Our Outdoor Adventure Coordinator received this letter after he took eight veterans to participate in the Veteran Immersion program at the Georgia Aquarium. Read the letter below:

I would like to extend a sincere thank you to all those involved with the Veteran Immersion Program at the Atlanta Georgia Aquarium. It was a dream come true for me to cross off one of my bucket list items that I honestly didn’t think would ever happen. Just to meet up with my veteran brothers and sisters was great, to tour the Aquarium with family and friends was cool, but to swim with the gentle giants, the whale sharks, was over the top, and out of all my SCUBA diving experience probably the coolest thing I have ever done. Yet, that’s not the end of my story or the main reason for my letter of thanks. For the first time in a very long time, being able to float in the salt water took the pressure off of my spine and gave me about 30 minutes of practically pain-free enjoyment. Thank you so much for providing experiences like this to us veterans. They not only help us mentally by giving us a temporary distraction from our disabilities, but they also physically benefit us service-connected veterans who have spinal issues, called the unseen disability sometimes. I look forward to attending many more events like this one, and I greatly appreciate all of the sponsors, donors, and staff who make events similar to this available to us wounded veterans. Without your generosity, I would not be able to attend events like this and, thus, wouldn’t be able to receive the mental and physical benefits they provide.

Are you a veteran who is interested in participating in something like this? Consider calling 864-520-2073 to complete an intake at one of our offices, if you haven’t already, and checking out the events on our Facebook page and website calendar. For additional information about the events, email our Outdoor Adventure Coordinator Sid Eargle at seargle@upstatewarriorsolution.org. Thank you. We hope to see you soon!