A non-profit group started by a Navy Seal who was involved in one of the most famous incidents of the war in Afghanistan is about to start building a retreat for combat veterans and their families near Fayetteville.Terry Jung is the executive director of the Texas-based Lone Survivor Foundation. He says it thought the Fayetteville area would be ideal for an East Coast site.
“So we need an additional facility and we wanted to find an environment that was very pro-military and was a community that we felt would be supportive as well as actually become part of this undertaking,” Jung said.
The foundation was started by Marcus Luttrell, whose four-man team was ambushed in 2005. He was badly wounded, the other SEALS were killed, and a helicopter full of rescuers was shot down. His story was told in the book and movie “Lone Survivor”.
The foundation’s methods are based partly on those Luttrell used on himself after he came home and felt he wasn’t getting the right kind of help, according to Jung.
The foundation is funded by donations, and the retreats are free to the veterans and their families.