Veterans participate in the Purple Heart Deer Hunt

When Maxwell veterans sit down to a great venison dinner, they will have another veteran to thank for their meal, along with a service to the country that will never be forgotten.

Joshua Olson of Spokane, Wash., lost his right leg at the hip in an ambush in Iraq. After 18 months at Walter Reed, he's back on duty as a marksmanship instructor.

In August, Olson and two other injured war veterans and a 9/11 firefighter participated in the Purple Heart Deer Hunt.

Each bagged a deer, according to Tom Dermody of Williams, a member of the California Deer Association, which sponsored the event.

"These guys were amazing," Dermody said. "They really enjoyed themselves, and that's what this hunt is all about."

Dermody is also involved in Field of Dreams, a May outdoor fishing event for disabled children, and the Veterans Mule Deer Hunt in November.

Olson, Matthew Alves, a Navy SEAL, Daniel Lichau, an Army Ranger, and Paul Johnson, a New York City firefighter, hunted deer on a combined total of 42,000 acres on private ranch land near Livermore.

Alves served three combat tours in Iraq as a Navy SEAL, accumulating 22 months in war zones. He received two Navy commendation medals and a Bronze Star. He recently became a Basic Underwater Demolition instructor at the SEAL's qualification school in Coronado.

Lichau served three deployments in Iraq. Just 10 days into his last deployment, Lichau was shot several times, and broke his shoulder and tore his Delta muscle in an improvised explosive device explosion. He is receiving treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

Johnson was first responder during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that leveled the World Trade Center in New York City. He served on a cross-departmental team that was credited with saving 20,000 lives in the two towers. He was later a part of the team that rescued all 155 passengers and crew from the US Airways Flight 1549, which belly-flopped into the Hudson River in 2009, after striking a flock of geese.

After the hunt, Olson donated his kill to the Maxwell American Legion as a gesture of appreciation, Dermody said. Other kill was donated to non-profits dedicated to feeding the hungry.

The Purple Heath Outdoor Hunt was organized by Lt. Col. Dan Hammach, U.S. Army. The first hunt was the Purple Heart Quail Hunt in Southwest Georgia in 2008.

The Purple Heart Outdoor Tour has since grown into a national multi-event movement, Dermody said, and has gained national support from organizations like the California Deer Association.

The Livermore hunt was the only west coast stop on the Purple Heart Outdoors Tour, which exposes injured or valorously awarded military veterans to rehabilitative outdoor experiences with other such veterans.

"Some of these guys who participate on this tour have never experienced any kind of rural outdoor recreational activities," Hammach said in a statement. "It helps restore self-confidence, it's therapeutic, and it gives them time to share their experiences with other members of the military who have been wounded or gone through combat. It also forges cohesion and friendship between different branches of the military and gives these guys an opportunity to interact with civilians and share their story. Some have physical injuries. But not all combat veteran injuries are physical."

Hammach said the ranches chosen for the tour were wholly dedicated to sustainable wildlife management practices.