Veterans on the Fly in Milwaukee serves community

Tucked back in a small room on the VA campus in Milwaukee, veterans from Vietnam to the Global War on Terrorism alike escape the cold embraces of the polar vortex by sharing warmer stories and laughs about the stresses of life.

They’re gathered around a few fly tying vises, tying bright colored feathers and fur with shiny thread spun around the shank of a hook, attempting to imitate small baitfish or insects.

Some may be planning to use these flies on local waters in the coming spring months, others may be looking for the therapeutic camaraderie of the veteran community, each in their own way look forward to these Monday evenings.

“It helps me with my mental health,” said Ryan, an Air Force and Army veteran. “It’s an outstanding organization. I love this program.”

Veterans on the Fly is a locally supported group of active duty military and veterans that are sponsored by the Southeast Wisconsin chapter of Trout Unlimited and they meet every Monday evening in Domicile 123, a small building at the Milwaukee VA Medical Center.

Hosted by John Graba, a 20-year member of Trout Unlimited who discovered fly fishing and tying at an early age, the VOTF event is something that he finds important to the veteran community.

“I love that this provides a calm area for the guys where they can get together in the winter and build friendships over a skill that lasts a lifetime,” Graba said.

And it is his instruction and stories that leads these veterans each night in tying anything from flying ants to bunker minnows on their vises.

Harry, an Army veteran who says that with his wife working in Madison, he needs to get out on his “bachelor” nights and just hang with the guys.

“It’s good to be around these guys,” said Harry. “It feels good to help others and share fish stories during these cold months.

Veterans on the Fly is an initiative of Trout Unlimited to serve veterans, active duty military and their families by engaging them through the recreational therapy of angling and with the sustaining support of the TU community.

Mike Kuhr, the current State Council Chair and former Veterans Service Partnership Coordinator for Wisconsin Trout Unlimited, has a long past with the VOTF events and is excited by the work done in Milwaukee and other locations in the state.

“Being able to share my passion for the outdoors with men and women who have served our country in the military has been one of the most rewarding, and humbling, experiences of my life. Having not served in the military myself, it has been inspiring to see the veteran participants in our fly fishing programs approach the sport with humility, gratitude, and respect for those around them,” said Kuhr. “It sometimes seems trivial, showing someone how to tie a piece of fur and some feathers onto a hook. Then you take them out on the water, watch as the fish takes the fly, and instant smiles appear on our faces. It’s a shared experience that I feel privileged to have time and time again with our Veterans On The Fly.”

Kuhr often volunteers at a similar event at the Madison VA hospital.

“These skills are something that these guys will take with them for the rest of their lives” says Graba. “But more importantly, it is really therapeutic and it helps with whatever they may have going in their lives.”

For more information you can visit Southeast Wisconsin Trout Unlimited for the Milwaukee events, Southern Wisconsin Trout Unlimited for Madison events or the Green Bay TU page for their own VOTF events.