The need for help and an even greater need for a purpose brought together two unlikely strangers on a Georgia beef farm.

Eddie Brannon owns and manages his family’s funeral home, is a beef producer and a minister. One Sunday Brannon says Mike Reynolds, a retired master sergeant who attends his same church, approached him with what would become a life-saving cry for help.

“We hadn’t talked a lot; I gave him plenty of space because I felt like that with his speech problem at that time, he didn’t want to talk,” Brannon recalls. After a family crisis, Brannon needed someone to help out on the farm. “I really needed somebody, but I couldn’t afford to hire anybody,” Brannon says. “Mike wanted to do something. He said he didn’t need the money; he needed a purpose, and, ‘If I don’t find something to do, I’m afraid I’m going to do something drastic.’ So, I said, ‘I’ll see you in the morning at eight o’clock.’” He’s been on the farm ever since.

Both Reynolds and Brannon joined the National Farmer Veteran Coalition to help other veterans get into agriculture and find similar healing. In December, they traveled to Michigan State University’s campus for the organization’s annual conference, which Brannon says has inspired him to continue to help other veterans become farmers. “I’m sure Mike will be doing for others what I’ve helped him be able to do for me,” he says.

CONNECTIONS: Mike Reynolds (left) says it wasn’t only working for Brannon that got him into farming, but also making the connections that came along with the experience. He’s learned about all aspects of farming, including correct feed rations.

Reynolds says meeting with other veterans has inspired him to alter the path of his service from protecting the nation to feeding it. He says, “There’s a lot of things that I can’t do, but I came to this conference where their mentality is, ‘We don’t really care what you can’t do, we need to know what you can do, and then with that, we’ll help you.’”     

More than 250 other farmer-veterans joined Reynolds and Brannon for the third annual event, which travels to different parts of the country each year. Veterans were able to attend sessions specific to production practices, learn about veteran resources available in the agricultural industry and hear success stories of other farmer-veterans. Michigan was selected as it was one of the first states to charter a state chapter.

The transition
Reynolds had served nearly 18 years in the military as a flight paramedic, where he deployed and served in combat situations treating injured soldiers and civilians. In 2009 Reynolds suffered a traumatic brain injury during combat operations, which would send him in and out of hospitals for about three and a half years as he relearned to walk, talk and live more independently.

“We all have that thing we want to do; I wanted to be a soldier. I had almost 18 years before they retired me medically. I always hoped to return,” Reynolds reflects. “I wanted to go back and be a paramedic, but I couldn’t do that anymore because they were afraid I’d get hit in the head. I wanted to go to law enforcement, and they said they were afraid I’d get hit in the head. I wanted to go back to patient care, and they said they were afraid I’d get hit in the head. I wanted to go back on the helicopter, and I couldn’t pass a FAA physical because I had gotten hit in the head. So, I said I only have three things left I could be and that’s a good dad, a good husband and maybe a farmer,” he says.

Reynolds didn’t know much about farming or livestock when he approached Brannon, but he learned quickly. “Eddie was overwhelmed with work at the funeral home, so I told him that I’d just start doing stuff at the farm,” Reynolds says. Starting with simple tasks like cleaning and small repairs. “Now Eddie comes in on Thursday and says, ‘I’m leaving Friday and I’ll be gone a week and call me if you need anything,” he says.

Reynolds’ accident left him with a stutter and a limp, but his mind is sharp. “I’m not a dumb guy. I mean, I got a brain injury, but that doesn’t mean you’re not smart, so you kind of look around and see what needs done and you start doing,” he says. Like Reynolds, many veterans are returning home scarred by their service. According to the RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research, 20% of the veterans who served in either Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Almost 20% of veterans in these two categories have experienced a traumatic brain injury

Brannon says working with Reynolds has been an eye-opening experience. “Mike has really grasped farming quickly, and he’s really developed a love for farming. It’s a passion that he has,” Brannon explains. After two years of  watching and working with Reynolds, Brannon says, “To see him from where he was to what he’s become as a farmer and how much he’s healed, it makes me want to give another veteran an opportunity.”

Reynold’s typical day during his service included caring for the many injured children or soldiers as a flight medic. Remaining idle was the last thing he wanted to do once he returned home. Reynolds says, “You gotta keep your mind busy. You can sit there and think about all the death and destruction and the families and all the stuff you wish you could have done, or you can think of the fact that I need to get 4 more pounds in there to make that 30 pounds of feed and then the feed needs to go in the bin and then the bin needs to go back into the corral and then watch out where the bull is, and how many heifers is that? You’re going to think, but you can either think about the good or you can think about the bad.” 

The National Veterans Foundation says there are at least 20 reported veteran suicides every day. More than 9,000 former service members each year are lost to veteran suicides. For every suicide, five to 10 more veterans are at risk. A 24-hour suicide prevention lifeline for veterans is at 888-777-4443; it is staffed with trained fellow veterans.

Connecting
Reynolds explains it wasn’t just working for Brannon that got him into farming, it was also the connections that came along with the experience. “After I helped Eddie some, he started sending me to his farming friends to learn more, someone to talk to about feed or about calving or different kinds of cows. So I learned to farm, but I hadn’t just learned to farm the Eddie way,” he says.

Brannon never intended to train Reynolds; he says Reynolds did that on his own. “Mike has trained himself, but I gave him the opportunity. I mean, he can take YouTube and rebuild a tractor engine and things like that. I don’t know how to do that, so I’ve learned a lot from him,” Brannon says. 

On this newly purchased 82-acre farm near Atlanta, Ga., Reynolds says he plans to market freezer beef through the Home Grown by Heroes label, which differentiates farmer-veteran products.

The National Farmer Veteran Coalition’s mission is to mobilize veterans to feed America. Not only are they trying to create new farmers to replace the aging farmer population, but farming is also helping veterans with psychological injuries recover. The Center of Innovation on Disability & Rehabilitation Research recently partnered with the coalition for the first Veteran Affairs study on the impact of veteran-oriented agriculture on transitioning veterans. Preliminary findings show agriculture is providing a new mission for veterans, offers different levels of healing and brings a renewed sense of purpose.

Brannon is proud of what Reynolds has learned under his wing, as well as from other area beef producers in the area. He says, “Mike has become a farm owner very recently, and I’m pleased to think that I was just a small part of that by saying, “Yeah, see you tomorrow morning at eight o’clock.’”

Heslip is a reporter with Brownfield Ag News.