Sun Journal Article

Army retiree finds blessing through ‘On Target 4 Vets’ By Charlie Hall, Sun Journal Staff Published: Monday, March 24, 2014 at 15:13 PM. Havelock native Joe Couch married his high school sweetheart, Mari, before embarking on a 21-year-career in the U.S. Army, which included two tours of Vietnam. During this career in aviation, artillery and special operations, she was his bedrock. “She saw the full circle of ‘our’ military career, and I stress ‘our,’ because without such a wonderful, wonderful lady I don’t think my military career would have been as great as it was,” he said. “Her being from a military family, she knew what to expect and how the military operated.” After retiring from the Army in 1988, he returned to this area and worked as a supervisor for 21 more years with a manufacturing company. The couple had just really begun to enjoy retirement when, in 2011, Mari became ill and died in early 2012. “I was really having a hard time,” said Couch, whose eyes tear as he talks about it. “I spent hours and hours and hours just grieving and grieving and grieving. From time to time while out in the yard or walking his dog, Couch talked with his neighbor, Dick Mushet, whose son, Brian, is in the Army’s 160th Helicopter Unit, deploying to Afghanistan. Brian is also a member of a new veterans’ support group — On Target 4 Vets — founded by former 101st Airborne Division member Michael Paul of Tennessee, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a 2002 skydiving accident. On Target 4 Vets, based out of Colorado, funds disabled veterans with adaptive sports, recreational therapy and scuba diving. “Dick was telling me about this organization and I got some interest,” Couch recalled. He also remembered something his late wife had told him. “I knew in my mind I had to do something, because she always told me, ‘you need to do something for your soldiers,’” he said. He joined the group and is now the North Carolina team leader. “It was a good organization for me to do something to help the soldiers and to help me,” he said. A year ago, Couch organized a September offshore ocean fishing trip on the Carolina Princess for 35 veterans. The group included eight from the Wounded Warrior Project and military members who had been in the Marines, Army, Coast Guard and reserves. He plans another trip on May 23, the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend, aboard the Continental Shelf. He hopes to do another in the fall. The free day includes breakfast and lunch and plenty of fishing. The vets can bring someone, a family member or a friend. The trip lasts for six hours. “A lot of these vets are handicapped, older gentlemen and an all-day event would just be too much for some of them. So, we do a half-day event,” he said of the trip, designed for vets to mix and relax. The Continental Shelf is a 100-foot vessel, powered by three V-8 turbo diesels. “The folks at Continental Shelf gave us a good deal on this trip,” he said. “But, we rely on donation from people in the area to do this.” Registration is available at the On Target 4 Vets web site: ontarget4veterans.org/the- mission-programs Anyone wanting to go on the trip or help through a donation can also call Couch at 671-9452. Charlie Hall can be reached at 252-635-5667 or Charlie.hall@newbernsj.com