Veteran Organizations Giving Back

United States Army Sergeant First Class Ryan Hendrickson was born in Fall River Mills, California. He grew up in Lowell, Oregon where he and his sister were raised by their father. Hendrickson attended Lowell High School where he developed passions for playing football and wrestling.

Hendrickson was encouraged to join the military and serve his country from a young age as his father served two tours in Vietnam, instilling in his son his love of country and service. Throughout Hendrickson’s extensive career he served for three different branches of the military. He joined the Navy in 1997, serving on the USS Shreveport and the USS Camden for four years, after which he spent two years in the Naval reserves before transferring to the Air Force in 2003. After five years with the 366 fighter wing in the Air Force, Hendrickson transferred one final time to the Army and Special Forces in 2008 where he was a part of the 7th Special Forces Group. He would serve as a Green Beret in the United States Army until 2020, when he medically retired. He went back to Afghanistan after his retirement as a Government Contractor working as a Counter IED advisor both in 2020 and 2021.

Hendrickson absolutely loved travel and the sense of adventure that came with being in the military. Above all Hendrickson adored the opportunity of serving his country everyday. Hendrickson retired a highly decorated veteran, having earned many awards such as the Silver Star, 4 Bronze Stars, and an ACRM with V and a Purple Heart. Most notably, he received the Major General Frederick Award in 2017.

On September 12th, 2010 Hendrickson was on a clearance operation in the Uruzgan Province of Afghanistan attempting to save one of his Afghan counterparts near his objective. It was during this mission when he stepped on an improvised explosive device which nearly severed his right leg. Hendrickson suffered major blast trauma to his right leg, scrotum, and shrapnel in his left leg. Hendrickson underwent 28 surgeries in an attempt to salvage his right leg which turned out to be successful. After two years of recovery, Hendrickson returned to his Special Forces Team in Afghanistan where he would deploy again in 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and as a contractor in 2020 and 2021.

Currently Hendrickson resides in Pace, Florida where he is very involved with his community. His interests now revolve around charity work and helping others. Hendrickson even started his own charity organization called Tip of the Spear Landmine Removal. Their goal is to conduct demining operations throughout the world, helping make areas safe for civilians to live free from fear. Hendrickson would like to extend his gratitude to his father Larry, for giving him strength through very difficult times and his wife Dawn, for being his rock

From Tunnel to Towers Foundation

The extra-wide-brimmed straw hat often found on Jon Jackson’s head matches his extra large personality and the amounts of charisma and sheer grit that he brings with it. He’s high-energy, high-intensity, and certainly highly intelligent, with a big smile that turns up like the brim of that hat.

But if you look just above the smile, you’re likely to find slightly sad eyes conveying that something is haunting him.

Jackson, an Army Ranger veteran, returned from 11 years of combat with remnants of physical wounds as a result of close calls with over 20 IEDs. The emotional and psychological wounds lingering under the skin, however, turned out to be the more injurious ones. Looking for a way to escape from the pain and society, Jackson launched a farming venture. In doing so, he unintentionally found healing for himself as well as a few others along the way. 

Comfort Farms in Milledgeville, Georgia, was established in 2016 in honor of Capt. Kyle A. Comfort, a friend and fellow Ranger who didn’t make it back from Afghanistan.

Although Jackson didn’t know anything about farming, after a decade of being challenged and intensely focused as a Ranger, he says, “I wanted to do something I wasn’t good at and would fail daily. I don’t run away from adversity.” At the time, he found himself on the verge of walking away from his family and considering suicide. “I needed something to keep me grounded and keep me busy.”

Jackson purchased three pigs and took out a loan for 20 acres to get the farm up and running. Suffering from a traumatic brain injury, he originally planned to blog about his work as well as record it in his diary just to remember what he’d done. But what he wasn’t expecting was for folks to want to read about it, about him, and about the whole driving force behind it all — a place where veterans could come to find healing just like Jackson had. 

Comfort Farms evolved from a party of three to also include rabbits and turkeys, and from there, heirloom fruits and vegetables. A lover of culture, history, ancestry, and good food, Jackson says, “I love to understand how all of our cultures collide through food. We have so many differences, but we’re connected through food.”

At most recent count, Jackson estimates he has over 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables, two species of ducks, two or three breeds of turkeys (along with a fourth he’s working to create), five to six breeds of pigs (plus another he’s got in the works), and more breeds of chickens and rabbits than he can begin to count.

Image courtesy of Jon Jackson

Currently growing a rice variety that pre-dates Christ and raising poultry from the oldest chicken breed in America — the Dominique — Jackson says, “I’m growing the best and eating the best.” After eating more MRE’s in the army than is probably suggested, he continues, “I think the reason I cook the way I cook and eat the way I do now is because I spent that decade eating military food.”

As word about Comfort Farms spread — thanks to his blog, a stint on Wife Swap, a John Deere commercial, a documentary, and other stories being written on him, other vets soon found their way to Comfort Farms searching for the feeling the name implies. Some come for a day, some stay for longer. All are volunteers as they seek to get their grounding back in civilian life. They come desperate for an escape from the dark and painful thoughts invading their minds. Meanwhile, there’s a comfort and familiarity found in the routine and specific tasks required on the farm that they can relate to from the military.

Still, what Comfort Farms does best is provide what Jackson calls “a covert curriculum” in that it brings healing to veterans as they go about everyday tasks. Jackson explains, “A vet gets disassociated from their family due to loss at war. They’re numb and don’t know how to feel anymore. But when they’re coming out here, working with piglets, you start building that capacity for loving and caring again.

Walls that remain in place with humans can slowly start coming down when working with an animal.

“I’ve seen grown men cry and hardened warriors shed a tear over having a pig go to market,” he says. “Now you’ve expressed an emotion that you didn’t know you still had. That’s why it’s a covert curriculum.”

Farming as an unofficial therapy works in part because 75 percent to 80 percent of vets come from rural areas with an understanding of agriculture, even if they’ve never farmed before. A farm allows them to come back and find their purpose again.

“One of the things we tap into is the ability to serve again. This time it’s not your country, but your land,” Jackson says.

Values such as integrity and honor also translate directly from the military to farming.

“We don’t cut corners,” Jackson says. “There’s a certain measure of pride that goes into your work. There are times we’re out there and we’ve put in four hours of work, and I’m looking at it and know we’ve got to tear all of it up, because it’s not right. They understand that from the Army.”

Jackson runs a tight ship though for those who show up at the farm searching for the feeling the name implies.

“Whenever veterans show up, they will work on the activity of the day. I don’t give them a chance to choose. I throw them in the fire,” he says. “You can not get bored on Comfort Farms.”

Jackson isn’t your typical farmer and his farm isn’t typical either. He tackles farming the same way he approaches all of life — full throttle and no backing down. “I went into this thing with no knowledge. What I’m doing now, would probably cause some farmers to vomit.”

“Because I didn’t know anything, I came from it from a different position because I didn’t unlearn anything,” Jackson says. “For me, it’s like a blank canvas. Ol’ timers look at me and say that will never work. If it works in my mind, it works for me.”

And what works for him has now worked to help close to a hundred other veterans find peace and grounding as they work the ground that is Comfort Farms.

From Katie Murray, AG Daily

The inspiring story of Capt. Jason Haag and Axel

Retired Marine Corps Capt. Jason Haag founded LOV in 2015 after receiving his own service dog, Axel, whom he credits with saving his life. True to Haag’s own story of a rescue dog rescuing him, Leashes of Valor sources its dogs from shelters whenever possible, with the belief that one leash can save two lives—the life of the dog and the Veteran.

Haag’s journey with Axel

After three combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, Haag suffered from debilitating symptoms of PTSD and multiple TBIs. Despite many years of conventional treatment that included medication, outdoor therapy, counseling and a 30-day stay at an in-patient clinic, Haag experienced only temporary relief.

Then he met his service dog, a German shepherd rescue named Axel, in 2012, years before psychiatric service dogs were a commonly accepted treatment for Veterans with PTSD. Haag and Axel eventually began traveling the country together, educating the policymakers and the public on the benefits of service dogs. Their work helped to redefine service dogs to include psychiatric support in 2014, and earned Axel the title of American Humane Service Dog of the Year in 2015.

Leashes of Valor’s rigorous training and selection process

Each LOV dog trains for up to two years before being paired with their Veteran, who is selected through an application process. Veterans accepted into the program must have served during or after 9/11; have an honorable discharge and a verifiable diagnosis of PTSD, TBI, or military sexual trauma (MST); and meet additional criteria.

Honoring Axel: The inception of Axel’s Place

Soon after Axel died in January 2023, LOV moved into a new home called Axel’s Place on 10 acres in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Veterans who receive service dogs will live and train—all at no cost—at Axel’s Place for 10-14 days, where they receive hands-on, real-life training with their new companions and build lifelong connections with the LOV team. Axel’s Place will host its first class of Veterans in the spring.

The impact of service dogs on Veterans’ lives

“War changes every facet of your life,” said Mike Betts, a Marine Corps Veteran who received Malinois rescue dog, Tesla, as a service dog from Leashes of Valor. “When you hear a loud noise, you look around to see what body is laying on the ground as opposed to picking up the trash from the can that fell. You can’t undo those experiences, you can’t unsmell certain things, you can’t unsee certain things. From your sleep to your waking, everything is different.

“My service dog allows me to be present in the moment, to appreciate life, to hug my kids. She’s a glowing light in times of pitch black.”

From Sarah McDonald, VA News