April Lechman's Contact Details

April Lechman's Company Details

Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation

Bozeman, MT, US • 10 - 19 Employees
Healthcare Facility/Healthcare Services

Mission - Through the experience of fly fishing in Montana, WQW is a catalyst for positive change in the lives of post-9/11 combat veterans and their loved ones.Vision - WQW envisions an America in which a new generation of combat veterans successfully reintegrate into society.History - Retired Marine Colonel Eric Hastings remembers flight missions "high above the absolute death and destruction on the ground" during his tours in Vietnam. From the cockpit, he traced meandering ribbons that cut through the jungle and reminded him of the trout streams of home. At night, he dreamed of fly fishing. When he returned to Montana in 1969, to a nation decades from diagnosing Post Traumatic Stress (PTS), he went straight to the water. He tied a fly to a line and cast. The river, he claims, healed him. Hastings and Dr. Volney Steele found they shared a vision of bringing warriors with both seen and unseen wounds from recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to Montana to find the peace and hope they mutually found through fishing. In July and September of 2007, Hastings, Steele, and dozens of other dedicated volunteers brought WQW Foundation's first two groups of traumatically injured combat veterans to Bozeman. Along with a welcomed break from surgeries, rehab therapy, doctors, and hospital routines, the 14 Soldiers, Marines, and Sailors from the Naval Medical Center in San Diego were given: top-of-line fishing gear; float trips on blue ribbon waters and fly fishing instruction from world-class professional guides; delicious home-cooked meals by loving "moms"; and comfortable accommodations in beautiful surroundings. The less tangible yet more meaningful benefits they reported receiving were feelings of security, serenity, resilience, hope and camaraderie that formed positive memories and will last a lifetime. The group knew they had a model that worked incredibly well, and began planning for 2008 and beyond.