Wounded Warriors seek healing at Mozingo
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Tim Jackson of Tri-State Auto Family, left, prepares to weigh a mess of fish caught Thursday morning by a former serviceman who participated in this week’s Project Odyssey, a four-day experience organized by the Wounded Warrior Project at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park.
A group of 14 U.S. military veterans seeking to rebuild their lives after suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries and other combat-related conditions spent four days this week at Mozingo Lake Recreation Park during Project Odyssey, an outdoor experience organized by the Wounded Warrior Project.
A therapeutic retreat designed to boost confidence, ease fears and build trust, the exercise included a wide range of activities that included moving through the low and high rope courses at the Mozingo Outdoor Education Recreation Area, negotiating a field archery range, a competitive fishing expedition on the lake and an afternoon golf outing.
To some, that might sound more like a vacation than rehabilitation, but the Wounded Warrior Project’s Anthony Day, a former Navy corpsman, said the activities were all designed to challenge the veterans and “get them out of their comfort zone” as they learn both to accept the limitations and embrace the opportunities of their post-service lives.
In addition to nature-based physical activity, Day said the veterans’ time at Mozingo included conversation, counseling and encouragement intended to take them “to a better place than they were before Project Odyssey,” while providing participants “with more tools in their toolbox” for building meaningful, productive lives.
“We want them to think, ‘Hey, I don’t have to just sit here on my couch and play Xbox all day long,’” he said.
This week’s experience was co-hosted by Northwest Missouri State University’s School of Health Science and Wellness and supported by local businesses like the Tri-State Auto Family of Maryville, which helped out with Thursday’s fishing tournament.
A number of area residents pitched in as well, volunteering their time and their fishing boats while guiding the vets to some of Mozingo’s hottest angling spots.
During their stay, Odyssey participants stayed at the city-owned recreation area’s new privately operated hotel, Boulders Inn & Suites.
A big part of the program, Day said, revolved around strategies for developing confidence and trust in men who have been hurt too deeply and seen too much.
“Their shoulder may have been surgically repaired,” he said, “but they find that, ‘I still can’t do what I used to do.’ We want them to know that they can do it, but maybe in a different way.”
In order to reach that goal, Day said Project Odyssey brings veterans into an environment that is nature based, adventure based and enriched with experiential learning.
The ultimate goal is to sharpen the veterans’ focus and build their confidence as they make the transition back into civilian life.
Day, a combat stress recovery manager with the Wounded Warrior Project, is responsible for providing programming and assistance for veterans across Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.
He said that, in this region, past Project Odysseys have taken place near the Ozark resort town of Steelville at a place called Meramec Adventure Learning Ranch, which specializes in programs for young people in foster care or facing various physical and emotional challenges.
This was the first time an Odyssey week has taken place at Mozingo, and Day said he was impressed with the facility as well as the support Wounded Warrior has received from both the university and the community.
“It’s a great facility,” he said. “Everybody has been great, and the staff here is phenomenal.”
The Wounded Warrior Project is a non-profit charity that offers a variety of programs for U.S. veterans recovering from physical and mental wounds incurred during conflicts that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
It was founded in 2003 in Roanoke, Virginia, by John Melia, a veteran who was severely wounded in a helicopter crash while serving in Somalia in 1992.
The organization is currently headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida.
