New England PVA:
An Eagles Dream
By Bill Decoteau
“He gives strength to the weary and
to him that lacks might he gives
power.....Through patience you will
gain a new strength: You will mount
up with wings and you shall soar
like eagles”………..Isaiah 40.
It was 1992 when a young college age
man was torn between yet another
predetermined level of life’s
decisions……… Society says he should
go to college get a degree, land a
decent job, then join Main-Stream
America, get married, buy a house,
have a family….etc….etc…etc!
Sounding like a production
assembly-line of everyday clones,
nineteen year old Brandon J.
Wettlaufer unlike most individuals
his age dreamt of more exciting
adventures for himself, his plans
weren’t white line everyday
highways.
“My best friend decided to join the
Navy,” recalls B.J. Wettlaufer now a
thirty-four year old associate
member of the New England PVA. “But,
I wanted more, I needed a formatted
game plan, something I could control
yet still provided that hidden lust
for excitement.” Thoughts of a
military life intrigued B.J.; after
all he was strong, athletic, and
intelligent poising a determined
personality for acquiring high
levels of achievement! However, for
this young man his visions were
framed with
Military-Elite-Status……only the
Best-of-the-Best would satisfy his
appetite for success.
Lead by his inner spirit, B.J. found
solitude linked with peace of mind
as he traveled at accelerated speeds
racing through New England
backwoods. His solo ventures saddled
an ATV’s echoing roar, while
shifting gears signaled twisting
turns along the country trail.
“Riding my ATV under extreme
conditions allowed me to search my
soul aiding me in making life
changing decisions.” Pausing for a
moment a wry smile surfaced, “My
only analogy to this feeling can be
compared to flying.”
Maneuvering his ATV through a series
of twisting turns with hills,
Wettlaufer suddenly realized he had
launched his vehicle. Out of control
he decided to ride his ATV back to
the ground………..When he finally
landed both he and his ATV laid side
by side motionless. Silence,
numbness and tingling filled the
air, “A sensation of being in a hole
lower than the surrounding surface
seemed to over power my existence, I
felt totally helpless unable to
move!” Brandon J. Wettlaufer had
suffered acute spinal cord injuries.
Classified a paraplegic level T-6/7
he felt betrayed by the very
apparatus that had once been his
source of encouragement.
Webster describes depression as; a
condition of general emotional
dejection and withdrawal sadness
greater and more prolonged than that
warranted by any objective reason.
Webster’s definition would indeed
portray the daily activities
modeling the next two years in the
life of Brandon J. Wettlaufer.
Fatherly advice eventually opened
the door for B.J., “My Dad put his
arm around me and looked me straight
in the eye. I remember his tender
loving caring voice as he gently
told me there are things in life
that are totally out of our control,
we have to learn to deal with them,
accept them for what they are and
patiently get on with our life. He
was right as much as I didn’t want
to accept it, for me it meant I
would spend the rest of my life in a
wheelchair.”
A wise man once said, “Give a man a
fish and he’ll stave….teach him to
fish and he’ll never go hungry!” In
1997 Brandon started fishing once
again “My Dad always had a saltwater
boat, so we grew up fishing in the
ocean. However, regaining my sea
legs in a wheelchair wasn’t easy!”
While Brandon Wettlaufer began a new
life of parity in his wheelchair
through fishing, a small B.A.S.S.
bass club, American Eagle Bass
Anglers, in Woburn, Massachusetts
faced a life changing decision of
their own. The clubs good friend
United States Army Veteran Al Cail
was losing his battle to disabling
injuries he had suffered serving his
country in Vietnam. “Nothing was
more rewarding for Al than to spend
the day fishing in a bass boat. He
always told us bass fishing had a
therapeutic remedy for his injuries.
Just before Al passed on in 1998,
our twelve member bass club made a
promise to Al that we would keep his
‘American Eagle Dream’ alive by
encouraging other disabled veterans
so they too could discover the
medicinal healing power of bass
fishing,” reflects Tiny LaFontaine,
tournament director for the New
England PVA Bass Trail.
In June of 1999 the American Eagle
Bass Anglers hosted their first
annual NEPVA Bass Tournament along
the historic banks of Boston’s
Charles River. Fifteen paralyzed
wheelchair anglers registered and
all but one was from the New England
Chapter of the PVA. “I will never
forget the first NEPVA tournament,
it was the first time I was
someplace where people in
wheelchairs actually out numbered
those in attendance,” remembers B.J.
Wettlaufer. “And yet I still felt
out of place, because I wasn’t a
veteran!”
During his eight years of competing
on the NEPVA Bass Trail, the
mentoring examples of American
Disabled Veterans in the NEPVA Bass
Trail continued to serve their
country through non-combat
engagements witnessing a growth of
participation in competitive bass
tournaments throughout New England
second to none. “I came to realize
that it didn’t matter that I was not
a veteran! The fact I was disabled
and loved to fish gave me all the
qualifications required,” states
Wettlaufer.
Al Cail’s American Eagle Dream took
flight within Brandon J.
Wettlaufer’s inner spirit
strengthening his Best-of-the-Best
appetite for success, with his wife
Cristy nurturing his competitive
enthusiasm, B.J. purchased a bass
boat to compete in local and
regional bass tournaments. “These
guys (NEPVA Veteran Anglers) are
very competitive, and don’t cut you
any slack. We may not be
professional anglers, but I feel we
push each other to be the very best
we can be on the water. Developing a
positive attitude coupled with
patience I have come to accept
whatever happens, win or lose I know
I always give it my best!”
As Wettlaufer’s bass angling
accolades grew so did those of his
fellow NEPVA anglers and the New
England PVA Bass Trail, setting a
model example for all PVA Chapters
by expanding to the only
six-tournament Regional PVA Bass
Trail in America. “It only seemed
natural FLW Outdoors, the strongest
and most supportive bass fishing
organization to our Military Forces
team together with the New England
Paralyzed Veterans Bass Anglers for
a commemorative one day All American
BFL/NEPVA Team Tournament,” recalls
LaFontaine. “Especially since the
2006 event was being held on the
Connecticut River during the week of
July Fourth!”
Ten FLW/BFL All American Contenders
were paired with ten New England
Paralyzed Veteran Bass Anglers for a
four hour Team Tournament the final
day of the BFL All American
Championship. Personally escorted in
their wheelchairs up the FLW
weigh-in stage by members of the Nam
Knights (www.namknights.com),
NEPVA Anglers and their BFL partners
weighed-in their bass, while Fox
Sports Network cameras captured the
excitement for national television.
(www.flwoutdoors.com)
Brandon J. Wettlaufer was one of the
Top-Ten Qualifying NEPVA Anglers,
“The level of excitement was like
nothing I have ever experienced in
my life, to actually be on
Professional Bass Fishing’s FLW
stage weighing my bass felt like I
was re-born into a long lost dream!”
Indeed each member of Team NEPVA
shared a similar lifetime
experience.
However, little did NEPVA Angler B.J.
Wettlaufer realize, his life style
change motivated by Vietnam Army
Veteran Al Cail’s American Eagle
Dream in 1999 had mounted him on the
wings of a soaring eagle under the
watchful eyes of Russ and Deb Wood
owners of Wood Boat & Motor. (www.WoodBoatandMotor.org)
Extremely selective when choosing
members for their Elite Bass Pro
Staff, the Wood’s have been
concerning B.J. for several years
evaluating him as a competitive
tournament bass angler. “B.J.
portrays an unselfish commitment and
passion for the sport, while his
determined personality for acquiring
high levels of achievement
exemplifies the charter traits we
seek in every member of Team Wood
Boat & Motor,” says Deb Wood.
Placing his hand on Champion/Evinrude
Pro Staffer B.J. Wettlaufer’s
shoulder, Russ Wood replied, “We
concern ourselves extremely lucky to
have B.J. and his wife Cristy as
part of our pro staff team!”
The 2007 New England Bass Tournament
season will witness the first NEPVA
Bass Trail Angler proudly wearing
Pro Staff colors as Brandon J.
Wettlaufer competes from his Wood
Boat & Motor sponsored Champion
183CX powered by an Evinrude 150 HO
E-TEC outboard.
B.J. God Bless and Best Bass’n
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