Fishing event, fish fry held for southeast Mo. veterans

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. (KFVS) - About 60 southeast Missouri veterans took part recently in a veterans’ fishing event and fish fry at the Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Bloomfield.

A dozen of those veterans are associated with the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center.

According to a release from the VA, the events haven’t been held the last two years due to COVID-19, but Tony Curran, commander of the American Legion Post 59 in Dexter and organizer of the event, was happy it would return.

“We want them to have a day of fishing and a good ‘ol fish fry,” he said. “Our post has always tried to do some things with the disabled vets, and we’ve been doing this now for seven years. We do it twice a year, and it’s gone well.”

“Everybody seems to be catching fish and having a good time,” he continued, noting the “bottom line is we want them to be happy when they leave and say they had a great time and ate their fill.”

The fishing event was exactly what Lee Willard, peer support specialist at the John J. Pershing VA Medical center, and his co-worker, Wesley Gautreaux, mental health social worker, were looking for as a way for veterans to get outside and come together.

“Wes and I talked about taking a few veterans fishing and things like that. We actually called a few places, and I knew that Voluntary Services had taken Veterans here before, so we came up here and talked to the director,” Willard recalled. “It kind of worked out.”

Several staff from the VA facility, including those who work with at-risk patients, helped with the event.

“When they’re able to get together with other veterans from southeast Missouri, it’s really cool just to see them interacting with each other,” Willard said. “It’s cool to get out here and be a part of this. It’s pretty humbling.”

He said the event offers many veterans their first opportunity to do something together since the pandemic began in early 2020.

“It’s a huge deal to them,” Willard explained. “When COVID hit, a lot of these Veterans were really isolated. They have a common bond of serving and getting them out together to socialize and bond is very paramount, not just for their physical health, but their mental health as well.”

After a few hours of fishing, each veteran and volunteer was treated to a fish fry, thanks to American Legion Post 59 and local donors.

Curran said a fall event is in the works, but they haven’t set a date yet.