Episode 32 - Veterans on the Camino

Soldiers are hardly a new phenomenon on the Camino de Santiago; indeed, the pilgrimage originated hand in glove with the military initiative to reconquer the Iberian peninsula from the Moors. Today, though, a new movement is taking place to bring more veterans to pilgrimage, as a potential rite of passage to mark their re-entry into civilian life. Brad Genereux has been a key catalyst in this work, taking his own experience--which he wrote about in A Soldier to Santiago--and extending it outward to others through his organization, Veterans on the Camino. Dan Huvane, a US marine, was part of a 2018 cohort that Brad led. The potential of this is also the stuff of research, with Dr. Heather Warfield at the forefront of that work. This episode features Brad, Dan, and Heather, talking about their experiences and the impact of pilgrimage on veterans.