Spirit Magazine - February 2014 - (Page 78)

Team River Runner has a passion for healing veterans returning from war. TRR is an adventure water sports group for wounded vets, founded by Joe Mornini, after he saw them returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. TRR's Lonnie Bedwell made history last summer, as the first blind person to kayak the entire Grand Canyon. TRR combat veteran guides communicated with Lonnie with verbal commands. It was the trip of a lifetime, provided by Check-6. Check-6 is a company comprised primarily of former fighter pilots and special ops operatives who use their high-level training to provide solutions for other high-risk, high-reliability industries. "I'm privileged to lead a company of patriot warriors compelled to support other patriot warriors," said Founder and Chairman Brian "Bru" Brurud. "I saw the power of this therapy first-hand when I participated in a TRR event in Colorado. It is an honor to give back to those who have risked their lives for our freedom." For more information please visit www.teamriverrunner.org. www.checksix.com a sergeant first class in Operation Iraqi Freedom, he witnessed fellow soldiers killed and maimed by IEDs, and discovered the mutilated bodies of civilian contractors with whom he worked every day. He returned from his second deployment in Iraq just in time to evacuate his family to Texas before Hurricane Katrina hit. Returning to New Orleans from a temporary home in Dallas three weeks later, Jones and his wife found their house in ruins. It wasn't until after his final deployment-to Haiti in 2010, where he helped with postearthquake disaster relief-that Jones was diagnosed with PTSD. Despite all of this, Jones has a wicked sense of humor and a smile that lights up his broad face. A week earlier on the phone, he'd warned me that he's a private person who rarely feels comfortable talking about his emotions. Nonetheless, he settles into a chair and starts to recount his 17-year career in the military. He speaks in a considered way, as if he's thought through what he wants to say before he utters it. It's hard for me to imagine this soft-spoken man-who longs to teach his young daughters how to make pizza, if only the family had a bigger kitchen-engaging in angry conflicts with his wife, as has happened since his return to civilian life. Jones' father was a Navy man, and the family moved around a lot-from Texas to Oklahoma to California. Throughout high school, Jones was in Junior ROTC. It was a foregone conclusion that he'd sign up to serve his country. When the time came, he chose the Army. Because his aptitude test scores were so high, Jones was given his pick of military jobs. He opted to learn about power generation and electrical repair. But if he had any illusions about what he'd be doing in the Army, basic training set him straight. "The whole idea of basic training is really messed up," he says with a stammer that, for the first time, hints at the fierce emotion beneath his composure. "They try and break you down in order to build you up the way they want you. So don't think you're going to go out there with extension cords. You're going to go out there with guns." Jones was deployed to Kuwait in 2001, where thousands of troops were assembling at Camp Doha prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Even though there was no fighting in Kuwait, he endured something that haunts him to this day. His military job was to help set up distribution boxes and communications networks. On January 21, 2003, two colleagues-civilian contractors from a software development firm in San Diego-were ambushed at a stoplight in what officials called a random terrorist act. Jones, who was in a vehicle more than a mile behind them, didn't witness the attack, but he and his fellow soldiers found their bodies riddled with gunshot wounds. One was dead. "These were guys we were working with, and they shot 'em up," Jones says, shaking his head. The contractors were less than 3 miles from the safety of the base, and "we didn't get a chance to help." Jones survived such trauma by shutting off his emotions. "You're like, 'OK, I'm here for war. I need to be single-minded,'" he recalls telling himself on the way to Iraq. But he never got used to the nightly sirens and ground strikes. "When they were bombing us, you never knew where it was going to land. You hear it, and you're like, 'Is it close? Is it going to hit us?'" Once the sirens sounded, he and his bunkermates would don full chemical gear because "you don't know what they're shooting." In Haiti, Jones was injured while carrying a 55-foot medi-tent on an airfield. In excruciating pain, he was told by his case manager that he needn't go to the hospital-an ibuprofen would do. "That's the way they treated us out there in the field," Jones says. Later, when he went through post-deployment in New http://www.teamriverrunner.org http://www.checksix.com http://www.checksix.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Spirit Magazine - February 2014

Spirit Magazine - February 2014
Contents
Gary’s Greeting
Gary’s Greeting en Español
Star of the Month
Freedom Story
From the Editor
Your Words
Your Pictures
Media Center
Eat Drink Sleep
Revel in rum
Cozy up to Chicago
Wise Guide
Learn to slow down
The Numbers
Get briefed on Oscars history
Entertain (with) a proposal
Keep your company current
Business
Cut down on insurance confusion
Digitize your doorman
Seek success with fun and games
Go loco for Lego
Building Lego
A Fighting Chance
Your Adventure In Miami
Promotional Series: Focus on Health for All Seasons
Promotional Series: Focus on Education
Promotional Series: Focus on Franchises
Calendar
Fun!
Spotlight
Community Outreach
Products & Services
Flight Service
Terminal Maps
Information
Rapid Rewards and A+ Rewards Partners
Route Map
The “If” List

Spirit Magazine - February 2014