Striper guide hosts fishing tournament in honor of local veterans

Pottsboro, Texas (KXII) - There’s almost no shortage of parades, ceremonies, and events this Veterans Day, but one group is doing something a little different by taking their celebration to the water.

“Anybody can have a parade, but who gets to go fishing on Veterans Day and have a tournament, have a good lunch?” said Bill Carey with Striper Express. “What can you say? It’s fun.”

For more than 20 years, Bill Carey has brought a group of veterans together to cast their lines out into Lake Texoma.

He said more than fifty veterans attended this year, and some came for the very first time.

“I can remember coming back [from service],” said Bob Wiley, an Airforce veteran. “I was in Thailand during the Vietnam War and getting spit at. Now, it’s a pleasure, and all the time, people say when they know you’re a vet, ‘thanks for your service, thanks for your service.’ It’s nice to be appreciated, that’s for sure.”

Each got a chance to compete for the biggest fish, and everyone got a home-cooked meal.

“A lot of time, people forget about the people serving overseas and the people who died for their country, and so it feels good when people give back and say thank you,” said Michael Moody, a Navy veteran.

And, after two decades of watching the tournament bring joy to veterans, Carey doesn’t plan on stopping the tradition anytime soon.

“One of the most moving moments was a guy who said, ‘I shouldn’t even be here.’,” said Carey. “Agent Orange just ravished his body, and he wasn’t here the next year. It’s just satisfying to do this for these people.”

Carey said they would start taking reservations for next year’s Veterans Day tournament in January.

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