Patrick Bradley learned a lot about Bald eagles in the most unexpected way imaginable: spending three years in the Canadian wilderness after returning home from the Vietnam War. The isolated experience up north helped him recover from what is more commonly known today as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Years later, Patrick's life would lead him to help other wounded warriors – his efforts formalized through the Avian Veteran Alliance, a nonprofit he co-founded that pairs veterans suffering from PTSD and physical injuries with injured birds of prey. The book The Eagle on My Arm: How the Wilderness and Birds of Prey Saved a Veteran's Life by Dava Guerin and Terry Bivens chronicles Patrick's story of how the soldier used his years of study and solitude to face his demons and turn his pain into helping others.In this interview, Patrick talks about his first experience seeing a Bald eagle in Canada – the starting point of what would serve as a lifelong love with birds of prey. He shares about how he reshaped a volunteer program in a nature preserve in Florida and witnessed the transformation in his son Skylar, a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, when given a bird to walk. Patrick also discusses birds he's worked with, the experience vets have after walking with the injured creatures, and how his work led him to spend time with former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, who gifted the younger veteran with his challenge coin. (To learn about challenge coins, listen to this episode of 99% Invisible).View PDF TranscriptPatrick's Recommendations:- Books by Dava Guerin- movement2.html">22aDay Movement

Shuva's Recommendation:- Iowa Raptor Project

Check out these recommendations and more on the Untrained Wisdom Pinterest page. Find out more about podcast on the Untrained Wisdom blog, where you can find some FAQs about the show. 

If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

Interested in starting your own podcast? Sign up here for your own Buzzsprout account.