At the July National Convention, fate handed me Jason C. to be my driver during the event. Jason is a current war veteran and belongs to the local post in Orlando. We hit it off and the more he got to see what goes on in the VFW at a national level the more he wanted to be involved. I'm happy to say he ran for and was elected as his District Junior Vice Commander. We talked quite a bit and I related how much I enjoy scuba diving. Having never done it before, he asked more questions.
I told him that his GI Bill will actually pay for a person to take scuba lessons, as long as they sign up for the long haul to become an instructor It's call the Total Immersion Program and I directed him to Sea Experience in Ft. Lauderdale. This company is very veteran oriented and has trained many vets to become scuba instructors. Jason signed up, got the VA on board, and recently started the program.
I got a note from Jason saying he was taking his final dives today to become Open Water Certified. That's the first step on his road to becoming an Instructor. I'm so proud of him for deciding to make a change in his life and succeeding in it. He's in a group of seven other vets all in the same class.
Maybe things do happen in life for a reason. We didn't choose each other at convention, that was the luck of the draw. But he helped me immensely when my back and legs weren't working well and I helped him learn what the VFW really is all about. Together we talked where life was taking us. When he learned the VA could fund a non-traditional education in the field of scuba, he jumped at the opportunity. Here's a picture of Jason [white shirt] and his team before heading out to take their final dives at Tiger Lake today.
Yes, you just never know when that one conversation is going to change someone's life.
