Dominion Virginia Power Dedicates Monument To Military Veterans, Wounded Warriors

WARM SPRINGS, Va., Oct. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With wounded warriors and veterans clad in fishing waders and eagerly eyeing trout in the stream beside them, Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling today dedicated a monument in their honor at Dominion Virginia Power's Bath County Pumped Storage Station.

The monument is a gift from station employees to those who have been injured while serving in the military. It names Back Creek, which flows from power station's lower dam, as the "home waters" for all soldiers and volunteers who visit the creek as part of Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Inc., a national, non-profit organization that provides mental and physical relaxation therapy to injured military personnel through fly fishing.

"This is an apt and fitting tribute to those who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States," said Bolling, an avid fly fisherman. "Yet this ceremony is not about dedicating a monument. It is about honoring those who have sacrificed so much for us and our country."

This is the third year that Dominion and the power station employees have hosted Project Healing Waters at its Back Creek Recreation Area. The area has more than a mile of trout waters that is managed jointly by Dominion and the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

Project Healing Waters brings a mix of active duty military personnel and veterans to the stream each fall for two days of fly fishing. The warriors are selected from Project Healing Waters program sites at military hospitals and Veteran's Affairs Hospitals in Virginia and West Virginia. This year's Participants came from Fort Eustis and Veteran's Administration hospitals in Hampton, Richmond, and Salem in Virginia and Beckley, Clarksburg, and Huntington in West Virginia.

"We are honored to be able to partner with Project Healing Waters to help those who have been harmed while in the service of our country," said J. David Rives, Dominion senior vice president-Fossil & Hydro.  "The employees here at the station came up with the idea of the monument, to let the men and women who served in the military and the volunteers who assist them not only know that they are welcomed here, but more importantly to say, 'Thank you.' "

The bronze plaque shows a volunteer teaching a soldier who is a double amputee to fly fish.

"This is a tremendous tribute to the men and women whom Project Healing Waters serves," said Ed Nicholson, a retired Navy captain who founded Project Healing Waters in 2005. "The monument captures the spirit of Project Healing Waters, the warriors who are seeking to recover from their injuries and the volunteers who assist them."

Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of approximately 28,000 megawatts of generation. Dominion operates the nation's largest natural gas storage system and serves retail energy customers in 15 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com. 

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SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power