Wounded warriors from Israel find peace and healing in Vail with the help of Vail Veterans Program
Vail Veterans Program teams up with foreign vets to offer hope and growth on the slopes
Tricia Swenson/Vail Daily
The mountains can be a place of awe and wonder for anyone hitting the slopes on a ski trip. For 10 wounded veterans from the Israeli Defense Force, they provided hope, motivation and inspiration when the soldiers and two delegates traveled to Vail earlier this month as part of the Brothers for Life program.
Brothers for Life is a nonprofit organization that was created and is run by injured Israeli veterans who now help other injured Israeli veterans. Brothers for Life hosts programs all over the world. Dr. Matthew Provencher of The Steadman Clinic and other valley residents reached out to the Vail Veterans Program, which provides military injured with transformational programs that build confidence and help them heal with the help of the Rocky Mountains, to offer the Brothers for Life vets similar programs on the slopes.
This is the third time Brothers for Life has brought wounded Israeli veterans to Vail for adaptive skiing, snowboarding and ski biking. Between time on the slopes, Dr. Provencher and his team set up appointments at The Steadman Clinic to help with the soldiers’ physical healing process.
This year, the Brothers for Life program overlapped with the regularly scheduled Vail Veterans Program. Israeli and American wounded vets got to meet and interact on the slopes and off. One such meeting was at a very special location, the Frechette Chapel at Vail Health Hospital, which houses a small replica of the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The multi-faith space was modeled after the Western Wall and even has stones from the same quarry, dating back to the era of King Herod, Islamic rule and the Ottoman Empire. Rabbi Joel Newman of B’nai Vail welcomed the Israeli veterans to the space and gave a bit of the history of how this replica of the Western Wall came to be at the Vail Health Hospital.
The group was gathered to hear from retired U.S. Army Col. Greg Gadson, who has been an ambassador of the Vail Veterans Program almost since he was a participant in August 2007. Gadson lost both his legs when his vehicle was struck by a command-detonated improvised explosive device in May 2007.
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“When you come to Vail, to the mountains, this place is about healing, and it’s about moving forward,” Gadson said. “We are brothers and sisters for life. What we have in common is that we serve our nation. We don’t decide the reason, that’s irrelevant, but we’re all willing to make that sacrifice and we share that common bond.”
Gadson signed copies of his book, “Finding Waypoints,” and hosted a Q-and-A session with the Israeli veterans, who were shy at first. Once the questions started to flow, all sorts of topics were covered, spanning from injuries and religion to family and sports.
“Before my injury, I think that my faith was strong, but I couldn’t have told you that in advance. But, when I was laying there after the explosion, I literally said, ‘God, I don’t want to die here.’ I prayed to my Lord and Savior and He answered my prayer,” Gadson said.
“What made you go to the military?” asked Maayan Gottesman, U.S. medical project coordinator for Brothers for Life. “I think that many of us have that question about Americans and what makes them go into the military. In our country, we have to.”
Gadson recounted that his path to the military was spurred by his love of football and an opportunity to play at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Then, Gadson turned things around and started asking the Israeli vets questions. You could already tell an invisible bond had formed between these veterans from different countries, and everyone was willing to share.
One Israeli vet, Eyal Cohen, had a particularly enlightening episode while up on Vail Mountain.
“In Dec. of 2023, we were in Gaza, and we were searching an area when an explosion happened. I was unconscious and when my commander came up to me, he checked for a pulse and there was none, so he went on to the next soldier, thinking that I was already gone,” Cohen said. “Two minutes later, I came to and was screaming that I was hurt.”
Cohen talked about his injuries and his long road of rehabilitation in order to be able to walk again. He never imagined himself being on the slopes of Colorado. And he certainly didn’t ever see himself ski biking down a mountain.
“After I got hurt, if you would have said to me, ’14 months from now you are going to be on the top of a mountain in Colorado,” I would have not believed you. But when I got up here, and after a few days of ski biking, and feeling the adrenaline and the breeze on my face, I knew it. I knew that I had won. I didn’t die, I won!”
Cohen said he’s going to take this newfound feeling back home with him and that he feels he has changed after being here.
“I now know that just because I am injured doesn’t mean I can’t do things,” Cohen said. “What I’ve learned here is a lot about courage and I’ll face things differently. I can’t wait to tell my family about this journey and hopefully bring them all to Vail sometime.”
