rapidfire
Never Stop Serving L
t. Col. Forrest “Woody” Aurentz, USA (Ret), wanted to pay it forward when he founded Gathering of Mountain
Eagles, a nonprofit to help wounded warriors through adventure therapy. The 25-year Army veteran takes fellow veterans on rafting, ski- ing, biking, climbing, and other trips to foster physical and psychological recovery. How did the organization come about? In 1988, while stationed at Fort Knox [Ky.], my daughter was involved in the Carrollton bus crash, in which 27 kids and adults were killed. A drunk driver hit their church bus. He was driving on the wrong side of the interstate. My daughter was the most seriously injured survivor, with third-degree burns over 65 percent of her body, and even- tually [she lost] her right leg below the knee. She had a very long and difficult re- covery. All along the way, soldiers helped our family get through this tragedy in too many ways to count. What does your organization do? We serve active duty [servicemembers], [re- tirees], and veterans with disabilities and their spouses. My 1972 attendance at
Ranger School had a great effect in boosting my confidence by [pushing me to do] very hard things that I didn’t think I could do. I thought that if we could do something like that for those wounded, injured, or ill, maybe it would boost their confidence in a small way. It’s not Ranger School, but doing things that are a little scary — skiing, whitewater raft- ing, very long ziplines, even golf, etcetera — especially if they are dealing with their own physical or mental injuries, may help them. A second part of what we do is to thank them for their service — introductions at college football or basket- ball games, meals with other veterans, concerts, etcetera. How is the organization run?
With the help of many old Army pals, we started Gathering of Mountain Eagles in 2008 as an all-volunteer organization. We are still an all-volunteer [orga- nization], with 97 percent of the money we raise going for direct support of the troops. — Anayat Durrani
Attention! Check out these military-related entertainment offerings.
BOOK SURVIVING THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: SAFER COMPUTING TIPS FOR SMALL BUSI- NESS MANAGERS AND EVERYDAY PEOPLE (Bohemian Griot) This friendly, novice-oriented reference uses the zombie apocalypse as an allegory
PHOTO: FABULOUS PHOTOS
for the dangers of cyber- space. Written for PC and Mac users, this book is an armchair safari into the world of cybercrime.
FILM BRAVO! COMMON MEN, UNCOMMON VALOR (Kingfisher Arts) Through interviews, film
footage, photographs, and audio recorded in Vietnam in 1968, 15 former Marines and Navy corpsmen tell their tales of battle, fear, and survival at the Siege of Khe Sanh, Vietnam, 1968.
BOOK DARKER THAN DARK (Yorkshire Publish-
ing) Former Marine and three-tour Vietnam veteran John Admire tells the fic- tional story of four young Marines who struggle to understand the Vietnam war while fighting to sur- vive it and the challenges on the home front to sup- port the war. MO
NOVEMBER 2015 MILITARY OFFICER 25
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