How Alaska Adventure Project for Wounded Veterans gained its creation:

Alaska Adventure Project for Wounded Veterans (AAPWV) is an organization that was created with sole purpose of benefiting wounded Veterans. The organization was formed in response to the overwhelming need to bring our brothers and sisters in arms together in a positive environment. We aim to use the natural wonders of the Alaskan frontier as well as the camaraderie of fellow veterans to combat the challenges with post-traumatic stress.

About SGT. William “Billy” Boulton, Founder of AAPWV -

Billy joined the Marines in 2006 and became an Infantry Machine Gunner. During his time in the Marine Corps he was on multiple deployments in both Iraq and Afghanistan; most notable was the Battle of Sangin. Billy guided Marines in a Combined Anti-Armor Team during combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and during the Battle of Sangin. It was in Sangin that Billy suffered from a tragic attack that left him physically and mentally disabled.

The war’s physical toll that was placed on Billy’s body left permanent damage to his brain and left scars on his body – those are the things that people can see and understand. The mental toll that was placed on Billy, not a single person can see or understand those effects that took hold of Billy.

When Billy left the Marine Corps in 2014, he was looking for a new beginning back in the civilian world, something that he could look forward to and be proud of. It was the day’s Billy endured during the war that led him back to Ketchikan, Alaska, his native home. Upon returning from the war, Billy decided to return home to his mother and begin to find purpose once more. Billy struggled to reintegrate into a civilian role and a typical life. His whole world had changed from the day he entered the service to the day he came home.

In May of 2015 Billy took a job as a ‘Greenhorn’ deckhand on the Johnnie B, a salmon seiner in Ketchikan, Alaska. Billy had no experience as a deckhand, but he was up for a challenge and he had to do something to calm his mind. So he poured himself into his new role in Ketchikan. Billy knew that the war had robbed him of normalcy. The war took his colleagues, his friends, his heroes, portions of his memory and most of his compassion. He didn’t ‘feel’ the same anymore. He didn’t have connections with former friends or his family. Billy had developed a callous nature to keep others out because he didn’t want to talk about the war images and the war sounds that played over and over in his mind.

It was on a late evening leaving the Ketchikan harbor for an early morning fishing expedition that Billy realized how much he had missed out on since fighting in the war. Billy stood at the bow of the boat admiring the sunset in all its beauty when his heart and his mind had let him feel peace for a moment. It was as if Billy was feeling his human body and emotions again. That sunset was a turning point in Billy’s life, it became more and more easy for him to present in social situations, appreciate all that his life was meant to be and all the beauty and glory his life has to offer.

That sunset, that boat, those people, that town... it had all begun to break down and demolish that armor and the walls that Billy had worked so hard at building to keep others out. Billy had spent months realizing that his purpose in life was to bring that same sense of peace to those who were suffering in silence as he was.

Billy has firsthand experience with the trauma and demons that comes with surviving a war. Billy has suffered his friends and comrades who have taken their own lives because the war robbed them of who they once were. It was so crucial for Billy to have a place in preventing Veteran suicide that it has led him to create the Alaska Adventure Project for Wounded Veterans.

It is Billy’s passion and his commitment to break down the walls in the hearts and minds of our finest warriors and let the sunlight and nature warm them once again. The Alaska Adventure Project was created with the sole purpose of benefiting those wounded veterans whose battles on the front lines still held a grip on them upon their return home. The organization was formed in response to the overwhelming need to bring our brothers and sisters in arms together in a healthy environment to combat veteran suicide. Alaska Adventure uses the natural wonders and calming beauty of the Alaskan frontier as well as the camaraderie of fellow veterans to combat the challenges our heroes face with post traumatic stress disorder and reintegration into civilian life.

They fought for us, now it is our turn to fight for them!