AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2019 - 73

RIGHT: DENNIS HABER

adventure swim was a real eye opener."
The former radar intercept officer during
the Cold War said he had "the greatest
respect" for the 20-, 30-, and 40-yearolds on the trip. "These guys were out in
the field and in the cities and people were
shooting back all the time. They've been
carrying the load the last two decades."
Sean Sorrin of OARS guided the whitewater journey through an upturned
behemoth called Split Mountain Canyon,
which gave way to the rumbling S.O.B.
Rapids. Triplet Falls, Hell's Half Mile,
and Lower Disaster Falls challenged even
the stoutest among the group venturing
through the Gates of Lodore. At least two
had unplanned swims in the 50-degreeFahrenheit torrent of water flowing at
2,500 cubic feet per second.
Johnson leads the First Command
Educational Foundation, an outreach
organization that helps military veterans pursue higher education. He keeps
up with Hall, and he touches base with
other members of the trip often.
"That's what's great about the military," Johnson said. "Just spending a few
days with them made a lifelong impression and I know we will be friends forever.
It was an incredible event that I will cherish for the rest of my life."
AOPA
EMAIL david.tulis@aopa.org

A LEGACY OF SERVICE

Cirrus pilot funded trip to honor military
Tim Valentine, who arranged and funded the Green River
rafting trip before his death, was larger than life to anyone
who met him, according to his best friends Michael Hall
and Mark Larkin.
Hall brought Valentine to the river in 2017 with the
group Warriors and Rodeo as his plus one, "and he had
such a good time. As soon as we came off the water, Tim was ready to go
again," Hall recalled of the impetus for the 2018 trip.
When Gregg Guider met Valentine for the first time, he "instantly saw the
magnetism that drew pilots and everyone in the community to him. He was just a
heck of a nice guy who was donating his time and money and recruiting as many
other pilots as possible to donate their time, just to help out the veterans' group.
I thought that was just spectacular."
Larkin said his friend's overarching passion was to serve others. Valentine
founded the Jeremiah 29:11 outreach to help those who couldn't afford to help
themselves. "It says in the Gospel to 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' and he
showed you what love was through actions and deeds." He credited the pilot
with "saving so many lives" through guidance and compassion. "He'd put them
in his plane at the drop of a hat and take them to the Mayo Clinic or get them
out of jail on his word alone. There's hundreds of stories like that."
Valentine paid for all of the veterans' transportation costs, including food,
lodging, and the OARS river guides.
"He always told me he wanted to be a jet fighter pilot and later that was his
one regret in life," recalled Larkin, who met Valentine in high school some four
decades ago and spoke with him daily. Larkin said the Utah rafting trip was Valentine's way of thanking the military and hoping they would also bond with one
another and remember how to be kids again.
Floating past the geological wonders of upturned mountains and deep
gashes in the earth, Larkin wiped away tears as he reflected on Valentine, the
man with the big idea that nature could begin to heal these battle-scarred
warriors.
"It's been tough these last few weeks without him. I talked to that man every
day and he was the best friend you could ever have. He'd be proud of this, but
he would've done it bigger," Larkin said, choking back tears. "He wanted to help
these veterans have closure, have fun, and help them heal. Anybody he came in
contact with, he was their best friend. Every one of them would've become his
closest friends-a better friend than you could ever have."
-DT
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2019

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