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Marine Corps Veteran Chuck Lear was an archer for Team USA in Beijing and Athens.
As the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games opened in Paris last week, former Team USA archer Chuck Lear spent the day volunteering his time assisting Veterans in need at Veterans Community Project (VCP).
But in between appointments, he was quick to rattle of the names of current Team USA members who inspire him – Tatyana McFadden and Eric Bennett, to name a couple. He’s excited to watch the Games, which are set to be covered on TV and streaming services more broadly than ever before.
“Paralympians don’t quit,” said Lear. “Every single one of them has a legit excuse to, frankly, not do crap. But each chooses to try to excel… and then they do.”
Lear is a two-time Paralympian who represented the United States at Beijing in 2008 and Athens in 2004. Within a decade of taking up the sport using a mouth tab bow, he was a world record-holding athlete (“But only for a day,” he says with a laugh, explaining that the Chinese team broke the record the next day).
These days, Lear dedicates much of his time to helping fellow Veterans access services as a Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Service Officer in Kansas City. That includes biweekly visits to our VCP Outreach Center, where we provide at-risk and in-crisis Veterans with support ranging from food bags to emergency rent assistance. Designed to help prevent Veteran homelessness, our Outreach locations received 3,228 visits from Veterans last year.
Lear applies his “Paralympians don’t quit” attitude to helping Veterans navigate systems that can feel, to say the least, discouraging. He talks about relationships started at the Outreach Center that led to life-changing results – like helping a widow build a legal case to gain access to her rightful survivor benefits; or helping an Air Force Veteran gain benefits by digging up an old doctor appointment slip to prove that they served in Vietnam when government records erroneously said otherwise. “We have a lot of stories like that,” he said.
A Purple Heart recipient who retired from the Marine Corps in 1967 due to wounds suffered in combat in Vietnam, Lear says his work is an expression of gratitude for those who saved his life. He is especially reflective as he spends time with his kids, grandchildren and now great-grandchild.
“I had the opportunity to serve with some of the bravest men on the face of the Earth,” he said. “The two Navy Corpsmen (‘Docs’) who worked on me while being shot at. The Marines who carried me off that hilltop. The helicopter pilot who came in under fire. You owe your life to those who kept you alive.”
That philosophy helps shape how he spends his time – and why he chooses to do so at VCP.
“The VCP program helps homeless Veterans get to self-sufficiency and sustainability,” he said. “If someone is looking for a place to volunteer their time, this is a good place to do it.”
Join Chuck in our mission by volunteering at Veterans Community Project.