Local wounded warriors celebrate service with dove hunt

Former California congressman Duncan Lee Hunter said all veterans deserve respect, especially those wounded in combat.

“That suffered and served our country so effectively and brought back some wounds and some of them left pieces of their bodies on the battlefield,” Hunter said.

On Saturday, over 50 veterans coming from across the country were embraced with respect and gratitude at this year’s tenth annual wounded warrior hunt in Brawley .

“This is a wonderful part of American tradition and valley tradition,” Hunter said.

There were veterans from several conflicts of modern times in attendance.

” We’ve got Vietnam vets here. We’ve got Gulf War veterans. We’ve got guys who fought in Panama, remember that action? And we’ve got guys from Iraq and Afghanistan, ” Hunter said.

Some veterans shared how they felt to receive a show of respect.

Rudy H. Perez, U.S.M.C. veteran, said, ” It’s just awesome that the community can just kind of gather behind our veterans and just come together just kind of support our veterans. It’s awesome that we have that support. ”

Bryan Floyd, U.S. Army veteran, said, ” Veterans have been through a lot. They’ve sacrificed for us tremendously and we want to show that their sacrifices are appreciated. Just because they served yesterday or last month or last year or ten years ago, or in the Vietnam War. We don’t want them to forget that they’re appreciated and we thank them for their sacrifices. ”

“I’ve never seen veterans treated better anywhere in the world than in Imperial Valley,” Hunter said.

California Congressman Duncan D. Hunter organized the event. On Sunday, the warriors went dove hunting.