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Saltwater Therapy | August 2022 | REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION © VERO BEACH MAGAZINE

Saltwater Therapy
A VERO BEACH MILITARY VETERAN IS DEVOTING HIS LIFE
— AND HIS BOAT — TO HELPING OTHER VETS
BY ROBERT KIENER
T
he four men fishing from their ProKat
catamaran some 15 miles off the coast
of Vero Beach may look like any other
group of saltwater fishermen out for a day hoping
to land “the big one.” As their 30-foot fishing
boat powers through choppy waters underneath a
magnificent, cloudless blue sky, all of them whoop
and holler while the oldest fisherman on board
battles a feisty barracuda. After a 20-minute tug-
of-war, he finally lands the toothy 4-footer and
exchanges high-fives with his boatmates.
While the scene is one that plays out frequently
in these fish-rich waters, these men are not your
everyday deep-sea fishing buddies. Rather, they are
all local military veterans who are suffering from
various degrees of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Each has been invited by the Vero Beach-based
charity Wounded Waters to “leave their troubles
onshore” and enjoy a day of deep-sea fishing with
fellow veterans.
The boat’s captain and owner is retired Army
Ranger 1st Sgt. Kevin Klepac, who founded
Wounded Waters several years ago while still serv-
ing in the military. “I grew up in Vero Beach and
always loved fishing. It was a wonderful way to get
“It is amazing what one little fishing trip can do!”
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Having served in the U.S. military for over
two decades, including eight deployments
to Iraq and Afghanistan, retired Army
Ranger Kevin Klepac understands the
impact of PTSD and strives to help fellow
veterans who are struggling.
away from whatever was troubling you and relax,”
explains the trim 39-year-old as he sits on a picnic
bench in Riverside Park.
While still stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky,
he started inviting fellow soldiers, especially those
with PTSD, out fishing to “get away from it all and
relax on the water with other vets.” It worked. “I
quickly learned how therapeutic it was for active-
duty members and veterans to get together with
other military folks, just relax, fish, and sometimes
talk over their troubles and issues. It didn’t really
matter if we caught any fish; being together was
enough. I began calling it ‘saltwater therapy.’”
Klepac, a three-time Bronze Star recipient,
acknowledges that he also suffers from PTSD after
numerous missions in many of the world’s hottest
trouble spots, including eight deployments in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
He remembers one young Fort Campbell sol-
dier who came to him after a day of fishing: “He
thanked me. Then he thanked me again. I sensed
he wanted to talk more.” The young soldier then
admitted, “This day out fishing with fellow military
members is just what I needed. It made me realize
I wasn’t alone.” He paused for a beat then added, “I
KELLY ROGERS

This father-and-son
team show off some
red snapper during a
Father’s Day fishing trip
to Mississippi.
was going to kill myself tonight. Now I won’t.”
Members of a women’s PTSD group relax on “That blew me away,” says Klepac. “It was then
a river cruise on the Indian River Lagoon. that I realized I had found my life calling.” After
being transferred to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, he
bought his ProKat and started Wounded Waters,
a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, intended, as
its website states, “to get military members and
veterans out fishing so they stop worrying about
the stressors of daily life and know they are not
alone.” When Klepac retired from active duty, he
and his wife, Stephanie, returned to Vero Beach,
where she was also born and raised.
Klepac explains that Wounded Waters is not,
strictly speaking, therapy, but it was designed
to get veterans who are suffering from PTSD out
of their houses. “Once you’ve left the military,
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it’s like you’ve lost your community, and your
© VERO BEACH identity, and nobody really understands. What
MAGAZINE
we offer is the chance to get together with like-
minded people and reestablish that bond one had
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This veteran is having a great day
on Klepac’s annual tuna trip to
Venice, Louisiana.
“It didn’t really matter
if we caught any fish;
being together was enough.”
– KEVIN KLEPAC
in the military. It’s also letting veterans know
that it is okay to not be okay. And it’s really about
camaraderie.”
Local Vietnam veteran Chuck Gerrald, who
has been on several Wounded Waters excur-
sions, adds, “It’s rare that we speak about PTSD
when we’re out fishing. It’s more about being
with—and talking to—veterans who have walked
in your shoes. For a lot of veterans who are suf-
fering from PTSD, this may be their first step
out of their house in a long time. I know many
who were reclusive but, after fishing with Kevin
and others, are now socially active. It is amazing
what one little fishing trip can do!”
As concerned veterans like Klepac, Gerrald,
and others will point out, 22 veterans and service
members commit suicide every day. “That’s a
national disgrace, and we have to work to bring
that number down to zero,” says Klepac.
According to the National Institutes of Health,
as many as 500,000 U.S. troops who served in
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 13
years have screened positive for PTSD. Local ther-
apist and Marine Corps veteran Tom Metzinger
says, “Therapy is important, but so are programs
like Wounded Waters that bring veterans together
and prove to them that there are others who are
going through the same issues they are.”
Klepac started Wounded Waters with his own
money and his own boat. Now retired with two
young children, he works part-time as a home REPRINTED WITH
PERMISSION
inspection specialist and continues to pour a lot © VERO BEACH
of his own money into the charity. A military MAGAZINE
buddy helped walk him through the complicated
 Jesus Duran, Klepac’s friend and a
former Wounded Waters board member,
is at home on the waters off Louisiana.

Catfish are jumping

on this inshore fishing
trip on the Indian
River Lagoon.

steps of establishing a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. “Oper-

ating it is expensive,” he admits. “On average,
we spend $500 to $700 per trip for fuel, boat ser-
vicing, equipment, and more.” A recent rewiring
and electronics overhaul cost $20,000. He took
out more than 100 veterans last year and hopes
to increase that number this year.
As word of Wounded Waters’ unique work—
and successes—has spread, donors have offered
to help out. A Facebook group called “Can I Have
It? Vintage Tools” has donated roughly $40,000.
Local stores, such as Walmart, have raised money
with auctions and grants. Retired Shell Oil exec-
utive and Vero Beach resident Jeff Fulk was so
impressed by Klepac’s work that he often helps
cover day-to-day expenses and recently bought
the charity a 22-foot Pathfinder boat to help
cater to veterans who want to fish, or cruise, the
calmer Indian River Lagoon instead of the ocean.
“Kevin is just so devoted to this cause that he
inspires others to lend a hand. He’s the real deal
and he’s making a difference,” says Fulk. This red snapper fishing trip in
Mississippi makes everything
Klepac shows no signs of slowing down. all right for this veteran.
Wounded Waters has begun inviting local first
responders to join its fishing trips and river
cruises. Klepac is also taking classes to become
a certified dive instructor so that diving can be
added to the organization’s range of activities.
Klepac also hopes one day to start a Wounded
Waters Ranch where military members, veterans,
and first responders suffering with PTSD can
spend three to four days with their families in
a relaxing environment. Klepac’s blue eyes light
up when he describes his ranch plans: “It would
take maybe $10 million to buy the land and set it
up. But it could change, even save, lives.”
After explaining how he hopes to expand
Wounded Waters, Klepac confesses, “Taking
veterans out fishing is also therapy—‘saltwater
The waters of the Indian River Lagoon keep rolling,
therapy’—for me. After all, I am going through as these two veterans celebrate their catch.
many of the same things and dealing with the
same issues they all are. We are there for one
another.” As if on cue, his mobile phone rings.
It is from a veteran calling to thank Klepac for
including him on a recent fishing trip and “just
to chat.”
Remember the young veteran who, five years
ago, helped inspire Klepac to set up Wounded
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Waters? “He is still in the Army, has turned his REPRINTED WITH
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© VERO BEACH life around, and is married with a family,” says © VERO BEACH
MAGAZINE
the former Ranger. “And get this—now he takes MAGAZINE

guys out fishing!” `

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