Lake City Hosts Wounded Warriors’ Turkey Hunt
By By Michael Smith
michael.smith@examiner.net
Posted May. 4, 2016 at 6:04 AM
A green tattoo on the right wrist of Jodie Wroblewski is a subtle reminder of a troubling time during his life.
The tattoo reads: SNIPER.
He was special operations soldier for the U.S. Army, a position he held for 17 years. He sustained wounds from ground combat and subsequently sustained a life-threatening injury when the aircraft he was being evacuated in crashed. The attack broke his back in two places and caused significant brain damage.
Wroblewski spent nine months in the VA hospital where he underwent brain and back surgery three times. He had to learn to walk and talk again during his rehab and he also missed the birth of his daughter because of it.
“I got a first-hand view of people who really want to hurt Americans,” Wroblewski said. “I didn’t get to see my daughter until she was seven months old just from being in a coma.”
Those were distressing times for the Army veteran. Memories he probably will never forget. But now, he has more recent and much more positive memories he will never forget.
Wrobleski was one of eight veterans who participated in a four-day turkey hunt at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence. Eight volunteers from Orbital ATK, the aerospace manufacturer and defense industry company that operates at Lake City, paired up with veterans and took them turkey hunting for four days as a way to say thanks to them for their services.
Orbital ATK worked with the Wounded Buck Project, a group that organizes outdoor recreational activities all over the country for disabled veterans, to put on the event. The Foundation For Exceptional Warriors, a non-profit organization that helps find veterans therapeutic outdoor recreational or sporting activities to participate in.
“Last year we put over 500 veterans in the field on outdoor recreational therapy from Florida to Alaska,” Missouri National Guard Veteran and Foundation For Exceptional Warriors board member Chris Wolfenbarger said.