Paralyzed vets gather for trapshoot competition
Almost two decades after Joe Fox returned home from the Vietnam War, he was still shellshocked.
He didn’t want to hear or see a gun.
And there he sat in his Murrieta, Calif. home, confined to a wheelchair with a spinal cord injury after being wounded during combat operations years before.
So he started getting together with fellow paralyzed veterans, who, like himself, were trying to adapt to life after war.
They took up trapshooting — the outdoor sport of shotgun firing at clay pigeon targets — almost as a method of therapy to help them overcome their injuries.
It served healing purposes in a way that medicine never could, he says.
“It got me out of the house. It gave me an opportunity to excel in something. You adapt, you overcome. It’s not about the inability. It’s about the ability,” said Fox, 64, who served as national president of the Paralyzed Veterans of America from 2000 to 2004.
Now 26 years after Fox started his veterans trapshooting group in Prado, Calif., the PVA has expanded the program across the country, hosting 15 competitions a year for veterans to get together, shoot and share stories.
On Saturday, about 40 participants — including veterans and nonveterans — competed in the PVA’s trapshoot at the St. Charles Sportsmen’s Club in Elburn. The three-day event concludes Sunday.
It’s only the second year the PVA has hosted a trapshoot event in the Chicago area. Participants flew or drove in from all over the country, including Wisconsin, California, South Dakota and Georgia.
Fox, who still resides in California, tries to attend as many competitions as he can, from Green Bay to Baltimore, and Seattle to Tampa Bay. Though most of his hand is disabled, he’s able to shoot his rifle with his middle finger and thumb.
It’s recreational and therapeutic, participants said.
Dale Nelson, 52, of DeForest, Wis., said he started trap shooting at age 10. And while he enjoys the sport, he looks forward to coming to the competitions for the camaraderie.
“You’re able to visit with people in the same situation. You share ideas and help better your situation. You look forward to who shows up. It’s what makes it fun,” Nelson said.