Faith in fishing: One veteran’s calling as a volunteer fishing guide

“When I first get here in May, I walk all the streams and I find all the holes,” says Retired Sgt. Maj. Duane Goettsch, “I make it so it’s safe and possible for our guests, for them to have a good time.”

Veteran Goettsch volunteers at the Seward Military Resort down in Seward, Alaska. After serving in the Army for 21 years in the Combat Signal Corps, Goettsch says his new calling is helping other Veterans recover from the stresses of the military and readjusting to civilian life.

Both Goettsch and his wife Sukhee Goettsch volunteer as camp hosts and take Veterans and their families out fishing. She takes them out for halibut while Goettsch takes them out for salmon.

As far as salmon fishing, Goettsch says he takes about 400 Veterans, active-duty service members, and family members fishing each year. He shows people how to fish for salmon in the area and explains how to legally snag fish according to the state’s laws and regulations.

When asked why he commits so much time volunteering he says, “They paid enough for our country and I’m giving back.”

This is Goettsch’s sixth year volunteering at the resort. He got started when he ran into some service members back from Iraq on R&R. They found themselves just hanging out with nothing to do so he invited them out fishing. Soon it got around that he was a free fishing guide and Veterans started asking for him when they visited the resort.