The Outdoor Journal

NEWAYGO, MI — Any differences were set aside when they stepped off the bus; those of the men who had gone to war and come back sullied; and those of the open-faced anglers who greeted them, hoping to thank them for their efforts.

The bus had arrived from the Battle Creek VA Medical Center. Its passengers, mostly men, bore scars that lay hidden, the insidious effects of battles not forgotten. Their issues cut across ethnic lines and body types. Some were big men, some small; some hardened, some not. Some were lost, some found and every one was looking.

Their hosts had arrived full of convivial good cheer, hauling drift boats and fishing rods. They were members of Trout Unlimited chapters, or professional guides with outfitters such as Baldwin Bait and Tackle and the Pere Marquette River Lodge. Each wanted to give back, to do what they could to help the veterans.

“This is my way of saying thank you,” said Tim May, the retired school teacher from Battle Creek who organized the Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing float this day. May is a board member for the Kalamazoo Valley Trout Unlimited chapter.

“I got involved because my father-in-law was a World War II POW. He was a pilot who got shot down. My son is a Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have a brother-in-law who was in Vietnam.

“I was in school and didn’t have to go. I always felt guilty that I didn’t have to serve.”  Continue reading →