Independence
Days
An organized
cross‑country
ride for veterans
helps heal
invisible wounds.
BY PAUL GLASSER
T
hanks to the efforts of an Upper St. Clair businessman and Air
Force veteran, eight wounded veterans will have a chance to
participate in a seven-day motorcycle ride along the Mississippi
River later this year.
Stephen Berger served in the Air Force for six years. In 2013,
Berger, along with his Air Force comrade Craig Anders, created the
Road Warrior Foundation to
help wounded veterans regain
some of their independence.
Berger deployed to
Afghanistan twice and
transported wounded
soldiers to military hospitals.
Anders flew surveillance and
communications aircraft
until a medical condition
prevented him from flying.
While Anders was
recovering, he encountered
many other veterans who
had been injured in combat.
When soldiers, sailors or
airmen are treated at a
military hospital, their lives
are very structured.
“You are told where to be
and what to do,” Berger says.
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“You lose some of your independence. Usually service members are
pretty young when they are injured, and it is a very abrupt change in
their lives.”
Berger and Anders thought giving wounded veterans the chance
to participate in a long-distance motorcycle ride would help them
regain their independence. The trip could also re-establish some of the
camaraderie they felt when
deployed overseas. Berger
calls the event a form of
“adventure therapy.”
“They’re back in charge,”
he says. “They control the
roadster. They’re talking
the whole time through
headsets in the helmet so it
puts them back with likeminded people. We want to
remind them that there is so
much life ahead of them. The
younger they are the more
they can benefit from it.”
The journey begins in
Johnson’s Creek, Wis., on
Sept. 18 and will end in New
Orleans on Sept. 24. The trip
will be about 1,000 miles and
anyone can track the riders’