Veterans In Action
You don’t have to come from a farming family to be a farmer. I knew nothing when I returned from Iraq. I became a farmer because farming gave me the purpose and direction I needed.
-Mike Reynolds
STORIES
Inspiring Experiences From Our Members: LTC Tim Doherty
Lieutenant Colonel Tim Doherty has always been a skillful and diverse individual. He excelled in his teaching career to become an assistant principal after teaching for only 4 years. He is the father of five children of which the three that are old enough to serve have all chosen careers to serve in the military. An accomplished Medevac pilot, Medical Operations Officer and leader, he never shied away from a challenge. He was hand picked to deploy as the Deputy Surgeon for NATO Special Operations Component Command, Afghanistan.
After an injury during a deployment to Afghanistan, Tim returned to Fort Stewart, Georgia, for surgery and rehabilitation. During this time, he would find himself longing for the challenges that he was accustomed to from the deployment. While assigned to the Wounded Warrior Battalion, Tim found a new purpose, beekeeping. This provided him with a new challenge after combat, one that he would quickly share with other Veterans.
Tim began reading and learning all he could about beekeeping and eventually was able to return to his home in Atlanta. There, he met up with HERO Agriculture’s founder, Mike Reynolds, at a Doc's Healing Hives course he was running to introduce other Veterans to beekeeping. HERO Agriculture was able to help Tim create needed documents and relationships to purchase 13 acres in Fannin County, through Ag Georgia Farm Credit. Today, with the support of HERO Agriculture, Tim has been able to begin building a home and a training facility where Veterans will come to learn about beekeeping. So many people helped Mike Reynolds to recover and discover his new life in agriculture. The help that was given to him is now enabling him to help others. Now, those Veterans are forging ahead to “pay it forward.”
