For veterans who served our nation, connecting with water and nature can be healing. It’s not only a bond with nature, but with fellow veterans whose friendships transcend the water.
Ahead of Veterans Day 2025, the nonprofit Heroes on the Water hosted kayak fishing at a pond in Laytonsville.
MCM highlighted this story in our year-end episode of The Pulse:
“There’s a negative connotation with the term heal,” said Chris Vassallo, Maryland Chapter Coordinator for Heroes on the Water. “It implies that there’s something wrong. We’re not here because necessarily there’s something wrong — there might be, but we’re here to relax, to have a good time, to enjoy ourselves, and this is just a way for us to turn the voices off in our head.”
Their motto is “Paddle. Fish. Heal.”
“You’ve all gone through basic together,” said Amanda Andreone, an army veteran who met her husband, Nicholas, while they were both serving. “You’ve all experienced the suck of being yelled at, and being in the mud, and learning how to shoot. So as soon as you get out of that, you have this trust that’s unspoken.”
“It’s just a nice way to bring back some of that camaraderie,” Nicholas Andreone said.
“And then the conversations, they don’t have any judgement… there’s that bond there that will always be there, and so it supersedes any type of stereotypes or any type of political views. You immediately go to being a friend,” said Amanda.
Heroes on the Water has chapters nationwide to take veterans, first responders, and their families kayak fishing free of charge. The group runs on donations.
There were 10 events in 2025, Vassallo said. The one in Laytonsville in November was the final one of the year, as the water started to get cold.
Vassallo invites veterans and first responders to join Heroes on the Water. Firefighters and police officers seem to be more reluctant to participate.
“If you’re a veteran or first responder and you’re looking for something to do, or you think you might want to come have fun, please come have fun,” he said.
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