GRAND FORKS, N.D. _ Living along the Rainy River near Loman, Minn., Joey Buzay gets his fill of fishing for walleyes and lake sturgeon.
Channel catfish, not so much.
That all changed last Wednesday night, when Buzay, along with about 30 other veterans and active military, were treated to an evening catfish trip on the Red River in Grand Forks, courtesy of the Red River Valley Catfish Club and Hometown Hero Outdoors.
"Operation Border Whisker," the event was dubbed.
Hometown Hero Outdoors offers a variety of opportunities as a way to help "all law enforcement officers, military service members and veterans conquer challenges they face as they attempt to integrate back into society," the organization's website states.
Buzay, accompanied by his service dog, Franky, said he learned about the event through the Hometown Hero Outdoors website and landed the biggest channel catfish of his life at "just over" 20 pounds.
Even without catching the trophy catfish, which he released after a photo, the evening on the river would have been worth the four-hour drive, said Buzay, 55, a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1983 to 1994 in Korea, Honduras, Kansas, Germany and Somalia.
"It was awesome," he said. "I mean Hometown Heroes, hooking us up with people like this is just amazing. And for these guys to do this for us, it's just awesome."
