Veterans paddle Toward Healing in Charleston’s Coastal Waters
By Joey Swafford, Public Affairs
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Army Veteran John “Shu” Shuman didn’t expect to find his footing in a kayak. But out on Charleston’s open water, surrounded by fellow Veterans and the rhythm of the tide, he rediscovered what it meant to belong again.
Shuman, who receives his care at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System, joined the Coastal Warriors Veteran Program, a free 12-week sea kayaking program that helps Veterans reconnect with themselves, with one another and with the natural world. Supported by the VA’s Whole Health initiative, the program encourages Veterans to focus on what matters most to them and to take an active role in their well-being.
“I had just moved here from Colorado and felt completely disconnected,” Shuman said. “I figured I’d give kayaking a shot since there’s water everywhere. It turned out to be the best thing I’ve done for myself in 20 years.”
The Coastal Warriors Veteran Program was founded by Charleston naturalist and guide Chris Crolley, who saw the potential for outdoor experience to change lives. The program combines sea-kayaking instruction with lessons that echo the core values of military service: accountability, teamwork and gratitude.
“The program teaches self-rescue and how to help others,” Crolley said. “When you fall out of the boat, you learn how to get back in. When someone else falls, you learn how to lift them up. Those are physical skills, but they are also life skills, and that’s what this work is really about.”
Participants start their journey in a swimming pool, learning safety and rescue techniques before heading out into the Lowcountry’s rivers and tidal creeks. Trips take them through places rich in history and meaning, from the cypress swamps of Francis Marion National Forest to the waters surrounding Fort Sumter and the USS Yorktown, where generations of service members once stood watch.
“We go to the same places where generations of service members stood and served,” Crolley said. “Being on the water near Fort Sumter or the Yorktown reminds Veterans that their story is still being written. It connects the past to the present in a powerful way.”
“The most meaningful moments aren’t the ones we plan,” Crolley added. “They happen when a dolphin surfaces beside your kayak or when the sun breaks through the trees after a long paddle. Nature does the healing. We just help make it possible.”
For Shuman, those moments built something deeper than skill. They built community.