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Valhalla Project aims to help soldiers

YELLVILLE, Ark. — When Gordon Cucullu and Chris Fontana look across the southern-facing slope on their 200 acres outside Yellville, they see a place that will help soldiers transition from combat to civilian life.

Their vision, called the Valhalla Project, is to provide a working and recreational retreat for post-9/11 combat soldiers and war zone civilian workers.

“The purpose and mission is to offer a transition back to stateside military, or if they are leaving service, to get back into civilian life,” said Cucullu, president of the project and retired lieutenant colonel with the U.S. Army Special Forces.

Cucullu and his wife, Fontana, immediately were drawn to the Ozarks’ natural beauty and the veteran-friendly attitude of its residents, and bought the property this summer.

Plans are for Valhalla to open this spring, and the couple sees it as a model for similar transitioning retreats across the country.

Places such as this will meet a great need, they said.

Cucullu, who fought in the Vietnam War, said the current war is different due to its length and multiplicity of combat tours.

“Your personal, most intense reality becomes combat,” Cucullu said. “When you come back, this seems to be artificial.”

He remembers feeling angry, impatient and constantly on guard.

Soldiers still can be stressed about the experience, even if they do not have post-traumatic stress disorder. And some come back to find they no longer have a job, or a spouse, he said.

The Valhalla Project received its name from Norse mythology. Built by Odin, Valhalla is a place for heroic warriors who died in battle.

Eventually, the property will be self-sustaining for up to 50 occupants, who may stay anywhere from a long weekend to a few months — and always are welcome back. Price of admission is four hours of work a day. Recreational activities will include hiking, camping, hunting and fishing.

Future plans include raised vegetable beds, fruit bushes and trees, livestock and other farm animals. Cabins and barns will be built on the property, along with campgrounds and a network of nature trails.

The idea began with Fontana, who is the project’s treasurer. As a youth, she had attended a special boarding school that required self-sufficiency — if you wanted hot water, you chopped your own wood.

“I never quite forgot that,” Fontana said. “That environment was so important. It was a sense of home I didn’t have previously.”

That feeling came back to her when she went to a war zone in Afghanistan, as a civilian, for research on the book “Warrior Police: Rolling with America’s Military Police in the World’s Trouble Spots,” which she co-authored with Cucullu.

“Self-reliance is the opposite of dependence,” Fontana said. “We want to emphasize to them that you’re able to take care of yourself and your family. We’re living the reality of that.”

The couple also sees Valhalla as a place where soldiers can translate their military experience into valuable skills for employers. It also will provide a place for the community and soldiers to interact with each other and provide opportunities for soldiers to learn new skills or gain an apprenticeship.

When Valhalla opens, combat soldiers and war zone civilian workers will apply online, and their applications will be reviewed by a screening committee of senior commissioned and noncommissioned officers, Cucullu said.

Among the project’s critical needs is a propane tank, a 14KW generator, a culvert for a creek that crosses the driveway, exterior painting and a fence. Additional needs are listed on the project’s website and volunteer laborers are welcomed.

The Valhalla Project’s application for nonprofit status currently is being processed by the Internal Revenue Service, they said.

Most importantly, Valhalla will offer a permanency, and those who stay always are welcome back.

“They’ll always have a piece of them here, and they’ll carry a little bit of Valhalla away with them,” Cucullu said.