Special weekend dedicated to helping veterans
Story by Paul South
Submitted Photos
Like a crack military unit, this patriotic Talladega County community and Dovetail Landing, the growing initiative to help veterans, unified on an October weekend with a single mission: to build community and awareness of veterans’ issues and Dovetail Landing’s resources as a place of resilience and recovery for veterans across Alabama.
Dovetail Landing celebrated its first Rockin for Recovery Fall Festival with barbecue, music, food, fun vendors and even a military touch – a “ruck march” that in this case was actually a walk, with the “ruckers” wearing rucksacks.
The night before, some 200 camo-clad diners celebrated “Combat Dining Out.,” a donations-only feast far from K-rations or MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). The menu included smoked chicken, pulled pork, red and white sauce, baked beans, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, ice cold drinks and dessert. It was patterned after formal regimental mess nights, in keeping with military tradition, but no black ties. It was striking to see and hear the toasts to the nation’s military, especially the toast to fallen and missing warriors accompanied by the bagpiper’s rendering of Amazing Grace.
The keynote speaker for the evening was retired Col. Chris Stricklin, former USAF fighter pilot, Thunderbird Solo Pilot, and combat veteran. The colonel riveted the audience with his reflection on being a combat veteran.
If the old military adage is true – that an army travels on its stomach – the Fall Festival crowd was fueled for a long march.
“The purpose is to bring civilians, both from their community organizations, family organizations and business organizations to meet =veterans and have fun that night in a traditional military environment,” Dovetail Landing Executive Director retired Brig. Gen. Robert Holmes said.
The ruck march was an untimed five-mile walk aimed at building community and awareness of Dovetail Landing, vets and their issues. The walk was a lead-up to the events of the day, featuring food, showcases for Veteran Support Opportunities, music and fun.
“It was exciting to see so many veterans and their families come together and meet each other,” Holmes said. “There were over 20 veteran support organizations there to showcase significant opportunities, ready to contribute to (veterans’) well-being … and their future.”
But beyond the weekend’s flavorful fun, the larger mission was to help Dovetail Landing, the facility founded by Alana and Pat Centilli in 2021 to honor their son, Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Centilli, who died in 2019 from traumatic brain injuries suffered in an explosion Helmand province, Afghanistan in 2012. Daniel Centilli was remembered by his brothers in arms as a Marine’s Marine.
“All of this is to create awareness and to showcase the opportunities available to the veterans and their families,” Holmes said.
Dovetail Landing hopes to provide a variety of services to veterans, their families and caregivers – medical help, job training, counseling, food, housing and other services with a holistic focus.
The hope is to establish a Veteran Resilience and Recovery Center this fall to direct the ongoing veteran support opportunities and begin the multi-year buildout of the 57-acre farm campus in Lincoln to include a mental health therapy facility and a training center along with temporary lodging clusters.
Dovetail can be viewed as a “reverse boot camp,” according to Holmes. Just as military boot camp prepares new recruits for military life, this reverse boot camp helps now-veteran soldiers make a smooth return to civilian life.
But more than that, Dovetail Landing is like a Recovery Zone, Holmes added. Just like in combat “we don’t leave a warrior behind, We bring them home.”
Dovetail has expanded since its founding, Alana Centilli said.
“We came out of the gate as hard as we could go, trying to do so many things,” she said.
Since bringing Holmes, a veteran of combat operations in Afghanistan and the Global War on Terror, in as executive director in late April 2024, there has been a shift in focus.
“It’s been such a good thing,” Centilli said of Holmes’ addition. “We started veteran support services. Previously, we had just been so focused on the construction. We’re still doing that. But we are actively helping veterans.”
There are estimates that between 44 and 72 percent of veterans are struggling with physical, mental and emotional issues during their transition back to civilian life.
The Dovetail expansion was driven by an increase in public, private and corporate support. Major contributors have been the City of Lincoln, Honda, Alabama Power, Norfolk-Southern Railroad, the Noble Foundation and the State of Alabama, including a line item in the state budget and a grant from the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs.
“We’re getting a lot of support, Holmes said. “The more people hear about us the more they want to know about what we’re doing.”
But Holmes says, support is a two-way street. Dovetail’s message to corporations and public and private donors? “We’re not just coming with our hand out,” he says. “We want to know what we can do to make your corporation better because if you’ve got veterans employed there, then we want to be available to your company, to your veterans if you have any kind of need.”
Immediate help for vets is today’s priority.
“In my mind what was missing was we really had not gotten strategically where we wanted to be in terms of supporting veterans today,” Holmes said.
He added, “We’re going to need the buildings. We’re going to need the infrastructure. But quite frankly, more important are the people we want to serve and their families.”
Dovetail Landing has begun what Holmes calls “veteran support opportunities.”
One of those opportunities is with Central Alabama Community College and its Skills for Success program. There are currently three certificate programs open to vets, including hands on heavy equipment training and land surveying.
Dovetail has opened therapy to help veterans, which involves outdoor recreation (fishing) and music and art therapies to help veterans and family members who may find themselves in a dark place. All of Dovetail’s resources were on display on Fall Festival weekend, including the Veterans Administration-certified arts therapy program led by the Aspen, Colorado-based Challenge America.
The festival also highlighted Dovetail Landing’s programs for the community, corporations and businesses and for potential donors.
Holmes shared the story of one veteran who found himself hounded and haunted by the black dog of suicidal depression. Fishing saved him, giving the vet the clarity and sanity to be able to return to his family and drive thoughts of suicide out of his mind.
“When we hear stories like that,” Holmes said, “we know we’re on the right track.”
To be clear, these initiatives are for family members as well.
“This is not about the veteran alone,” Holmes said. “Most veterans, myself included, when we put on the uniform and we serve, our families are part of that.
“As veterans want to enter into recovery or into a growth experience, we also want to make that available to families. It’s important not to leave families behind,” Holmes said.
For Centilli, what began as a dream is becoming a reality.
“When all of this started, I envisioned a place where Daniel could have healed and just lived his life,” she said. “We knew he was never going to be on his own. He was never going to get married, would never have children … Seeing where we’ve come and how this has evolved and seeing the passion and the fire of the veterans when we talk about this, or they see what’s happening, it’s what we needed. It’s such a wonderful thing. This is going to help so many people.
“I just want to make sure people understand how important a resource like Dovetail Landing is for veterans and their families and why it is so needed,” she said.
The veteran support opportunities have exceeded expectations.
“We kept thinking we have to get this stuff built before we can help anybody,” she said. “We’ve changed that around and Gen. Holmes has helped us with that.”
She added, “The brick and mortar is going to come. But we are helping veterans today. I think it’s a win.”
That immediate help for veterans is important, Holmes said. The facilities follow.
“We’ve got to help veterans today if we’re going to have any credibility in continuing to ask for money to build buildings,” he said.
“When we go back to our mission: Veterans. Their families. It’s people, not buildings.”
Editor’s Note: For more information or to donate, visit dovetaillanding.com, or call (205) 907-7602.
