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Work Vessels for Vets Dedicates Tractor for Injured Army Veteran Saturday May 15th (Armed Forces Day) at Radical Roots Farm, Sterling, CT

Tractor 0535STERLING, CT.   On a glorious Armed Forces Day 2021, Work Vessels for Vets held a Tractor Dedication Ceremony to present a John Deere 89mp tractor to Army SPC Ryan Salvas, injured in Afghanistan during his tour in 2010-2011.  Salvas will use the tractor for his Radical Roots Farms in Sterling, CT where he raises heritage breeds of cattle (like the Scottish Highland pictured), pigs, sheep and fowl.  He is dedicated to paying it forward by establishing a nonprofit called ContemPLATE to help fellow veterans with PTSD, TBI and other injuries find the peace he finds through agritherapy. Scottish Highland fella

Congressman Joe Courtney, CT-2 spoke at the ceremony along with Commanders of the Canterbury, CT and Lyme/Old Lyme, CT VFWs who contributed to the purchase, to honor Salvas and the veteran-serving organizations and donors who made this award possible.  Army SPC Ryan Salvas is not letting his 90% medical disability rating stop him from pursuing his dream of raising heirloom breeds of cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens on his eastern Connecticut acreage.  With help from local VFWs in Lyme/Old Lyme and Canterbury, Work Vessels for Vets purchased the big tractor outfitted for the tasks, reducing the aggravation of his combat injuries.            

 Ryan's wife Alysia wrote in his application, "Ryan has been farming endangered breeds for about 5 years, and has been doing everything by hand, including moving 900+ pound round bales of hay.  His injuries have been making it increasingly difficult to do all the chores, and the cold weather makes it all worse.  We are so grateful for this amazing gift of the large tractor we so desperately need." 

The nationally accredited, award-winning  Mystic, Connecticut-based nonprofit, Work Vessels for Vets (www.WVFV.org), awards America’s injured veterans with the tools they need to make a successful transition from service-connected injuries to civilian entrepreneurship.  Since its founding in 2008, the volunteers at Work Vessels for Vets, Inc awarded equipment to more than 2400 injured veterans in all 50 states.  To date, the value of these “hands up” has exceeded $3.4 million! 

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