James Howard with members of the Gold Star Mothers Hampton Roads chapter in front of the VAU Fallen Heroes Memorial
How do you raise a memorial to the fallen when the war isn’t yet over?
James Howard found a way.
Dog tags, red and blue and silver. Almost 7,000 of them now, from the 17 years of the War on Terror. Engraved by fellow veterans with each service member’s name, rank, branch, date of death and military operation. Arranged with care to form a flag design that’s 28 feet long and 6 feet tall. “We wanted to make sure someone in a wheelchair can touch the top tag and the bottom tag,” Howard explains.
Around 300 tags have no names. One day, they may.
The dog tags shine. You can see your face reflected in them when you visit the VAU Fallen Heroes Memorial. (You can also see it from a distance, if you’re walking the back trail along the lake in Chesterfield County’s Rockwood Park.) There's a battlefield cross — a helmet atop a rifle, standing in a pair of boots — sculpted from wood by artist and Army veteran Alicia Dietz. Fifty gold stars represent Gold Star families from every state.
“It’s pretty powerful when you first see it. It was for me,” Howard says. For four years, the memorial, which breaks down so it can travel around the United States, was only a design on paper. It was completed this year on Memorial Day. Years from now, Howard hopes, a large memorial on the National Mall will honor the fallen veterans of the War on Terror. Until then, veterans, schoolchildren and Gold Star families will continue to visit the flag on Howard’s property and as it travels around the country.
But that’s not the only reason they come to his home. Once a month, he opens his doors to injured veterans so they can simply enjoy a day away from the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center. His house is wheelchair-accessible, his yard secluded. Sometimes a bald eagle flies overhead. Vets eat meals from Mission BBQ, get massages from volunteer therapists and fish in the lake. And some, Howard says, “just sit on the corner here, and take it all in.”
Veterans fish on Howard's property in Chesterfield County.
It’s all part of the mission of Veterans & Athletes United, a nonprofit that helps injured and ill vets reclaim their lives. Howard co-founded VAU with two fellow veterans: Josh Lindsey, who was wounded in Iraq and received two Purple Hearts, and retired Colonel Eddie Ray, a Marine who served in Operation Desert Storm.
Howard, a Lynchburg native, comes from a family with a long history of military service. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 2002 and served in the Army for eight years, including a tour in Iraq. He lost three close friends to the War on Terror while serving. Howard sustained several minor combat injuries, and then a service-related diving accident made him a quadriplegic. He retired as a captain in 2010.
Howard is paralyzed from the chest down, with limited hand function. As part of his rehabilitation, he took part in the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, an annual gathering in Colorado in which hundreds of vets undergo training in adaptive sports: skiing, sled hockey, curling, snowmobiling, archery and more. For Howard, it was a revelation. He watched Vietnam veterans, quadriplegic like himself, “take life head on and continue to do amazing things.” And he realized the power of exercise, and fellowship, in recovery.
Now, around 600 veterans every year participate in the retreats, professional networking and adaptive sports programs run by Veterans & Athletes United, in partnership with other local organizations. Vets skydive in Suffolk — including a World War II vet who jumped on his 96th birthday in October. They fish in Charles City. They ride horses at Lonesome Dove Equestrian Center. They hunt, shoot, golf, sail and rock climb.
A passionate cyclist and archer, Howard has competed in the Department of Defense Warrior Games. His garage is “busting at the seams” with adaptive equipment he lends to veterans, including a TracFab all-terrain wheelchair with rubber tank treads and a powered beach wheelchair.
Twice a year, VAU organizes wellness retreats for disabled vets and their families — one at a cabin in Boone, North Carolina, and one at the beach. Parents bring their kids. Veterans try surfing for the first time. Howard recalls one major who was severely injured by an IED and had lost the ability to speak and eat. “It’s amazing to see him on the beach for the first time, put his feet in the water,” he says.
In addition to all of this, Howard runs REACHcycles, an organization that furnishes adaptive bicycles to children with disabilities. He also serves as the Military and Veterans Program coordinator for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation as well as volunteering with other vet-focused organizations.
“It helps me more than anything, to be a part of that, and have a purpose myself,” he says. When he can’t sleep at night because of his quadriplegia, he gets up and starts applying for grants on his computer. He simply wants all veterans with disabilities to learn what he has learned: “Yes, I can live a good life, and be proactive, and find a new purpose.”
Veterans & Athletes United holds its monthly fishing and barbecue retreats on the fourth Wednesday of the month from March through October. Check the group’s Facebook page for upcoming events, including a holiday social at American Legion Post 186 in December. If you’d like to get involved, VAU is seeking volunteers to help transport and install the Fallen Heroes Memorial in various locations.
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