Skydiving Brings Combat Veterans Together During Weekend of Fellowship Around Front Royal-Warren County Airport

“There’s that loss of connection,” Adam Packham remarked at a Saturday, August 2 event at the Front Royal-Warren County Airport. Geared towards combat veterans, this skydiving program, hosted by nonprofit Heroes on the River and facilitated by Skydive Front Royal out of the airport, is yet another example among many of how Packham’s nonprofit reaches out to combat veterans who are transitioning back home from service as well as those who have been home for a while but may be isolated. With the assistance of his wife, Becca, he regularly creates opportunities through outdoor programs for our men and women to congregate for fun and fellowship.

United by a shared military background, Josh Turley (L) and Jimmy Means (R) flank Adam Packham, who is the founder and president of nonprofit Heroes on the River, an organization that offers outdoor programs for combat veterans. All three gentlemen served in the army.

With relatives who served going all the way back to the Civil War and with a record of Army service himself, Packham understands the gravity of military engagement as well as the personal sacrifices made by military personnel when they put their lives on the line. Often, coming home, they lose touch with their military community even as they frequently continue to fight a battle against the psychological ravages of war. That is where Heroes on the River comes in. Through programs like the one on Saturday, which are often promoted by word of mouth, people with a military background come together for activities that in many ways take them back to their combat experience – in the case of skydiving, reproducing the adrenaline rush – but in the context of recreation.

A view of the tarmac at the Front Royal-Warren County Airport.

“It’s a better version of the combat experience,” said Army veteran Josh Turley, reflecting on how skydiving reproduces that thrill without the attendant trauma. Coming home, there may be aspects of combat that service members miss, not only the adrenaline but the camaraderie they experienced together. Heroes on the River strives to provide those feelings for these men and women who deserve our gratitude. Although not all nonprofit programs incorporate family, Saturday at the airport was exceptional, as veterans jumped from airplanes alongside their family members. And skydiving was not the only item on the table: camping, too, with barbecue, located where the neighboring Stokes family generously opened a portion of their property for the event.

Above: One veteran comes in for a landing during Saturday’s skydiving program. (Below): skydivers get reoriented after jumping from an airplane.

To Packham, events like these and the impact he has seen them make are the difference between losing combat veterans to PTSD on the one hand and, on the other, maintaining a healthy community for those veterans. Coming back from the front, Packham testifies that while he did not so much experience psychological fallout, he did indeed feel the sense of isolation from other veterans. Appreciation for that reality is what drives him to do the work he does on behalf of Heroes on the River. With bright blue skies and a moderate temperature on Saturday, there was a palpable sense that a difference had been made as parachutists came dropping from sky.