Winter2016AlertDiver

ALERTDIVER.COM

An unusual concert of popping and clicking occurs

before each dive as prosthetic legs are removed and

replaced with specialized devices featuring mechanical

ankles that can be articulated and moved downward as

a foot would during swimming. Some divers prefer to

go without the finned prosthetic. Greg Edwards uses

webbed gloves to pull himself through the water. “Just

because you have legs and I don’t doesn’t mean you’re

better than me,” Edwards said. “I can do anything you

can underwater.”

One of the more unusual dive destinations for the

group is Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (GTMO)

in Cuba. Thompson was stationed there in 2003 and

built a relationship with Ocean Enterprises, the local

dive shop on the base. The warriors meet at a small air

charter company in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and board

a flight to GTMO. It takes about three hours to fly

there because the small prop planes have to veer all the

way around the east end of the island to avoid Cuban

air space. The dive shop and the Reef Raiders dive

club raise funds to provide accommodations for the

veterans. Checkout dives are done right there in the bay,

but the big payoff is being able to dive from secluded

beaches that are usually off limits even to the individuals

stationed there. Since any outside boat traffic has been

prohibited there since 1898, the reefs are pristine. You

won’t find any lost snorkels on the bottom here.

A crew from the HBO series

Real Sports with Bryant

Gumbel

joined a SUDS group at Guantanamo and

filmed soldiers enjoying the experience for a segment

titled “Underwater Heroes,” which aired in June

2009. Some veterans used scooters to get around the

virgin reefs. Styrofoam fish were floated mid-water to

create an underwater shooting range for spearfishing.

Virtually untouched by humans, the reefs were thick

with life, including some very large lionfish that had

invaded the waters.

As the wars have been winding down, the number of

wounded service members coming off the battlefield has

slowed. SUDS has refocused its efforts toward continuing

dive education while still reaching out to the military’s

wounded, ill and injured. To date, the organization has

trained more than 400 injured soldiers to dive.

Thompson is a man of few words, but he is proud

and passionate about diving and helping our injured

servicemen and women. “I often say I have the greatest

job in the world,” he said. “I’m blessed — I think I get

even more out of this than the warriors. I have a lot

of great help, and I get tremendous satisfaction from

contributing to the recovery of our veterans”

“A city boy like me never would have attempted

anything like this if it weren’t for John and SUDS,” said

U.S. Army Sgt. Javier Torres, a New York native who

was shot in Afghanistan. “Now I want to advance my

certification and become an instructor so I can help

other wounded veterans — just like John does.”

JOHN THOMPSON

COURTESY SUDS