Riffles and Runs: For the Vets, and for their Friends and Families

This article originally appeared in the Riffles and Runs column of February-March 2024 issue of Fly Fisherman.

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I started writing this column on Veterans Day 2023 . . . the same day I received a letter to the editor from Larry Mace of Wardensville, West Virginia.

Larry shared a passion for the outdoors with his son Stephan Mace, and together they fished the alpine Chicago Lakes while the younger Mace was stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado. Larry lost his son a few months later. Stephan was one of the eight American soldiers killed in the Battle of Kamdesh in Afghanistan. Most people are familiar with this event due to the many medals that were awarded, media coverage, and the Hollywood film The Outpost.

Fly Fisherman has previously written about fly-fishing programs designed to help wounded veterans, but perhaps hasn’t done enough to highlight the programs that help the families of fallen soldiers. In this case, a nonprofit called Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors organized a fly-fishing trip on the Madison River for Larry and his younger son Bradley, and they both also benefited from a Project Healing Waters event at Rose River Farm in Virginia. Read here how Fly Fisherman and the recent film Mending the Line also helped Larry and his family continue the healing process.

For vets and for those with friends and family in the military—or anyone who enjoys tropical saltwater fly fishing—there is plenty more on flyfisherman.com. We have a story from Capt. Joel Stewart about the many times he’s been able to cast a fly on the flats and in the lagoons surrounding Diego Garcia, a highly protected military base in the Indian Ocean shared by both the U.S. and the UK. I first wrote about Capt. Stewart in Fly Fisherman back in 2005 when he started the Baghdad School of Fly Fishing, using his spare time overseas to teach service members how to fly fish. Their classroom was Camp Victory, located on the grounds of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s former Al Faw Palace.

I stayed in touch with Capt. Stewart when he was at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania—and he was fishing my home waters—and I am delighted to report that he still travels with rods and reels in his sea bag, and is always willing to teach the troops how to cast a fly.

We also have a profile about Kyle Cone, a U.S. Marine who was wounded in battle in Iraq. Years later, he was lost, alone, and reclusive—until the right group of Project Healing Waters volunteers introduced him to fly fishing. Today Cone has a new life as a fly-fishing guide and volunteers his own time to help others with their recoveries.

And there are many similar stories available on this website.

These stories aren’t just for vets, they are for friends and families of vets, and for everyone who is grateful for their sacrifices in service to our country. And they are for everyone who enjoys fly fishing and the healing it brings to whatever trauma, sorrow, and dysfunction you may have in other parts of your life.

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