By Annie Laurie Balthazar
As the longest war in U.S. history lingers on, veterans continue to return home facing an unseen and different kind of battle. According to a VA suicide data report, 20 percent of veterans suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression and as many as 8,000 commit suicide each year.
Over the centuries, veterans with PTSD have battled social stigmas after having been diagnosed with terms such as nostalgia, irritable heart, battle shock, shell shock and war neurosis. Although experts now know that psychological weakness has little to do with PTSD, the stigma remains as 50 percent of veterans with PTSD do not to seek medical help.
To combat his trauma from World War II, Earl Shaffer decided to “walk the Army out of his system.” Shaffer was the first person to through-hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail, all 2,160 miles from Georgia to Maine.
Photo by Jake Tavakoli
This story inspired me, and in 2015, I solo-paddled all 2,300 miles of the Mississippi River from its source to sea as a form of outdoor therapy for PTSD. This 103-day journey restored my faith in humankind, eased my depression, reignited my passion for paddling and inspired me to walk away from my six-figure medical career to help other veterans by founding Paddle For Peace (PFP).
It is my hope that this program, along with similar models, will be accepted and hailed as alternative therapy for veterans who suffer from PTSD. As volumes of research confirm, intentional interactions between nature and individuals suffering from PTSD show great promise in not only repairing but healing the invisible and often deadly wounds of war.
PFP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides canoeing and kayaking trips on rivers bordering and in West Virginia to veterans suffering from war trauma. Expeditions are offered throughout the year and range from two-night to 10-night trips on fairly calm and remote rivers in my wild and wonderful home state. While some veterans are novice paddlers, many have already feared for their lives, so they don’t need to worry about battling large rapids. The excursions are free, and I provide all of the paddling and camping gear.
To date, 10 war veterans have participated in PFP trips, where they have found compassion, challenge, camaraderie and a brighter future in an unexpected place—on the water. PFP was recently featured in Canoe & Kayak Magazine’s Winter 2017 edition, where Editor Dave Shively joined me on the Shenandoah River.
About the Author
Annie Laurie Balthazar is an Operation Iraqi Freedom war veteran. She served in the U.S. Air Force from 1996-2007 as a nurse anesthetist, resigning her commission after deploying to Iraq where she administered over 1,000 anesthetics to wounded soldiers, civilians, children and insurgents. Balthazar lives on the New River Gorge in Fayetteville, WV, with her husband and works for the Army Corps of Engineers as a seasonal park ranger to help fund her nonprofit organization, Paddle For Peace.
