Radical Healing: Wounded Warriors Ride the Waves

Sgt. Clifford Dawson was skeptical. In February, the military intelligence officer was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade while on a mission in Afghanistan. It caused a traumatic brain injury that left him struggling with his balance. Surfing seemed like the last thing to help with the healing.

“I have problems with my balance, so I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it,” he said. “But I love it. I was able to stand (on the board) a few times. You’ve got to heal yourself. You can’t just sit around and wait for the doctors to fix you.”

Dawson was one of 80 wounded soldiers in Seal Beach on Tuesday learning how to surf courtesy of the M & M Surf School.

Part of the Community Based Warrior Transition Unit, better known as Wounded Warriors, the soldiers come from all over the West Coast to recover from war-time injuries and prepare for their next deployment or for civilian life. M & M donated the lessons, Seal Beach businesses such as donated refreshments, and local restaurants donated 200 meals for the soldiers and their families to spend the evening in town.

For Dawson, the day offered a lot more than physical healing.

“Just being around other people who have had the same experience helps,” he said. “I have PTSD, but I can’t talk to my shrink about most of it because he doesn’t have top secret clearance.”

Dawson served in North Africa and Afghanistan and is eager to get back to work after he is done with his surgeries. He and his wife live in San Diego, and he reads Chinese fairytales to his son to help strengthen the connection between his right and left-brain following the grenade attack.

But on the beach with his wetsuit on backward, Dawson left all that behind. No one called him by his code name, ‘50 Caliber.’ On Tuesday, he was just ‘Backwards Man.’

“Go Backwards Man,” shouted surf instructor Michael Pless Jr. as Dawson caught his last wave of the day.

Despite a wide array of injuries, all the soldiers managed to stand during their first day of lessons.

“Their attitudes are awesome,” said Pless, who recruited friends and family to help teach the class.

“When you first come out here, you’re kind of sore and you think to yourself, 'I can’t even do a push-up. Surfing, really?’ But it was great. I stood up a few times,” said MSG. Kim Fox.

Fox hurt both his back and shoulder while in Iraq and has had to have two surgeries with one more scheduled. After serving nearly 29 years in the military, Fox, an Oregon resident, plans to retire in a year or so.

“I have been wondering what I am going to do after I retire,” he said. “I think I am going to take up surfing.”

Related Topics: Surfing Soldiers and Wounded Warriors