Veterans Find Unlikely Partners on the Potomac

Volunteers Host Day on the Water

Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Sandy Ware said that she and a Manassas couple went from being strangers to friends in a matter of hours Saturday.

After Karen and John Digiacomo invited the veteran on their boat as part of the Patriot Cruise and Salute, sponsored by the Prince William Marina and the Prince William Yacht Club, the trio said they knew their friendship would extend long after the boating and barbecue adventure ended.

"We just met, but I feel like I've known them for forever and a day," Ware said. "We had a ball, and they are like my new family."

Ware was one of 35 veterans from Walter Reed Army Medical Center to participate in the second annual cruise, which corresponded with the region's annual blessing of the fleet ceremony. The cruise paired service members and their families with local boaters for a day on the Potomac River.

"This has been all I expected and then some," said Ware, 44, who had soft tissue sarcoma diagnosed while she was in Iraq. "The hospital can be depressing at times, so if you can get out, it's an opportunity of a lifetime. I can't thank the sponsors and the people enough."

Despite a boat malfunction that cut the ride short, the new friends spent the afternoon sharing stories and laughs.

"She's just great, and we are so proud of her," Karen Digiacomo said while promising Ware another boat ride. "She's our new friend, and I plan to e-mail stalk her until she writes back."

Army Col. Ed Mason, who returned from Iraq in October 2006, took wounded veterans on his boat last Memorial Day weekend. When others heard of his venture, more than 170 volunteers joined forces to plan a larger event this year.

"We wanted to say thanks to these guys and let them have a carefree day on the water," said Mason, an Alexandria resident. "What makes me happy is that a lot of different people donated their time and money to make this happen."

Despite rain and low temperatures, Mason took two Iraq war veterans, an employee at Walter Reed and three volunteers aboard his boat. The 40-mile round-trip tour took the group past Mount Vernon, Fort Washington and the new National Harbor in Maryland.

"This gives us something to do, a chance to socialize," said 21-year-old Bryan Morningstar, who has been at Walter Reed since December 2006. "I'm always blown away with many of these events and grateful that people put all this money out for us."

A combat engineer with the Army, Morningstar was deployed to Iraq in October 2006 and spent 45 days there before his right leg was severed by a car bomb. He rolled up his pant leg to show his wounds.