Eagle 6 Adventures, A Veteran Serving Veterans. Inshore fishing charters for Veterans, Veteran Nonprofit, First Responder Nonprofit Port Charlotte, Punta Gorda

I have always wanted to find a way to give back to the Veteran community that has always given to me. I was speaking with Al Schroeder in February 2022 and he asked me what I was going to do when I retire. I told him find a job that would allow me to take Veterans and First Responders inshore fishing for free. He stated the obvious when he said "Why don't you start a nonprofit?' and Eagle 6 Adventures was born.

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It was perfect timing because I was in the third week of a nine week stay in the Tampa VA hospital receiving therapy for TBI, PTSD, and the comorbidities associated with them. I knew that being out on the water fishing or just relaxing always helped reduce my PTSD symptoms. I started doing more research and studies have proven that spending a day on the water can reduce PTSD symptoms up to 30% and can last as long as three weeks.

 

"You’re also in a natural environment. Most places where you go...fishing are beautiful, and we know from nature therapy that being in beautiful places helps people. It calms the mind. There’s also this very therapeutic, calming effect of water and the movement of water. There are just so many elements that all come together.” Jessie Bennet 

“So when we can put a group of individuals together that were all in the military and are all experiencing similar symptoms, they can talk about it. They can give each other advice, realize that they’re not alone and that they’ve got this group of people that know what they feel.” Jessie Bennett, Assistant Professor at the University of New Hampshire 

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The Eagle 6 Adventures logo was adapted from a logo that was created by SGT Patrick Tainsh, for the Eagle Troop logo (seen in the picture above). SGT Tainsh was my gunner and was killed in a complex IED ambush (he was awarded the Silver Star for his actions that night) in Iraq, 11 February 2004. I wanted to honor him and the men of Eagle Troop and I think this is a fitting way to accomplish this.