MOREHEAD CITY — Four wounded soldiers boarded a dive boat at Olympus Dive Center and were under way Saturday to a sunken submarine about 30 miles off Atlantic Beach.
The four soldiers from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., are members of Soldiers Undertaking Disabled Scuba, a nonprofit organization developed to provide dive opportunities for the injured soldiers.
The program is part of the Wounded Warrior Project that caters to severely injured service members during the time between active duty and their transition to civilian life.
For two years, the SUDS have taught more than 100 injured veterans how to scuba dive. The program is designed to assist returning veterans injured in Afghanistan and Iraq with their rehabilitation at Walter Reed and is the brainchild of John Thompson, SUDS president and certified scuba instructor who worked several summers with Olympus and was volunteering at Walter Reed with the Red Cross when he asked the hospital about the possibility of teaching scuba diving.
Capt. Danny Facciola, assistant and coordinator for the dives, said Mr. Thompson approached him about helping with the program.
“I thought it was a wonderful idea, and I would do anything I can to help,” he said.
Capt. Facciola said after some planning to establish the nonprofit group, Mr. Thompson approached Walter Reed and the proposal was accepted with enthusiasm.
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(photo by Helen Outland)
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