Freedom Hunts

Dave walked into the Old Soldier’s Home on Michigan looking his “Uncle Mike”.  He went straight to his room but he wasn’t there.  He looked in the kitchen and he wasn’t there so he checked with Dana the evening staffer.  She told him, he was in the “lounge” watching some hunting show while the others napped.

Mike had been an active hunter in his youth before entering the service but when he came home, he wasn’t himself anymore.  Something in him just gave up on much of what used to make him happy.  He walked around most of his adult life lost unsure what he wanted or where he wanted to be.  Till eventually he just got too old to do much of anything anymore and had settled into the old troopers home waiting to die.

“Hey Unk, what are you doing in here?” Dave quipped knowing what he thought the answer would be.  But when Mike looked up he had tears in his eyes, he had been watching a public television hunting show.  The show was about soldiers going hunting on a “freedom hunt.”  They both sat quiet after that watching the show till it ended, Mike again wiping tears from his eyes.

“So when are you going to apply?  I can help you fill out the paperwork if you want Uncle Mike.”  Mike didn’t answer just walked back to his room and laid on the bed whimpering till he fell asleep.  Dave sat quietly watching him sleep, looking at the pictures from his “uncle’s” past seeing his Dad in several of them.  His dad had been best friends with Mike since they were very young before going into the Army together in 1986.

After several years they got separated and Mike fell apart on his own eventually getting discharged for what the Army called an overdose attempt.  But Mike always claimed he was drunk and didn’t realize how many pills he had taken.  Nevertheless it stayed on his record and he kept his Honorable Discharge but being a “Peacetime Veteran” there wasn’t much available as far as support when he got home.

When Dave’s dad passed away in Spring of 1991,  Mike was introduced to Dave as “Uncle Mike” and remained that way forever.  But Dave knew something wasn’t right about Mike but never asked not until that day when he woke up Mike.

“Mike, tell me why you won’t apply for that hunt please?”

“Just let it go Dave, it’s not important anymore.”

“You’re almost 60 years of age and I want to see you happy once before you leave me here alone.  Since my Mom passed you are the closest thing I have to family, Mike.”

Mike rolled over and sat up facing Dave, “I can’t apply I’m not a combat veteran, now leave it alone.”

But Dave was as stubborn as Mike was and didn’t let it go instead he filed the paperwork and in the comments section he wrote down the following:

“My “Uncle” thinks he doesn’t deserve this hunting trip because he was not a combat veteran.  Most of his life after his service he hid that he was even a veteran until he lost his house when he got really sick and couldn’t pay for it anymore.  Then they took him into the Old Soldier’s Home so he wouldn’t be homeless.  I know my father, his best friend and military buddy would agree if he was still alive that Mike deserves this no matter what, he served his country doing the best he could until he made a mistake and was discharged.  Please consider him for one of your hunting trips.”

The next fall Mike got a letter in the mail from the Freedom Hunts Organization and immediately thought of Dave before opening the letter.  “That kid never listens to me.”

In the letter he was invited to join a Deer Hunt in November, all expenses paid with a guide at a nearby hunting property that was privately owned.  The owner was a Lt. Colonel (retired) from the Army.  Mike saw that and immediately threw the letter away not responding but Dana removed it from the trash when Mike was napping and passed it on to Dave on his next visit when Mike refused to see him.

On November 14th, a caravan of vehicles showed up at the Old Soldiers Home including the local Rolling Thunder group to pick up Mike.  Dana asked Mike to step outside a moment but he refused to come outside.  The colonel came in to get him, “Specialist Fourth Class Michael T. Hammer report to me immediately soldier!”  No response.

The colonel walked into the room and handed Mike a hat that said, “If you enjoy your freedom thank a Veteran.”  Mike tossed it aside.  “Get out.”

“Mike I know what happened to you and I’m sorry I made that mistake a long time ago.  I was young and listening to my superiors instead of taking care of one of my men.  Let me fix this by taking you hunting, you’ve earned it.”

“Go to hell and get away from me Colonel.  You ruined my world and refused to care if I just made a mistake along the way.  I tried to explain it to you but you didn’t hear a word I was saying.  Now get out.”

Dave walked in,  “Uncle Mike I got this for you please don’t turn it down, my dad wouldn’t want you to do this and you know it.”

“Your dad died alone because I made a stupid mistake after we got transferred to different places.  I let him down when I should have been there for him in the Gulf.  Now both of you get out.”

Just then you could hear an entire group chanting a cadence as they entered the building, it was then entire caravan of men, women and children all there to take Mike hunting.  They filed into his room surrounding him as he sat in his chair tears running down his face.  The leader of the Rolling Thunder walked in...

“I am Master Sgt. Thomas W. Turner, I served in Viet Nam and ended my illustrious career after getting shot in the buttocks in February 1991.  I am a combat veteran yes, but I am just like you.  I made a mistake that got me shot in the butt and my honorable discharge doesn’t reflect that either.  You got honorably discharged along with everyone in this room now get up and get ready to go hunting troop.”

Mike stood up and immediately his knees gave way but two brothers helped him back up.  “We got your back Mike, let’s go have some fun in the woods okay?”  Mike went and spent the entire week hunting, laughing and have a really good time with the other veterans many of whom were combat veterans and not once did he get treated like a lesser individual.  The last picture Dave received before Mike passed away was of  him standing tall with a smile on his face behind his 10 point buck that he never would have gotten without Dave.