Local club takes disabled vets fishing

Fishing and fresh air served up by local Rod & Gun Club

VERNON — For years the Double V Rod & Gun Club has been volunteering time and effort for free fishing and archery events for the area’s children — fishing derbies at Vernon’s Firemen’s Pond, the annual Refuge Day at the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge.

But the club chose last Saturday for a different sort of outdoor event.

The club expanded its efforts and invited some of New Jersey’s disabled veterans for a picnic and a chance to go fishing on the lake at the Wallkill River National wildlife Refuge. Once each year New Jersey allows residents to fish without requiring the usually mandatory fishing licenses and trout stamps, and this year, with the help of the refuge, nearly four-dozen disabled veterans and their families were able to enjoy the outdoors along the shore of a large pond at the northern end of the refuge.

More than a dozen area veterans and their families joined 30 disabled veterans from the Lyons VA Hospital. Club vice president Bob Schmidt said of the Double V club, “We’re not politically involved with anybody or anything. We just want to do something for the veterans and I get choked up, that’s the way we are, that’s the way it is.”

According to Schmidt, nearly two dozen area businesses and individuals donated everything from general funding, to bagels and beef, to worms to attach to the fishing hooks.

One veteran's story
Heriberto Vidro, a disabled veteran from Sayreville, made the trip with Houdini, his 4-year-old yellow Labrador, in tow. Houdini is an assistance dog for his master, who was wounded in March 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Vidro uses the dog for hearing and balancing assistance and both the pup and Vidro enjoyed the day in the country.

As part of a convoy transporting jet fuel through the Iraqi countryside Vidro was ambushed and following an explosion, the 24-year Army reservist found himself lying on the ground with internal injuries including four herniated discs, two in his neck and two in his lower back. His hearing was also irreparably damaged.

Although he was severely injured, the damage was internal, and according to Vidro, the general policy regarding his wounds was: “If he’s not bleeding, he’s not going anywhere,” so he remained actively serving in the unit. According to the former soldier, the additional service, without receiving medical attention, resulted in his permanent injuries.

When he returned to the States his lack of hearing also affected his balance and his day-to-day needs required the services of an assistance dog. Vidro remarked that if it were not for the caring efforts of 18 children from Fair Lawn, he would never have been able to afford the service dog. The dog now helps him get around and Houdini will retrieve his mail or open doors or do whatever his master needs.

Vidro also realizes that his slow walking pace does not help the canine get the exercise the dog needs, so he has a treadmill in his home for Houdini. With a chuckle he said, “Houdini finally figured out that if he sits down on the treadmill, he suddenly finds himself sitting on the floor instead and the machine stops.” So much for the artificial exercise, Vidro noted.

Donors help make the day
Wheelers for the Wounded, a veterans assistance group, also helped out during the fishing excursion, which was followed by an outdoor lunch. In association with the North Jersey Jeep Club, the group uses Jeeps to give disabled veterans the chance to enjoy the thrill of off-road driving. The two groups are planning a Sept. 15, off-road experience for disabled veterans to take place at an undisclosed location in Hardyston.

For more information on the Jeep club: http://wftwnj.wordpress.com/

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