May 2026 | Operation Patton’s Prayer |
May 22 - 29, 2026
| ABOUT EVENT
Trauma Counseling Retreat
Well that’s a wrap for this year’s retreat, Operation Patton’s Prayer. Safe travels home to all the participants and staff. Thank you to All Star Liveaboards Blackbeard's vessel Morning Star crew, all the sponsors, donors, our incredible staff and the families of our Valkyries for supporting this time away to focus on healing.
A quick breakdown for our week at sea:
- 17 veterans
- 264 cumulative hours of counseling
- 232 total dives
- 6186 feet in depth or equivalent to 1.71 statue miles
- 9818 minutes total bottom time or 4.29 days
- 10062 cubic feet of compressed air consumed
- Our Valkyries represent more than 224 years of service to our Nation and communities
- And 31 years deployed in support of combat zones, disaster relief, and humanitarian aid operations
- Who knows what their next chapter may bring!
Departure day always arrives sooner than anyone wants. Looking back, it is hard to believe how much happened in such a short time. So much is captured through photos and videos yet when we think about this week, those are not the memories that stand out the most. What we will remember are the conversations. The moments when someone finally shared something they had carried for years. The laughter around the dinner table. The encouragement from people who understood without needing every detail explained. Somewhere during this week, a boat full of strangers became a tribe. As we prepared to leave the Morning Star, I found myself thinking back to the question we posed to everyone before we boarded:
"What do you want to be true at the end of this week?"
We didn’t know what each participant thought at that moment but based on the transformation the staff witnessed over the past week, I would say many realized this truth as they headed home. Watching the interaction of each participant, the change in demeanor, the comfort with one another made one thing apparent, the group we left with were not the same group of men that returned. Each had made meaningful changes during their time at sea. I hope they all continue making the one degree of course correction we talked about on our first day together. Not because anyone’s life became perfect this week, but because I have seen how real change occurs, not all at once but with one decision at a time.
Operation Patton's Prayer reminded us that hope often appears when we least expect it. Sometimes the answer we have been waiting for does not come immediately or in the way we imagined, but that does not mean it is not coming. I hope this week reminded everyone to keep moving forward, trust the process, and never lose hope.
While this week comes to an end, the next chapter is just beginning, and we can’t wait to see what each of the Valkyries does with it.
Special thanks to our sponsors: Westwood Community Church, Veterans Club at Encanterra, Mariano & Co., Pour Wine & Taproom, SWVCC
