FARM AID: EGGING ON BATTLE-WEARY VETERANS TO LEARN FARMING SKILLS IS A PASSION OF PENDER COUNTY'S BILL O'BRIEN.

AuthorMaurer, Kevin
PositionNC TREND: Military

It started with ducks. Bill O'Brien's wife, Heather, a veterinarian in Jacksonville, brought some ducklings home after a family gave them up upon realizing the birds don't stay cute. Taking care of the ducks on his Pender County farm led to chickens. Pretty soon, he had more eggs than he could eat.

"It's called chicken math," he says. "You get two birds, you end up with four. You get four birds, you end up with 12."

O'Brien, a veteran who served in the Navy and Army National Guard and in law enforcement, started selling the eggs at local farmers markets, hoping to make some gas money. To his surprise, he found other veterans doing the same thing. O'Brien saw opportunity in the veteran-turned-farmer network, so he created Veteran Owned Veteran Grown Inc.

Veterans share similar qualities: They're driven and motivated to succeed. But the stresses of 17 years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken a toll, making the transition to civilian life difficult for some. About 20 U.S. veterans took their lives every day in 2014, according to a recent report by the Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. Many others suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and various mental-health issues.

"Think about it--while on active duty, we were unstoppable warriors," O'Brien wrote on the group's website. "There is no reason why we can't still be just as unstoppable."

O'Brien is working with 15 veterans turned farmers. "The goal is to get guys off the couch," he says. "Get them working. Building in some self-worth." His long-term plan is to buy more land and provide housing and agricultural training programs.

One new farmer is James Rytych, a veteran Marine Corps combat engineer who lives in Jacksonville. He was injured in Iraq and medically retired after serving 12 years. When he left the Marine Corps, he suffered...

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