| Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. News: 07/29/2013 02:00 PM CDT Contact: Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs Office Office: 608-242-3050 or Cell: 608-516-1777 NEWS: National Guard leaders visit equine therapy program July 29, 2013 When her son, a Marine firefighter with five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan under his belt, walked into the kitchen and slapped a solitary bullet on the table, Barb Knopf knew what she had to do. Her son had planned to use that bullet to end his life in her home with his wife and two children living within the same walls. But even Knopf, the man's mother and a Marine veteran herself, had not seen the signs. At the time, Knopf was running a horse rescue on which her son worked. "I didn't see it," she said. "A mom living with her child could not see it. I knew I had not gotten back the same young Marine I had given the Marine Corps, but I figured he was tired after five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a firefighter." After revealing what he had once planned to do to himself, her son acknowledged he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. He told her that he would constantly see the shadows of comrades he had scooped up in body bags. The images haunted him until he began working at the horse rescue farm. Soon the horrific memories were replaced by memories of the good times he shared with his brothers in arms. When Knopf and her son finished their conversation, he handed her a $1,000 check, which became the seed money for the non-profit Veterans Equine Trail Services, or V.E.T.S. program. The V.E.T.S. program found a home at the Douglas Legacy Farm in La Valle, Wis., where the late Russell and Pearl Douglas, dedicated their family farm to serve veterans. Russell, a World War II veteran, passed away in 2011 at the age of 95. His wife, Pearl, passed away in 2012. "In her last year of life, she decided that this farm meant a lot to her and her community," said Beverly Vaillancourt, one of the farm's trustees and a longtime friend of the Russell family. "And she wanted to honor her husband's war service, so she dedicated the farm to serve veterans." When Vaillancourt and Knopf met several years ago, the perfect match emerged, and the veterans equine therapy program was born. In the past year alone, 245 veterans have visited the farm in search of peace. The farm, which primarily serves veterans in Juneau, Sauk, Iowa, and Dane counties, has drawn veterans from as far away as Green Bay, Wis. The Douglas Legacy farm offers a place for veterans of all conflicts, services, and backgrounds to come work with horses, connect with fellow veterans, and most importantly heal from the physical and mental wounds they suffered when serving their country. "Everything here for veterans is free," Vaillancourt told a gathered crowd during a July 2 visit that included senior leaders from the Wisconsin National Guard. "Veterans can come into the house and sit and have coffee or play cards. It's R&R all day while they're here. They can come here and work with horses all they want, anytime they want. Everything is free." "We honor our veterans," she added. "We thank our veterans, and we can't do enough to say thank you to all that serve this country. So we're here because this is our way to say thank you and express our gratitude." Maj. Gen. Don Dunbar, Wisconsin's adjutant general, spoke to the value of the V.E.T.S. program and others like it. "Programs like this are really important to allow veterans to reconnect and find themselves and move forward with their lives," he said during his visit to the farm. "There's no right way to do that. There are many ways to approach that, and the right one is the one that allows the return to be successful." "I'm so excited that the Douglas family had this kind of grace in their hearts to dedicate to veterans," Dunbar continued. Knopf said that the physical and emotional healing horses can offer helps veterans find mental peace. Many cut themselves off from their families, because they don't want to burden their families with their mental and emotional struggles. "Through working with the horses and other vets, they have epiphany moments where they're allowed to let go of some of these moments," Knopf said. "The horses tell no secrets, and they tell no tales." Members of the Wisconsin National Guard visited the Douglas Legacy Farm along with representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs July 2. - 30 -
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National Guard leaders visit equine therapy program
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