M1's for vets

[Dan Wilson]

Hey guys, I know I have mentioned this before but figured I would toot the old horn again for a good cause.

The M1's for vets program was started by JJ O'Shea, a civilian who has never served, but felt he needed to do something to provide a "Thanks" to those of us who have gone into harms way and didn’t come out the other end whole and complete.

In a nutshell, what he (and his organization; http://www.m1forvets.com/Home_Page.php ) does is to collect donations of money, parts and whole rifles to present to damaged vets (mostly M1 Garands but they also accept and present 1903’s, 1917’s and M1 Carbines) to allow them to have some kind of contact with other vets with similar backgrounds, and to be able to have some contact with a life that they no longer can actively participate in.

In most cases, the vet has suffered a career-ending wound or disability and finds himself alone on the outside. Most of you can relate that non military vs. military people just don’t think on the same level or have the same background, (not bad, just different) so when they say "I understand what your going through" they really cant, even though they mean well it just don’t work.

Now you take the same vet, give him a rifle and put him on the range, associating with other wounded and damaged vets so they can really touch base on a common level with each other, share experiences and problems. It gives them a chance for fellowship with like minded and experienced individuals and does wonders for their mental outlook and is worth more than a decade of “therapy†will provide. So far, they have provided almost 200 rifles to deserving vets and improved the recovery of so many of our vets with both tangible and intangible benefits.

You can find him and a collection of wounded vets at almost any major shooting tournament and even small local events. I recently hooked up with them at the CMP eastern games at Camp Butner NC and donated two rifles for the cause. One rifle was a full out match conditioned M1 Garand rifle worth about 2800 bucks and the other was just a run of the mill, good condition Garand; I am hoping to give them another two or three rifles this year as well.

It was well worth any expense to see the looks on the faces of those two vets and the enjoyment they had shooting the match. They were both pretty messed up kids, one of which has been at Walter Reed for eight months but managed to escape for the weekend to attend the match. They are both really young and have a very long painful recovery and life ahead of them so anything I can do to make life a little more enjoyable for them, its money and time well spent.

I would encourage y’all to check it out and help the program in any way you can.

Off my soapbox now

Dan