Editor’s Note: Diveheart is a non-profit whose purpose, according to its website, “is to provide and support educational SCUBA diving and snorkeling experience programs that are open to any child, adult or veteran with a disability with the hope of providing both physical and psychological therapeutic value to that person. Its president, Jim Elliott, recently gave South Florida Adventures an update on a program that instructs veterans wounded in Iraq and Vietnam how to scuba dive. Elliott said that four similar trips are planned by August.

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The Dive platform at the back of the Conch Republic dive vessel rose and fell three to six feet as the highly trained Diveheart Military Wounded team transferred a veteran from the Iraq War, who had a traumatic brain injury, onto the boat after his 50-minute dive to 40 feet off the Florida Keys.

The blind Vietnam veteran was next. With the precision and timing of a Swiss watch, the DMW team of dive professionals positioned their wounded warrior at the dive ladder at just the right time so he could egress the angry ocean safely.

By the end of the last dive day on May 17th, the DMW team had successfully completed its mission of certifying, as scuba divers, veterans with traumatic brain injuries, blindness, quadriplegia and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

These injured veterans from wars so far apart had one thing in common: They could now penetrate the surface of the ocean with confidence, exploring the vast wonder of the water column that we call the world’s oceans. This last frontier on Earth is a place where gravity does not reign It is a sanctuary of weightless freedom for those with disabilities, men and women who struggle through simple daily tasks while on terra firma.

Diveheart Military Wounded serves all of our nation’s wounded warriors and veterans with disabilities. DMW does not discriminate based on age, sex, disability or being active or retired military.

You can join the ranks of these professional and highly trained scuba diving instructors, dive masters and committed dive volunteers, and make a difference in the life of a serviceman or woman who has given so much to preserve our freedom. Simply contact Diveheart Military Wounded at Diveheart.org or 630-964-1983.

These retreats are provided at no cost to participants and are funded entirely by contributions from individual and corporate sponsors.

“Thirty percent of all returning soldiers are coming home with traumatic brain injuries and post traumatic stress disorder,” Veterans Retreat’s Tim Suereth said in a statement. “Americans owe these injured soldiers, marines, airmen and seamen a debt we can never repay. Veterans Retreat hopes to motivate them to maintain a positive attitude on life and future possibilities.”

Suereth, an army vet, was moved when his brother suffered a traumatic brain injury unrelated to the wars. Helping him recover, Suereth witnessed how simply catching a fish motivated his brother to work harder to have a normal life.

“We will facilitate the wounded vets continued participation in activities they enjoyed before they went to war,” said Suereth, who fought on the army’s boxing team. “Our Miami Beach location affords us a unique opportunity to provide emotionally healing and physically challenging recreational and educational experiences to those who are most in need of a little encouragement, success and happiness.”

Veterans can sign up for retreats at VeteransRetreat.com.