TULSA, Okla. — Connecting our heroes to resources and helping them with transitioning home — that is the mission of Eagle OPS, an organization in Green Country.
Eagle OPS was created to "reach one more."
"I promise to my fellow service members, veterans and family that when facing my demons, I will not take my own life, but I will reach out to my battle buddy because the battle cannot be won alone," Jeremiah Cheatwood said.
That is the oath of Eagle OPS — It is on all cards members hand out.
The card and oath changed everything for Cheatwood.
"And it was just such an experience that through one person handed me a card, you know, it changed my life," Cheatwood said.
He was at a renaissance festival when someone from Eagle OPS approached him with the “Reach One More” card.
“I had quite a lot of fun going to the Ren Fair that year,” Cheatwood said. “At the Muskogee Castle and a friend of mine had said, like, you should get a kilt. And I was like, ll right, well, the only thing left for my uniform that still fit was my socks and my beret. And so I was like, well, it was still a big point of pride for me that I had earned this beret. I'd seen some guys wearing their black beret with their kilts, and I was like, ‘Oh, I've gotten maroon beret I'm gonna wear this thing. And so I got it out. I got my hair cut nice and I wore my beret with my kilt, and I was out at Scott Fest and was walking around. And while I was walking around, there was a guy that saw my beret and he calls me over and he says, ‘Hey, there's a veterans group called Eagle OPS’ and he gets one of these cards out of his pocket. I carry a big stack of these things these days.”
That card opened a world to allow Cheatwood the avenue he needed to heal.
Veterans, their families, and others gather at “rally points” to form meaningful connections. Eagle OPS does this through golfing, freedom shoots, fishing, and fire pit nights.
"Fire pit nights from Eagle OPS are great,” Cheatwood said. “There's no expectation there, you just show up and hang out in front of the bonfire, you know, a fire pit."
No expectations, but when a veteran is ready to share their story, it is like they know. Cheatwood said he showed up late one night, not thinking he would have time to tell his story, but they gave him as much time as he needed.
"So, I'd have been about the third person, and when he got to be, he said, ‘I want Jeremiah to tell his story tonight.’ I don't think he knew, you know, that I had just felt all the way down there. Like it was time for me to really like talk to him about stuff. But I went through my whole traumatic experience..."
Cheatwood said he told them everything like an old friend.
“I sat down and talked about that whole thing at that fire pit, and I talked for probably an hour and it's just seemed like forever," Cheatwood said.
Through all that time, everyone was listening.
"They're all like, 'Wow, I can't believe you haven't told us this before,'” Cheatwood said.
And with that rally point night, a whole new world opened.
"We found that we get veterans off the couch and get them connected with like-minded individuals, they come out of their shell, they are normal, they realize, Hey, we are all of the same," Joe Franco, Outreach Coordinator, said.
And it all comes down to what Franco calls "operations."
"For us, it gets them out and say, ‘Hey, let's go to a firepit night, let's go to a freedom shoots event. Let's go to play some golf on Mondays. Let's get them out and make them feel that, hey, you are loved. And you need to be here. And we want you here,’” Franco said.
They are working to battle the war after the war.
"We've had some folks that have literally we have saved their lives,” Franco said. “They have sat on the couch with alcohol with a firearm ready to take their life, but they looked down at our Eagle ops Rally Point garden and they put their gun down."
Eagle OPS saves one hero at a time.
“Eagle ops whole entire mission is to reach one more because if we can get one more veteran, that's one more we can bring in and help out," Franco said.
“When they talk about reach one more, they really did reach one more with me," Cheatwood said. "I really would not be here if it wasn't for these guys, I don't even know how many times I can say that or how many ways to say it."
Before joining Eagle OPS, Cheatwood was in a very dark place.
“I remember looking at myself in the mirror just about every morning and just being like, I hate you, and thinking the same thing about that guy in the mirror as far as how far I had let myself get out of shape and out of this and that and not have a purpose,” Cheatwood said. “I felt the same about that guy as I did my enemy in Iraq. You know, and that was how far I had gotten away from things and by getting out and getting around people again and speaking to them and they go ‘hey, you have all this to offer...you know you're 350 pounds, and you went and shot a rifle match against Veterans younger than you and you won it by a lot.’ The first one I shot anyways the second one I won by a hair. But, that was a big part of bringing back just that little bit of success and that little bit of self-esteem coming back, and through all of it, it's just completely changed my life.”
Learn more about Eagle OPS here.
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