by Shawna Bethell

For the past three years, the Durango community has gone above and beyond to welcome and assist Project Healing Waters. Wounded soldiers from Fort Huachuca, Ariz., and Fort Carson, Colo., have found solace on local streams during their annual fly-fishing excursions.

 

Now the community will have the opportunity to reach out to their own men and women thanks to Jerome Gallegos, a veteran and angler, and his mission to start a Project Healing Waters chapter here in the Four Corners.  

 

Gallegos spent nearly 10 years in the Air Force as a crew chief for tactical aircraft maintenance. He also knows the healing powers of clear, running water and a flyrod, and wants to share it with his fellow vets.

 

“When I got out three years ago, I moved up here to fish as much as I could,” said.

 

Gallegos, who grew up in Albuquerque but spent his childhood fishing the waters of the San Juan Mountains. Years later, upon leaving the military he was dealing with his own memories and trauma. He returned to the area to find his own peace of mind and eventually met Brian Capsay, who at the time owned the Orvis store in Durango. It was Capsay who convinced Gallegos to start guiding.

“I realized I was pretty good at it,” said Gallegos, “I get a lot of enjoyment out of teaching and talking with people.”

 

Then, when Project Healing Waters began its annual treks to Durango, trip coordinator Robin Marsett, of Arizona, tapped Gallegos to assist him.

 

Soon the guide took over the coordination of the vets’ day trip on the San Juan River. Being a recently returned veteran as well as an avid angler made Gallegos a natural when working with the beginning fishermen and women. He likens the experience to being the lead trainer for his Air Force unit.

 

“When (the young mechanics) would see the plane take off, there would be this light in their eyes,” he said. “When someone who hasn’t fished before catches their first fish, it’s the same thing.”

 

Project Healing Waters originated at Walter Reed Hospital in 2005 when retired Navy Captain Ed Nicholson was there for surgery. During his recovery, as he walked through the wards, he witnessed young, wounded soldiers lying in their beds with nothing to occupy them. He decided to start a program that taught them to tie flies. As their healing and skills progressed, they went out on fishing trips. The program has since spread throughout the U.S. and has seen great support from the fly-fishing community at large with most of the mentors and guides coming from local fly-fishing organizations like Trout Unlimited or the Fly-Fishing Federation.

 

Each program is different, based on the needs of the soldiers involved. But the over-arcing concept is that during winter months, soldiers and veterans learn to tie flies or build rods. Then, when the season permits, they go on fishing trips. Each beginner is paired with a mentor. Gallegos plans to have a monthly group meeting while individuals and their mentors work together every two weeks.  

 

Support for the program here in the Four Corners has been extensive, beginning with the local Veterans Affairs office; the assistance of Marsett and the Old Pueblo Trout Unlimited out of Tuscon, Ariz.; and the Project Healing Waters chapter at Fort Huachuca. There are already several local vets interested in participating and many volunteers who want to work with the program – some who are vets themselves and some who are not.

 

“If someone is a vet, it eliminates barriers because there is already a similar background based in common experience,” said Gallegos. “But there are also those who want to give back because maybe they weren’t able to go themselves.

 

“And I hate the term ‘sensitivity training,’” added Gallegos pointedly as he discusses how volunteers learn to interact with the disabled or wounded soldiers. “These guys aren’t fragile. They are the toughest people I know. So I don’t say, ‘Here, let me get this rod for you.’ It’s more like, ‘OK, let’s go do this.’”

 

For Gallegos, the Four Corners Project Healing Waters chapter is less about therapy and more about fishing. He wants people who love to fish to be able to share that experience with others, and he wants it to be fun. Eventually, he would even like to see the participants taking part in tournaments. And if a therapeutic aspect comes from any of these experiences, it will probably come from the fishing itself.  

 

“Fishing and guiding give you a break from it all,” he said. “It occupies the brain and gives you something else to focus on. All this against a beautiful backdrop and the sound of the river.”

 

Gallegos concluded that while it is hard to explain fly-fishing’s draw, it is easy to fall into the addiction. “Whether it is a rich man or a trout bum, it takes 10 minutes to learn and the rest of your life to perfect, but you are rewarded each time you go out.” n

For more information, to participate or to make a donation email Jerome.Gallegos@NMEP.biz.