Operation WetVet
From front lines to tight lines: Osvaldo “Ozzie” Martinez Jr., a 35-year-old former Marine Corps Corporal, started Operation WetVet to bond with his brothers-in-arms.
Photography by Jason Stemple
Operation WetVet
Steven Diaz, a corporal with the Regimental Combat Team-2, 1st Marine Division in Iraq, on the Charleston, South Carolina, charter boat Family Tradition, a 51-foot Forbes.
Operation WetVet
Sergeant Vernon Miller, one of seven military veterans in Charleston
for the inaugural Operation Wetvet Dolphin Smackdown.
Operation WetVet
Lance Corporal Patrick Orth gets in the fighting chair for the first time.
Operation WetVet
“The reason I chose offshore fishing over inshore and backcountry is that excitement of watching that fish jump and hearing the reel scream,” explained Martinez.
Operation WetVet
Up comes the Mahi.
Operation WetVet
Orth, the crew, and the rest of the vets look on.
Operation WetVet
“I started it to replace the nightmare of the roadside bomb with catching a sailfish,” said Martinez, or in this case, a barracuda.
Operation WetVet
“These veterans need to recognize [deep sea fishing] as a good adrenaline rush,” said Martinez. “Most of the time for us, it’s a muffler making a loud sound or somebody slamming a door. An unexpected noise, an unexpected reaction that we cause.”
Operation WetVet
“Don’t get me wrong, I think these guys deserve to be taken out fishing,” explained Martinez. “But I want veterans to get something out of it other than a T-shirt and an experience.”
Operation WetVet
Comanche Reef was teeming with amber jacks. Trips like this one are essential for “guys to build that camaraderie back,” says Diaz. “For us, that’s the biggest thing that we miss. Especially when you’ve been in combat.”
Operation WetVet
Command Sergeant Major, USA, Retired Wendell Hardwick jigs for amberjack. Says Diaz, “when you’re hanging out with us and we’re in situations like [this one] where we’re given a goal and an objective, and there’s a little bit of danger, it makes us open up.”
Operation WetVet
“I want to teach these guys how to function with their Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” said Martinez, “because this doesn’t go away, we’re going to live with it forever.”
Operation WetVet
Orth and Diaz unfurl the flag.
Operation WetVet
Once unfurled, it’s got to be folded properly for the return trip home.
Operation WetVet
Orth giving the flag special care.
Operation WetVet
One of the mates offers a hand.
Operation WetVet
Look for the full story on Martinez and Operation WetVet in our September issue ▶.
