Soldiers, vets use rods and reels to ease the pain

VIRGINIA BEACH

Spc. Andrew Heward's deployment to Iraq ended six months early when a roadside bomb ripped through a nearby vehicle and wounded him.

Almost two years removed from the blast, Heward tried to relax.

Out of uniform and away from his base at Fort Lee, he threw a fishing line off the side of a charter boat and into the Chesapeake Bay. The tug of the line reminded him of growing up in rural Virginia, he said.

"We were always hunting, fishing," Heward said Saturday.

Heward was joined by about 70 other injured veterans who deployed from Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base for a four-hour fishing excursion. Several dozen fishermen volunteered their boats and sailed disabled veterans and those wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The event was organized by a handful of active duty and retired sailors. Carlos Rosario, one of the organizers, said the group wanted to give vets and their families a relaxing day on the water. Veterans from commands as far away as Fort Dix in New Jersey participated, he said. "Just to get them away from their problems," he said.

Staff Sgt. Wesley Barnard brought about 10 soldiers from Fort Lee in Petersburg. The men and women are in the warrior transition program, which helps about 60 wounded soldiers rehabilitate.

The group planned to attend a concert later Saturday.

"It's a break from the norm," Barnard said. "You don't want to give them too much time to sit around and contemplate."

Pvt. Robert Neise, a 22-year-old from Montana, handled his first fishing pole on the deck of the charter. He was training to become a cook when he was discovered to have testicular cancer. After successful chemotherapy, Neise has been limited to small duties around Fort Lee. Getting away from the base was a relief, he said.

He even hooked his first croaker. "It felt good," he said and smiled, dropping his line back into the Bay.

Heward caught several fish, filling the bottom of a white plastic bucket. An amateur photographer, he also snapped shots of dolphins and power boats. "It's easy for me to hide behind the lens," he said.

Heward, a medic in an infantry unit, still feels unsafe in crowded stores and along highways. Even the base and barracks feel too confined, he said. Several times, he said, he's nearly "snapped."

He recently traveled to Montana, where another veterans group taught him to fly-fish. He and a few other veterans were given an ovation at a Montana State University football game. Heward, 27, now wants to study photography at the school.

And, when he feels the need, hunt and fish in the vast outdoors.

Louis Hansen, (757) 446-2322, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com