Boots for the Brave

THE EXPERIENCE

Our annual Boots for the Brave events are a chance for us to honor a select group of wounded veterans during an incredible 5-day experience. Each year, Ferris and Loralee partner with Lucchese Bootmaker, the nation’s premier handcrafted and American-made bootmaker, and NetJets, a world-class private aviation carrier, to provide a unique and immersive experience for some of our nation’s heroes. Ferris and Loralee select the veterans — all servicemen and women who have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan and have suffered lower-limb injuries, resulting in amputation or paralysis — Lucchese handles all aspects of the bootmaking process and NetJets provides transportation to and from the Lucchese plant.

The events begin with the veterans arriving at San Rafael Ranch for an extended weekend of hunting, recreation, camaraderie, relaxation, and lots of good southern food. The memories and lifelong relationships created in the hunting blinds and around the fire pits are priceless. Then, the veterans are flown (via NetJets) to El Paso to have an exclusive meeting, design consultation and fitting with the expertly skilled Lucchese team. In this experience, they’re able to design a handcrafted custom boot to fit their exact preferences and functional needs, ensuring they ultimately get a completely personalized boot to fit their unique prosthetic. They’re then flown back to San Rafael to top the weekend off with more great food, great experiences, and even better memories.

“These boots are giving the veterans back a sense of identity in a way. I know, from personal experience, how regaining small freedoms like this can truly empower a person’s soul. It may seem like a pair of boots to the casual observer, but to us, it is an extension of our new bodies – an extension that is no longer defined by physical constraints.” – CPT Ferris W. Butler, USA (Ret.)