Catching Up, Haiti Relief and Redfish


My best friend of over twenty years recently deployed with his Medi-Evac unit to support the relief efforts in Haiti. I got a call the other night that he was back in town, so the next day we went out to find some redfish. I don’t think Mark was all the interested in finding them as much as he was just enjoying the peace and quiet of the water.

I gave him some Paddle-Fishing.com decals to take with him while he was down there. He didn’t disappoint me.

Mark and I met in a strange kind of way; he was my next door neighbor in Nebraska. One weekend he came over and asked if I could help him move, seems all of his help had bailed on him and he was in a jam. It took us all weekend to move to his new house and the rest is as they say “history”. In my eight years in Nebraska, Mark and I spent every moment we could hunting or fishing. To say he is my best friend is an understatement.
Major Mark Butler

It aint the Hilton




The USAF Air Traffic Controllers were keeping score of their “Rat Kills”.

The reason for the deployment.



How this building is still standing, I do not know.

Please keep people like my friend Mark and all of those that choose to serve our country in your prayers. They are a special breed.
In the last few weeks I have been able to get out, between the cold, the wind, the windy cold wind….. You get the picture.
The Great Wallenda. DaveR


Justabucup.. Going ole school with the 8lb mono redfish.

Yours truly.





Thanks for reading along.

Great post there and God bless your friend Major Butler and all the men and women serving in Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan, and every other spot around the globe.

Whew, very nice. Thank goodness we have men and women unafraid to serve this great country.

Great Job putting him on the water, Pictures are awesome as usual!!!

Great story, great pics.
God Bless all of our Troops!

After looking at those pictures I would like to ReUp. At my age they would say no.
God Bless all those who serve and God Bless you for sharing your heart.

Great pictures and great report. I love the rat kill tally on the tent. LOL. Kudos to your friend for his service. Being a Navy Vet myself I understand the sacrifices made to family and friends for our country. One of the things that make our country the greatest in the world.

Thank you for your service and sacrafice.

My son just graduated Army Basic Training on Friday and was on a plane the following Monday for Baumholder Germany. That's his duty station for three years. Tough on dad, but I'm extremely proud to be an Army Soldier's Dad!

Pray for the men and women that make Kayak Fishing part of our Freedom.

Awesome stuff

Great post. This is the stuff that makes me proud to be an American! God bless our troops!

I was in Port a Prince, Haiti in the mid 70's. It was depressing then. The poverty was like nothing I had ever seen. When you got away from the palace and the downtown area, the rest of the place almost looked like it had been through an earthquake.

Good Post. This is what makes the U.S.A a compassionate nation. I'm to old to re-up, to bad for me. Thanks to your buddy and all our soldiers for a job well done. Our troops are head and shoulders above the rest.