DELAWARE

Bethany Beach welcomes wounded vets and families for a healing week

Reed Shelton

The Daily Times

Operation SEAs the Day in Bethany Beach, members of the community and visitors welcomed wounded veterans from the different branches of the services to the beach for a week of rest and relaxation.

Early this September, Operation SEAs the Day, a nonprofit organization created to support veteran families, will be hosting its fifth annual "Warrior Family Beach Week" in Bethany Beach.

The volunteer-run community event exists "for our wounded soldiers and their families as a means of showing our appreciation for their service and sacrifice," according to the organization's website.

Annette Reeping, board member with Operation SEAs the Day, said the Sept. 5-10 event will help wounded U.S. veterans returning home.

"It's hoped that the gesture of support for the families will help ease their transition to civilian life," she said.

At Operation SEAs the Day in Bethany Beach, members of the community and visitors welcome wounded veterans from the different branches of the services to the beach for a week of rest and relaxation. A "Hero's welcome home" motorcade escorted them to the Freeman Stage for a thank you concert by "Bruce in the USA" on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016.

The week is designed to be a casual, comfortable and respectful one for attending veterans and their families.

The 25 families — who have come from as far as Washington state in the past — as well as event alumni, will be arriving to a welcoming session to spend the week with their families in a home donated by local residents for the duration.

"We provide to them a host family, which is a local family that are their contact for anything they need in the Bethany Beach area in terms of whatever they wish to do over the week," Reeping said. "There are few required events, which is a little unusual compared to other structured events that exist for wounded veterans."

FROM THE ARCHIVES:SEAs the Day thanks veterans with a beach vacation

Reeping said the only required events are the welcoming session and the farewell brunch.

"Other than that they can do what they want here," Reeping said. "We have a whole host of opportunities for them over the course of the week that they can choose to attend if they wish."

Operation SEAs the Day in Bethany Beach, members of the community and visitors welcome wounded veterans from the different branches of the services to the beach for a week of rest and relaxation.

Available to the families are tennis and golf clinics, fishing ventures, therapeutic horseback riding, cookouts, family portrait opportunities, a spa day for spouses looking to be spoiled and numerous child-friendly activities. Numerous town restaurants will also be offering discounted meals for "Visiting Important Families."

"They really feel embraced by the town the entire time they're here, which is what we really hope to offer them," Reeping said. "We learned early on that it's hard for veterans to have that feeling, and that's exactly what we want to give them in appreciation of their service."

One of the organizations volunteering its time to attendees is the Milton-based Southern Delaware Therapeutic Riding.

Kelly Boyer, certified instructor and board member with the nonprofit organization, said they'll be providing equine-assisted therapy for veterans with special needs.

"Depending on the individual, they'll start by learning to groom and then ride the horses," she said. "It offers muscle growth for the riders, as well as an increased confidence that comes from learning to handle and ride the horses."

Boyer said the activity, available for any of the families attending Warrior Family Beach Week, is excellent for any veterans with either physical or emotional injuries.

"It's truly empowering for them," she said.

Annette Reeping said the true beauty of the week lies in its simplicity.

The goal is for area residents to "share your home, share your family and let our veterans feel welcome and participate as they wish," she said, and for veterans to be around people like themselves to allow them to heal.

Among the event alumni in attendance this year is former U.S. Marine Richard Ouellette, who served from 1994 through 2006 and was wounded by an improvised explosive device during his tour in Iraq in 2005. He has gone to the event the last three years.

He started attending the event at the advice of a mutual friend and has been going ever since. He and his wife, a U.S. Navy veteran, keep coming back because of how Bethany Beach embraces the event and welcomes the veterans and families that arrive.

"We saw how a small community can come together and do something for veterans," he said. "Out of all the places we've lived we've never seen anything like that, and that's what's kept us continuing to come back."

The event is a much-needed time away for all members of the U.S. military who are returning home, Ouellette said; an "enjoyable, relaxing, stress-free week."

"Sometimes you just need that time away, and this weeklong getaway is a retreat for our troops," he said.

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