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Moni Basu Authors Article on Company Focused on Fishing Excursions for Veterans with PTSD

Moni Basu, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Michael and Linda Connelly Lecturer for Narrative Nonfiction, is the author of “Veterans Hook Fish & Friends on the Open Water” published in Flamingo magazine on July 14.

Moni Basu

Basu writes about Freedom Fighter Outdoors, an organization based north of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida founded by boat captain Vinnie LaSorsa in 2013. Since he received his captain’s license, LoSorsa has been taking veterans who are suffering PTSD on fishing excursions. The experiences they share together have helped build lifetime connections.

According to Basu, “I don’t know all the stories of those who have come here on this winter day, but over the 14 years that I reported from Iraq, I met men and women who were broken by war. Some were able to stand up again; some could not. In my time embedded with various Army and Marine units, I had learned one very important aspect of healing: there was no substitute for finding someone who could understand. That meant in many cases, it was not a beloved spouse or even a therapist. It was someone who had also survived agony.”

“The hope is that the guys who go spend outdoor time together make bonds for a lifetime. They exchange cellphone numbers and friend each other on Facebook. They connect, and stay connected, so that maybe on a dark night, one can call the other and avert the worst,” she said.

Basu recounts the story of Army Cpl. Dortrie “Bird” Jones Jr. During a night patrol in Baghdad he lost a leg. The memory of what happened still haunts him today.

“Jones was skeptical for other reasons as well. His take on veteran’s groups was that they were dog-and-pony shows that paraded the pain of soldiers for their own gain. To be sure, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had given rise to myriad upstarts, many of which focus on reintegrating service members back into the social fabric of America,” she said. “But then, everything changes once a veteran arrives here at Lighthouse Point. Something magic happens. Out there on the ocean, broken men and women can put aside their injuries and their nightmares. They can let go because they are with people they trust.”

Posted: July 15, 2020
Category: College News
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