LYNN HAVEN — John McKay grew up on the east coast of Florida and loved to fish. Then he grew up and became a Marine.
He was deployed to war zones three times, and each time he lost a part of himself to the things he saw and the people he lost.
When he came home he was not the same man who had left his wife, McKay said Thursday night.
By the time he came to the Warrior Beach Retreat in April, “there was a part of me that was just dead inside,” he told a crowd of combat-wounded veterans, their families and a sanctuary full of supporters at Lynn Haven United Methodist Church.
“I didn’t realize that I was less of myself every time I went,” he said.
John and Tracy McKay were struggling to understand each other. To hear Tracy tell it, they were closed off from the world. But they took a deep-sea fishing trip together during the retreat. It was a turning point.
“It made me remember what made me happy,” he said.
This is the fifth year of the twice-yearly Warrior Beach Retreat, which began in 2009. Wounded warriors will seek respite and comfort, and meet other men and women who will understand them because they are like them.
They were treated to the hero’s welcome Thursday they might not have received when they returned home.
A parade from Panama City Beach to Lynn Haven marked the beginning of the fall retreat. Along the route the warriors, who were all wounded in combat since 9/11, saw thousands of people waving flags as they drove past. They saw active-duty servicemen and women lined up at the fence of Naval Support Activity Panama City as they rode up Thomas Drive.
They saw members of the National Honor Society from North Bay Haven Academy, or Ed Strickland and Darlene Tate and dozens of members of Krewe St. Andrews, which already has raised $6,000 for the event this year, waving flags on the Hathaway Bridge.
They might have heard Cyndie Kennedy welcoming them as they crossed the bridge.
“It’s something unique in the nation. There are other towns that do it, but we top them all,” Kennedy said. “Forget what you saw on Spring Break on Fox News. This is the real Panama City.”
The list of the event’s sponsors is so long that it probably would be easier to list the local businesses and organizations that do not support it.
Warrior Beach Retreat President Linda Cope, whose son lost both legs in combat in 2006, offered a brief, emotional thank you to the community during the opening ceremony.
“You all are a healing place.” she said. “We never would’ve dreamed … when we got the call about our son that God would use it to bring hope and healing to so many others.”
As for the McKays, they are back in Panama City. They have passed their turning point.
“John is a different man since we left, and it’s nice to have my husband back," Tracy said.
There are more than a dozen other families that might be looking for the same thing this week.
“This right here is a turning point in someone’s life,” John McKay said.