Warrior’s Weekend XVIII
As most of you know, there have been some changes with Warrior’s Weekend beginning in 2024. The biggest is the date change from holding our big event for 17 years in May to October 11-13 this year. We are hoping for weather that won’t drain the energy from them and hopefully provide better fishing. We understand that when you hold outdoor events you are at the mercy of Mother Nature. We have experienced that many times over the years. That is another reason we are holding our meals/awards at the Bauer Center in Port Lavaca, but the fishing will be out of POC. Besides, the city of Port Lavaca has been very supportive to us.
As most of you know, we lost one of our own to suicide recently. Our guy, a true hero, Bradley Gruetzner. Bradley lost a hand and part of his arm in an IED attack in 2006 and has dealt with that and many other injuries since then including severe PTSD and TBI. We believe he was on his way to getting better. My wife Sherry and I had just driven him to a facility in Bandera that deals with these problems for heroes and he seemed to be taking to it. After being there only about five days, he called me at 8:15 p.m. to say he discovered problems in his marriage and needed to come home immediately. I went to pick him up and we arrived back in Victoria at 3:15 in the morning. He was gone two days later.
I only tell Brad’s story to remind us all how important what we and others like us do. And many of you knew him. Although we lost Brad’s fight, we cannot give up. We need your help. When folks ask how many heroes we are bringing in this year, the answer is it mostly depends on how many boats we get registered and show up to take them out on October 12th. Many of you reading this fish many days during the year. We are asking for you to give one day to a true hero – one who put his/her life on the line for our freedom. These heroes are all combat wounded and love coming to fish in Port O’Connor. When folks ask why we are still doing what we do since “the war is over”, our reply is that “it is never over for them.” They will live with these wounds forever, sometimes with disastrous results. Please remember, all wounds are not visible although Brad suffered from both types.
Please go to http://www.warriors.org, click on Boat Captain Sign Up and make a hero’s day. You and your deck hand and or spouse will be invited to both dinners – Friday night and the awards dinner on Saturday night. Feel free to call me at 361-935-7414 with any questions. Or you may email us at warriorswknd@yahoo.com. Thank you for supporting our combat wounded heroes through Warrior’s Weekend. We cannot do this without you.
Ron Kocian
President, Warrior’s Weekend
