By Alliance Communications Coordinator Amy Durr
During these very divisive and confusing times, it’s heartening to know some of our country’s bravest warriors are working quietly underwater to battle for us against climate change, protecting our reefs and seas. At the same time, they’re healing from the trauma of warfare and discovering a surprising new green objective in life.
Nonprofit FORCE BLUE, which does ocean conservation work, is providing what they call “mission therapy” to veterans who miss the camaraderie and the sense of purpose of service, NPR reports.
“These guys are the best trained divers in the world. We take their skills that they learn from the military, repurpose them for conservation work…from coral restoration to marine debris cleanup to building a living shoreline defense system,” says Angelo Fiore, a former Navy diver who directs operations for FORCE BLUE.
Here are just two of the stories of broken warriors who have found themselves by protecting the future for all of us from the ravages of the climate crisis.
Nathan Quinn’s Journey: From Struggle to Meaning
“Someday, when they leave their term of service, there’s really no program, there’s no anti-boot camp, no step down…Part of what makes it so difficult is the expectations [with which] people…view a veteran. It makes it almost difficult to shed that skin and become this new person at the end of your military time,” shares Nathan Quinn (beginning at 4:45).
Thanks to NPR for sharing Nathan’s moving mental health metamorphosis:
Nathan Quinn was a special forces medic but never deployed to war. When he came to his first Force Blue mission, rebuilding damaged coral reefs in the Florida Keys, they told him he needed to get a mental health check up as part of the deal. At first he said “no way.” Sure, he was feeling a bit lost, without purpose, but he wasn’t shell shocked.
“I didn’t deserve the support,” he says he thought at the time. “I didn’t lose my legs. I hadn’t gotten shot.”
But the Force Blue team told him: no mental health screening, no dive. It turned out he was struggling, and Force Blue got him some help. Now he returns again and again to do more missions – for the companionship and also because, he says, healing the ocean and the living coral is another kind of therapy.
Building a living shoreline in Choctawhatchee Bay was supposed to take two days but the Force Blue folks moved 40 tons of rock by hand and finished by midafternoon on the first day, with a break for lunch.
It really is a swords to plowshares kind of thing, and you’re also basically giving your lifeblood to this creature that you’ve only just met. These are just absolutely stunning, bright colored coral. And by building those reefs back, we can actually prevent devastation for the next storm,” says Quinn.
Culturally, many men aren’t aware of their feelings, much less comfortable expressing emotions. For a vet and doctor like Quinn to admit he needs help is moving. Men need these opportunities, and to have fellow vets invite this level of introspection is inspiring.
It’s also noteworthy this change comes from giving deep attention to non-human living beings. We each can experience our true selves more fully by reconnecting with the natural world. It’s deeply moving to me he is willing to give his “lifeblood” to a “creature” – in this case, coral – he “only just met.”
Steve Gonzales: He Was Blind, But Now Sees a Transcendent New World
The story of Steve “Gonzo” Gonzales as told by NPR highlights the possibility a hardened hero can be blind to the true world but open up to its magnificent beauty:
I went in [the military] in 1982 and got retired in 2016. No lie, I’d actually never seen colors in the water because I was always diving, you know, 10 o’clock, midnight, 2 o’clock in the morning, and in water, you can barely see your hand in front of your face. So to see that – see the color, see the vibrant colors, to be in warm water with amazing visibility, nobody trying to hunt you down, you know – yes, it was definitely different.
But also as we’re planting the coral, the – you’ll plant that coral, you’ll go back and get another piece from the scientist, and by the time you come back to that planting site, there’s already marine life checking it out, like, being curious and everything. And you can see the impact that you’re making, right then and there, to the marine environment and to our planet. I use the term transcendent, you know, because it is. Like, you really – it really is moving.
A great friend of mine – we served together at one of the SEAL teams, and he said, I’d love to come check that out. He’s in the van, and within a half an hour, he says, Gonzo, you have no idea how much I need this. And I was like, what are you talking about, man? You’re well adjusted. You’re doing great.
He says, I just miss being part of something special. And unfortunately, when guys start to struggle a little bit, not being part of something special, missing that, now what? – that’s when problems arise. Depression starts to get in, the pressures of transitioning and everything. And we do have a suicide problem in special operations communities, as I’m sure you know.
How incredible (and sad) a Navy SEAL can be working in some of the most beautiful seas in the world and not get to appreciate the brilliant colors. It’s remarkable that FORCE BLUE helped him see more clearly.
Gonzo’s experience is an important reminder to all of us to open our eyes to the gifts we all share.
From Mass Destruction to Construction…and Joy
“It’s kind of full circle because, here we are a military force that’s trained for basically, weapons of mass destruction and here we are, weapons of mass construction,” Fiore says with a grin.