Help A Vet If You Can

A number of years ago, I met Dan Fordice.  He is a veteran, and owns a P-51 named Charlotte’s Chariot.  I got a hop in his plane once and it was amazing. Thrill of a lifetime although the backseat was pretty small!

Dan runs the Warrior Bonfire Project which helps veterans of the Iraq War with post-traumatic stress disorder.  Recently, Dan reached out to his network.   A four-time purple heart veteran was using climbing to handle his PTSD. He had all his equipment stolen out of his truck when he was spending the night at a hotel. Here is his message:

I want to introduce you to a very special American Hero who has gone much above and beyond the call of duty to guarantee our Safety and Freedom. CPT Justin Napolitano has served in the US Army for almost 20 years both as an enlisted and commissioned Infantryman and as a Special Forces officer. He has deployed several times to Afghanistan as well as various other Middle Eastern hot spots. Justin has spent much time away from home and family between deployments and more than 30 military schools and courses. Justin has received 4 (yes I said 4) PURPLE HEARTS going back to 2008. He has been shot or received shrapnel in all of his limbs and has been blown up several times resulting in multiple Mild Traumatic Brain Injuries (MTBI). Justin’s fondest kinetic event occurred on the 12th of May, 2008 with a through and through gunshot wound to his leg and an MTBI resulting in medical evacuation by an AH-64 Longbow Apache attack helicopter, which he later inadvertently caused to crashed…or as the report says “caused a hard landing”. This was the first application of this attack helicopter in this fashion as a medical evacuation platform and lead to future training based on this experience. Justin retains full use of all of his limbs and according to his wife, “most” of his cognitive function.

Justin, his wife Stevie and their son Matthew live at 7000 feet in the Rocky Mountains about an hour from Ft Collins, Co. They enjoy the outdoors, especially Rocky Mountain National Park and the surrounding peaks. Their family spends most of its time rock climbing and hiking mountains, shooting long distance, gardening, skiing, fishing and of course hunting. Stevie works from home just down the hill from Matthew’s school, the oldest single room school house in Colorado. Their house is decorated in Stevie’s patent pending “Ameri-camo” a mix of red, white & blue with tans & greens. The house and it’s extra bedrooms serve as a refuge for Veterans and Law Enforcement folks who need a well-earned break up in the Rocky Mountains. “Serving our Veterans and Law Enforcement is truly our family’s calling and is an absolute pleasure,” says Justin and Stevie.

A few weeks ago Justin and Stevie completed a long time bucket list adventure. They summitted 14,411ft Mt Rainier outside of Seattle Washington. On the way home they stopped in to visit and celebrate and spend a night with some old friends they haven’t seen in a long time. They woke up the next morning to a smashed window in their truck and all of their climbing gear had been stolen. Some $7000 worth of ropes, hardware and clothing they had been collecting for the last ten years. Justin is quite distraught and not knowing how he is going to replace his required gear to continue the activity that has given him a much needed mental outlet to help him cope. Climbing has become a huge part of who he is not only for him but for his family and something he now calls his ‘purpose’.

This story was brought to my attention by Aaron D. Allmon, II, a great friend of mine who is a Combat Wounded Veteran and dear friend of Justin. Aaron was in many similar tough combat situations and he and Justin have built a bond that most of us cannot understand. Aaron sees the stress and despair this is causing his friend and he desperately wants to help him. He thought about starting a go fund me to help Justin, but Aaron said that Justin is still in the military and though he is med boarding out, his privacy is still a very big concern being in special forces not to mention he’s extremely humble and hates attention or help. I told Aaron that I personally thought that we could get that amount together easily. The Warrior Bonfire Program Board is conducting our first in person board meeting and retreat next weekend in Colorado. We want to be able to surprise Justin at REI in Denver with as big a check as we can raise this week to give back to this true American hero who has given so much to all of us. We are asking REI for a donation as well and we are hoping that together we can make Justin whole again with the sport he depends on.

I donated. I know some others that donated too. Here is the result.  You can still donate to the Warrior Bonfire Project and make a difference.