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Vets and
Family Camp
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Wounded veterans can face a difficult transition from the front lines to the home front. One special setting offers vets and their loved ones a safe place to reconnect, and spend time with others who understand. Heidi Robinson has the story. |
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SCRIPT:
(Lake Oconee, Georgia)Josh Galle: “Wanna go for a boat ride, Ty?”
After three tours of duty in Iraq, Corporal Josh Galle traded active duty…
Jessica Galle: “It’s a dream come true.”
(Josh to baby) “Look at this, they’re ready for you.”
…for daddy duty, alongside wife Jessica.
Josh Galle, Wounded Veteran: “She may not ever have served in combat, but my wife was there behind me all the time.”
…which is why, along with six-month-old Ty, they are all part of a new kind of training camp, for returning wounded veterans to reconnect with their families.
Josh Galle: “In four and a half years of marriage, we’ve only been together probably a year and a half.”
At Camp Collinswood in Georgia, support for the Galle family comes from folks who’ve already been down this road like Vietnam veteran Red Barett.
Red Barett, Vietnam Veteran: “…vets helping vets.”
Josh Galle: “There’s a lot of guys who go through things on the inside. And people just think that if you can’t see a wound it doesn’t exist…and that’s not true.”
(Wheelchair rolls onto boat) “Permission to come aboard.”
Camp activities are universally accessible.
Josh Galle: “If you’re in a wheelchair, if you have to use crutches, they’re not focused on the disability, they’re focused on the abilities.”
United Methodist volunteers built ramps, wheelchair-accessible cabins and paved nature paths.
Camp director Becky Bocian, who is hearing-impaired herself, is grateful for the normalcy she and others experience here.
Becky Bocian, Executive Director: “So they don’t have to say, ‘I can’t go there, I can’t do that,’ because they can.”
Red Barett, Vietnam Veteran: “You can get out into nature. You can see things. You don’t feel like no cripple. You feel like a regular person.”
Josh Galle: “It’s a place where we can heal, a place where we can recoup and rest.”
(Kid on float yells) “It’s awesome!”
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For more information on this program, contact Camp Collinswood at 404-327-9491.
Also, see: Church camp offers comfort to wounded veterans
Posted: June 24, 2009