No Barriers

Regaining Purpose with Mark Yearsley

Episode Summary

This episode is brought to you by our supporters at CoBank. In honor of 9/11, we interviewed an old friend and No Barriers Warrior, Mark Yearsley. Mark is a Gulf War veteran who, despite many challenges hopes to pass on the same encouragement and enthusiasm he received and inspire others to create their own stories of success while living a No Barriers Life.

Episode Notes

Mark served in the United States Air Force for ten years, starting out as an aircraft mechanic. He loved his job but was looking for more challenges, so he switched to air traffic control for the remainder of his time in service. During a deployment in Kuwait, he sustained injuries resulting in his right leg needing to be amputated above the knee. He went into a deep depression and lost all hope and was very inactive. 

Eventually, he found outdoor therapy programs like No Barriers and regained purpose and meaning in his life. Now he is the Founder and Executive Director of Outdoor Salute to Veterans. There are 22 veterans that commit suicide every day and OSTV strives to reduce these numbers by taking disabled veterans on outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, rafting, rock climbing, and camping.   

Mark has also been married to his wife for 34 years and has three wonderful and successful children and five beautiful grandchildren.

Special thanks to CoBank for sponsoring today's episode in a series highlighting Veterans. 

Resources:

Outdoor Salute to Veterans: https://outdoorsalutetoveterans.com/