About three dozen U.S. military veterans learned to row and competed in informal races on the Charles River today at Community Rowing, Inc.'s first Military Veterans Learn-to-Row Day.
The local-area veterans, including several suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or other service-related conditions, and their families filled five eight-person boats in the morning. Most never having rowed before, they applied their team-working skills to the task of rowing together, then raced one boat against another for about 600 meters.
The event ended at about noon at the Harry Parker Boathouse, home of Community Rowing, Inc., on the Charles River in Brighton, where the visiting veterans and an equal number of CRI staff and volunteers enjoed a cookout.
"I'm in shape," said Scott Shurtleff, a former Army specialist with the 82d Airborne, who served in the Sinai and Grenada. "But the rhythm part was hard for me to catch on."
Sean Kennedy, director of veterans outreach at Home Base, a partnership of the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital that helps improve the lives of returning veterans, said, " Community Rowing is a huge supporter of veterans and their families."
Community Rowing, Inc., a nonprofit group, promotes rowing for fitness and fun, and has a rowing program for veterans on Wednesdays. A few veterans also come to the adaptive-rowing program on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but CRI director of outreach Rachele Pojednic said they would like to have as many as 20 vets, including those who suffer disabilities, twice a week.
"This was amazingly successful," Pojednic said today, as vets and staff munched on hotdogs and hamburgers on a sunny, humid afternoon. "Having 40 people spread the word is really awesome for the future."
One group of the veterans who attended is associated with the Veterans Administration facility in Bedford, Mass. Derek Doherty, wearing a colorful "Semper Fi" and other tattoos, served in the Marines in Desert Storm in Iraq and now works at the Bedford hospital.
"Getting out on the water makes them forget a little bit, the pains and struggles they've been through," he said. Doherty's eight-man boat won its race and was dubbed "Team Tat," because of the number of rowers who sported tattoos.
"They were aggressive, they worked as a team," said Team Tat coach Natalie Dell, a volunteer who works with veterans in Bedford, does research concerning mental depression among veterans, and is training to make the U.S. Rowing team in Princeton, N.J.
"For learning-to-row people, they caught on very quickly," she said. Winning with her eight vets wasn't hard, she added. "We did have some of the bigger guys."
Community Rowing, Inc.'s weekly sessions provide equipment, education, and healthy athletic experiences for the vets and their families. CRI partnered with Home Base to reach military veterans in the Greater Boston area for today's event. CRI also worked with Boston Area Veterans Association Hospitals and the Harvard Veterans Organization.
As an official USParalympic Sport Club, Community Rowing, Inc. works regularly with the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) Paralympic Military Program to provide post-rehabilitation support and mentoring to American servicemen and women who have sustained physical injuries, such as traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, visual impairment or blindness and stroke.
Waneta West, 73, who lives in the North End and uses a walker much of the time, was in the U.S. Navy after the Korean war and rowed yesterday. "It's a team effort that was really good," she said. "You felt good working together. I wasn't too great at it -- practice would make us better."
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