia veterans and family members, including those from the Georgia National Guard and Georgia State Defense Force, joined 120 volunteers on the banks of the Chattahoochee River for the second annual Georgia Fly-Fishing for Veterans at Paces Mill Park.

Many of these veterans have suffered wounds or injuries while supporting operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom. Some came from as far away as the Wounded Warrior Transition Battalion at Columbus’ Fort Benning. Many attendees, like Brig. Gen. Jerry Bradford, Georgia State Defense Force commander, know all too well the pain veterans suffer during and after combat.  Bradford, himself, had to be medivaced out of Vietnam during his second tour due to severe wounds; so events like these hit close to home.

Bradford, who served two tours in Vietnam – once with Army Special Forces and once as an adviser with the Military Advisory Command-Vietnam (MAC-V) – is a longtime salt and freshwater bait-casting angler. It’s his first time with a fly rod. 

"I believe that events like this are important to our communities because they give the people in those communities the opportunity to show their appreciation for the sacrifices made by our young service men and women - a tangible opportunity that they don't often get.  More importantly," Bradford added,  "events like this let our soldiers know that they are not only appreciated but that they are also not forgotten.  For many, it also gives them a chance to be introduced to something that could have a life-long impact - and it affords them a distraction from the challenges they now have to face."

“My son is an avid fly-fisherman,” he said. “When he found out I was going to be here, he ‘highly’ encouraged me to try my hand at the sport. I wasn’t so sure I’d like this as much as bait casting.”

After making a couple of casts, and nearly catching a brown trout, Bradford said he can understand why it’s an addictive sport.

“Something like this takes practice and it takes patience,” Bradford said. “For those warriors returning from combat, whether their injuries were physical or psychological, fly-fishing gives them something on which to refocus their energies and occupy their minds – something other than their situations.”

Sergeant James L. Clearwater, who served two tours in Iraq – one in 2003 as a heavy equipment operator with Augusta’s 878th Engineer Battalion, the other in 2006 working force protection with a unit from Elberton’s 1st  Battalion, 214th Field Artillery – also attended the event.  He was medically retired from the Georgia Army Guard in June 2009 after being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and continues to deal with back, shoulder and knee problems from injuries he suffered in Iraq.

Clearwater, who receives assistance through the Army Wounded Warrior  Program at the VA Hospital in Decatur, came here with his son, 19-year-old Zach. Both bait cast, like many of the participants, but have never fly-fished.

“I have a hard time dealing with people, especially crowds of people, and I don’t spend as much time with my son as I’d like,” said Clearwater. Watching his teen get ready for his turn on the river, he added, “The people I do relate to better are other veterans, and I’ve found that being here, among those who’ve seen what I’ve seen and gone through what I have, has helped me and Zach come closer together than we’ve ever been.”

In a later conversation, Bradford reiterated that today’s event is not just for Georgia’s veterans. "It's also for Georgia’s citizens," Bradford said.  "Especially those who've taken the time to come to Paces Mill to share the love of their sport with those who have done so much, for so many. It gives the public one more way of thanking veterans for what they’ve done for their communities, their state and for their nation."   

Retired Air Force Col. and former A-10 Thunderbolt pilot Bill Rial is one of those citizens who made it a point of being here for just that reason.

“As a citizen, and a person who loves fishing – especially this kind of fishing – I can think of no better way to show those in and out of uniform how much we appreciate what they do and have done,” Rial said with a smile. “As a veteran, I can imagine what many of these folks go through, clinically, in trying to get better and get their lives back to some kind of normalcy, but getting out of the hospital environment – in my opinion – has got to be doing them a world of good. 

"It’s got to be a great 'relaxer' for their state of mind,” he concluded.

That much seemed evident by the shouts of excitement as someone out on the water caught their first brown trout, and by the fact that almost no one wanted to leave the waters of the Chattahoochee after their first couple of casts.  

Among the organizations to sponsor this year’s event were the Georgia National Guard, Johnsonville Sausage, Sara Lee Corp., Gold Star Bar-B-Q, Eagle Distributing Co., the National Park Service, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Atlanta Fly-Fishing Club, Georgia Women Fly-fishers, and several North Georgia fly-fishing outfitters.

For additional photos from this event, click here!

Story and photos by Sgt. 1st Class Roy Henry

Additional photos by 1st Sgt. John Kinnaman 

Georgia Department of Defense

Public Affairs Office