Archery has provided a bull’s-eye in life for Navy Chief Peter Johns. Injured in an electrical fire aboard the USS Nimitz in 2006, Johns’ upper body was severely burned. Archery not only focused his mind on something besides his injury, it provided therapy that helped stretch out his damaged ligaments.
“If you don’t stretch them out, the skin grafts get stiff,” Johns, 32, said while taking a break from participating in the second annual Warrior Games at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. The Warrior Games originated in 2010 to help wounded veterans rehabilitate from injuries.
“The Warrior Games are a great tool to help facilitate recovery and motivation,” said Marc Esposito, a Warrior Games triple medalist. “These Games are a new battlefield where no one is getting hurt.”
Competitive archery also helps Johns in another, less visible way. “It gets me out and makes me mingle with the general public,” Johns said. “Because of archery I’ve become more comfortable with my injuries and how they look. Otherwise I’d be sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. I’m much better off with archery in my life.”
Marine Corp Staff Sgt. Jedidiah Vermillion beat Johns in the compound-bow division of the Warrior Games to take the bronze medal by nailing three 10s in the final set.
Vermillion, 33, is recovering at the National Naval Medical Center in San Diego after being wounded by an IED in Marjah, Afghanistan. It is the second time Vermillion has been wounded by an IED. The first time was in Iraq.
“I was really pumped up and motivated,” Vermillion said. “I wasn’t really shooting for myself, I was shooting for all the Marines in the world who are still in the fight, still downrange, all my brothers, all my buddies who didn’t come home.”
