A Huntington-based charity that fund raises to support returning military veterans announced ahead of Memorial Day weekend that they are teaming with the nonprofit Wounded Warriors Project for the first annual Cow Harbor Warrior Weekend this fall.
The three-day series of events from Sept. 7 until Sept. 9 will raise donations and inspire appreciation for American service men and women. The activities will include a Warrior Welcome Parade, a four-mile run, the Fishing for Freedom fishing tournament, breakout training and wellness sessions, a golf event and a sunset clambake.
“We picked that weekend because it is the closest to the anniversary of 9/11, to where our soldiers went to war on behalf of our freedom,” said Rocco Donnino, president of the Cow Harbor Warriors, who held back tears as he expressed appreciation for American troops fighting overseas.
The local group works with the national Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that helps rehabilitate soldiers injured in battle. They provide programs to help adjust back into civilian life, make friends and come to terms with their experiences in combat.
“We too are going to give, we too are going to make this the positive move that all of us should,” Huntington Town Supervisor Frank Petrone said. He noted his daughter, a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, will be deployed to the Middle East around the same time as the Cow Harbor Warrior Weekend.
Local veterans came out to show their support for the cause and illustrate how the Wounded Warriors Project helped them.
“I wasn’t too sure where my life was going to go … but the Wounded Warrior Project was there for me and they’ve been there since,” said James O’Leary, a former infantryman who was injured in a mortar attack in July of 2004 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He now works with the Wounded Warrior Project to ensure that the injured soldiers coming back after him will get the same help he did.
To donate or learn more about the weekend and how to get involved in the Cow Harbor Warrior Weekend, visit their website.
