Wake for Warriors, a non-profit organization that utilizes water sports to heal the emotional and psychological wounds of military veterans and families, spent the last weekend of June on Lake Lanier.
Founder of Wake for Warriors, U.S. Marine, Lt. Col. (ret.) Dave Deep, said the reason he started the program was to bring out injured veterans together for a chance to heal not only the physical scars of combat, but also the mental scars.
"I was always tell people that its really hard to have a bad day on the lake. So, in doing so, I wanted to share my passion for water sports and give my brothers and sisters in the military a chance to have fun,' said Deep.
Deep and the Wake for Warriors team spent four days in Gainesville with local vets and their families in during the last weekend of June. Roughly 20 veterans went out on the water to wake surf, wakeboard, paddle board or to just spend time with other military members to share a sunny boat ride.
"The payoff for us is seeing someone who has never done this before get up and have a grin that wraps all the way around their face," Deep said.
Wake for Warriors, which is based out of Columbus, GA, travels to various lakes across the country but Deep said Lake Lanier is always one of his favorite stops.
"The Gainesville Marina has been awesome for us, they let us use their facilities and they have opened up all of the logistics that go into setting up an event like this. They have bent over backwards to help us out and we truely do appreciate it. We look forward to coming back to do it again."
