Making wishes come true for children and veterans

“USSA does hunting and fishing experiences for children with terminal illnesses or disabilities, and for veterans,” said USSA State Representative and National Public Relations and Event Coordinator Bill Cothron. “We have families from all over the United States who participate.

“USSA has been doing this now for 24 years. Last year, we crossed the 20,000 wishes mark — we did 712 wishes last year. We do everything from elk hunting in New Mexico to deep sea fishing off the Carolinas. Here in Tennessee, we started the turkey hunt last year.”

While last weekend’s guided turkey hunt took place on private farms across Trousdale, Macon, Wilson and Smith counties, participants were provided meals and lodging at the National Guard Armory in Smith County.

“We have farms all over the area that people have allowed us to use,” said Cothron. “We have a lot of support from the local communities, and it’s really amazing what they do.”

As part of the weekend’s activities, the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency provided participants with gun safety instruction prior to the commencement of the hunt.

“On Friday, we did gun safety with the TWRA,” said Cothron. “We did a pizza party that evening, and the hunters met their guides.

“On Saturday, they got up and went out with their guides to hunt. We had a fish fry that evening. Then, on Sunday, if they did not kill a bird on Saturday, or if they just wanted to, they were able to go back out again.”

Although the mission of USSA, in part, is to provide the children and veterans and their families a respite from the world of hospitals and high medical bills, according to several volunteers from this weekend’s event, the time spent with the children and veterans also had a profound impact them.

“I am blessed to have a farm, and that is a blessing that I can give back to others,” said property owner Charlie Adams. “My farm actually is partly in Macon County and partly in Trousdale County, so the kids were able to hunt in both. Just seeing them have fun was a thrill. To me, it matters that adults make it a priority to make children a priority. And that is something that I really, really value.”

Hunting guide Rob Atwood added, “When I was growing up, my dad ran wounded warrior hunts. He would take them hunting, and I would go with him. Now I have more fun taking people hunting than I do hunting myself. I have fun watching the kids light up with excitement.”

Local hunter John Bode shared that he had the privilege of being the hunting guide to the daughter of a combat-wounded veteran, who was gifted this weekend’s hunt by her father.

But little did the young lady know that she would leave with more than just a turkey and precious time spent with her dad.

“A good, lifelong friend of mine, Steve Morgenstern, and I were both guides,” said Bode. “Steve made the trip all the way from northeastern Missouri to hunt with us on Saturday. We were guides to a young lady whose father is a veteran who was injured in Afghanistan. His experiences qualified him to participate in the hunt, but he donated his hunt to his daughter, which I thought was super cool. She was so excited when she harvested a turkey that she cried right there in the blind. I am pretty sure that I saw tears coming down her dad’s face, too. It was such a great experience.

“My friend from Missouri makes custom turkey calls for a living, and they are quite expensive,” he said. “He did the majority of the calling on the hunt, so that the girl could kill a bird. I was the one coaching her along for the shot. But as we were leaving, my friend turned around and handed her the turkey call that he used to call her bird in so that she could keep it to always remember the hunt. That made me tear up a little bit because I considered it a privilege to have taken them hunting. I really get as much out of it as the kids and the parents do, if not more. We do what we do, and we take it for granted. We’ve done it our whole lives. But it truly is an experience of a lifetime for these kids and their parents.”