HELENA — The Montana Bowhunters Association, in partnership with the Center for Warriors in Montana, donated an adaptive hunting bow to a United States Marine Corps veteran injured in the line of duty.
Jason Poole was approaching the last few days of a tour in Iraq when an improvised explosive device or IED exploded right near his head.
The blast killed other marines in Poole’s unit, sent shrapnel into his left ear through the brain and out his right ear, and left him partially deaf and blind.
The association provided Jason with a specially designed bow that allows him to draw back and fire arrows at targets without holding the bow in a typical fashion, at no cost to Poole.
Marlon Clapham of the Montana Bowhunters Association custom-built the bow. He has also built bows like the one he made for Poole for other veterans in the past.
“I started building this apparatus for people that had only one arm, or maybe they had a stroke, and they could only use one arm. So, I looked into building that apparatus so that they could participate in archery with conventional equipment,” said Clapham.
Being familiar with shooting from his military background made Poole want to try archery after his time in service.
“I did a lot of shooting, you know, being infantry, you know, but also a going fishing a lot. But never did the bow,” explained Poole.
Poole told MTN that it’s important for him and other veterans to continue pursuing life's opportunities even after an injury has altered them.
“Veterans, you know, and some civilians like me, we're hurt, you know, and everything like that. But you can still live your life, you know. And still do fun things, like fishing, hunting, you know, or, you know, skiing,” noted Poole.
