Marines Trump Florida Turkeys on PVA Hunt

(L-R) USMC Sgt. Kyle McWilliams, Gen. Randy West (USMC, ret.) USMC Cpl. Bob Behrendt: Wounded heroes enjoy 100% success on a recent PVA-Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund turkey hunt in Florida. USMC Sgt. Owen McNamara & the General also connected later in the hunt.

Warrenton, VA—Three veterans rehabilitating from war wounds found their way to northeast Florida in search of wild turkeys during the 2010 spring season. All three, including a first-time hunter, put the proverbial smack-down on the cagey old gobblers as they took part in the PVA-Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund-sponsored hunt. The hunt was held on private property and was donated by a local family and company who are long-time supporters of Paralyzed Veterans of America.

The Veteran’s Airlift Command provided transportation for the group with Medals of America COO Lee Foster once again volunteering his services and company aircraft to support an ORHF hunting trip.

The turkeys played hard to get as usual, but USMC Sgt. Kyle McWilliams of Holliston, MA, USMC Cpl. Robert Behrendt of Cranesville, PA, and USMC Sgt. Owen McNamara of Partlow, VA, worked with local volunteer guides to locate the birds and call them into range in the beautiful northeast Florida mix of wetlands, swamps, pinewoods and hardwoods habitat. McNamara and Behrendt grew up hunting, but it was McWilliams’ first-ever hunting experience.

Sgt. McWilliams said they located a turkey “pretty quick” but had to go down into the marsh to set up. They had to call his gobbler for more than 10 minutes after first locating him. “He crossed about 15 yards in front of us. I caught him right in between two trees…and that was it for the turkey. It was my first time ever hunting, and it was very enjoyable.”

All three Marine Corps veterans are rehabilitating from wounds suffered in recent combat. Sgts. McWilliams and McNamara are assigned to the Wounded Warrior Battalion, Quantico while Cpl. Behrendt is stationed at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. All three are on or being called back to active duty.

“Knowing how much I like to hunt, the staff at Bethesda put my name on the list for this hunt,” McNamara said. “I come from a family of hunters (central Virginia) but had never hunted Osceola turkeys before and this hunt was pretty hard. We had a bird bust us last night…at 10 yards. We had other birds nearby but they wouldn’t come in and then we only saw couple of hens on the last morning. We did a lot of walking and also sat in a stand for two hours. Finally, we hit the swamp bottoms on the last evening and all of a sudden…’they were looking for us’ and I got my turkey.

(L-R) USMC Sgt. Kyle McWilliams, Veterans Airlift Command volunteer pilot Lee Foster, USMC Sgt. Owen McNamara and USMC Cpl. Bob Behrendt take a break from shooting “5-Stand”—a friendly, shotgun shooting competition that was part of a recent fun and successful PVA-Outdoor Recreation Fun hunt in northeast Florida.

If you have the opportunity to go on a hunt like this, you should absolutely consider it, especially someone who has never hunted before. It’s not about getting an animal; it’s about sitting around the lodge and the camaraderie. You’ll meet people that have a common bond. You hear birds calling and when the turkeys start hammering it, it’s something really indescribe-able.”

“These hunts are important in many ways,” explained General Randy West (USMC, ret.) who accompanied the Marines on this hunt and is on the PVA-ORHF Board of Directors. West works daily to strengthen PVA’s ability to provide such outings for veterans. “They give our guys and gals a reprieve from their rehab regimen, allows them to enjoy themselves and connect with other vets who enjoy the outdoors. The hunts also help them develop confidence in their abilities, while they are exposed to the obvious facts that there are people who make very generous efforts to say thanks for their service to our country.”

The donor family/company in Florida does not want the spotlight on their involvement and in addition to hosting the event, graciously committed to having each turkey mounted for the successful hunters, further extending their expression of gratitude to the wounded heroes. All three had high praise for the experience and their hosts.

Cpl. Behrendt, who also comes from a hunting family (Erie, PA) said, “The lodge is really nice, and the staff knows what they are talking about which gives you confidence. We parked the truck about 6:30, heard an owl hoot and then a turkey lit up gobbling. We went into the woods to locate them and set up but they were staying 100-150 yards away. My guide started moving away from them and calling and that did the trick. We had four gobblers come in and when I first saw the big one it got me going. I couldn’t get the biggest one but I did get the second biggest in the group.”

In addition to the turkey hunting, the hosts provided participants with a round of friendly 5-Stand shotgun shooting competition and, once the vets were successful on their turkey hunt, they were given the opportunity to hunt wild pigs. Savage Arms provided a new Model 220F .20 gauge slug gun for the vets to use on the hog hunts. The group also had the opportunity to try their hand a catching a Florida largemouth bass, catfish or bluegill in the lake adjacent to the lodge.

McWilliams said he didn’t know what to expect when he signed up to go to Florida. “But it was certainly worth it. The red carpet was really laid out for us. It was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had in a while.”

McNamara added, “The Lodge was absolutely 1st class accommodations. Everything was incredible; the hosts are extremely gracious. I can’t really thank [the host family] enough for putting on an event like this, for allowing us to come out here and hunt their land, take their turkeys…you just can’t thank them enough.

It’s awesome to get out of the hospital for a while. The hunt was ABSOLUTELY therapeutic!”

A new group of lucky veterans have already been invited to hunt this prime Florida location again in the fall of 2010. But for Sgts. McWilliams and McNamara, and Cpl. Behrendt, the memories of this year’s spring turkey hunt in Florida will burn bright images of great food, nice people, moss-hung oak trees, gobbling tom turkeys in full strut and fulfillment of another—fun—mission.

There are thousands of these wounded heroes who could benefit from an opportunity to get outdoors. For those who would like to help, visit http://www.pvaheritagefund.org/ and learn how even small donations can help create outdoor opportunities for years to come (http://www.100000patriots.org/). If you have property or access to property, take one fishing and hunting. It can be one or a couple heroes; it doesn’t have to be a big event. As a host, you will be amazed at how a small effort on your part can make such a big difference in their lives.

For more information on how to get involved in or offer support to a PVA-ORHF hunt or other event, contact: Lt. Col. Lew Deal (USMC, ret) at Lew4vets@aol.com, (202) 371-6692; Chris Chaffin, National Marketing and PR Coordinator, at Chris@ChaffinCommunications.com, (321) 729-0280 or the ORHF office at (540) 349-5090, marsha@anglerdeveloment.com.

Learn more about the Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund (ORHF)>