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"Once you get to Utila, you’ll never want to leave!"
About Island Warriors
Our History:
To enhance the mental health of Combat Veterans, through travel, recreation, and exercise. We will lead our Veterans to a positive social change and deliver value to those affected by depression and PTSD.
Our Mission:
Our Goal:
To help as many military veterans as we can, suffering with PTSD.
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Founder, Arthur Bush, started procedures to develop Island Warriors in early 2019. A year later, his vision was complete. Inspired by a tragic loss of one of his Marine brethren, Bush brought his vision to life to not only create amazing experiences for his fellow veterans, but with an underlying goal to help others, Island Warriors has become a retreat for victims of post traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).
Bush says that, “After losing some off my Marine brothers to PTSD, I came up with the goal to bring fellow veterans to a tropical island, for time away and to enjoy life a little.”
For many years, Bush wanted to create Island Warriors as an outlet for his fellow Marines and veterans from around the country, to come and visit the island where he grew up. Specific to one of his closest friends in the Marines, Bush was trying to make the trip to Utila, inviting one of his friends who he knew was in "bad shape."
Before Bush could succeed with his goal to expose his friend to a whole new world, his friend committed suicide before it could happen. “I don’t want to lose any more of my fellow veterans,” says Bush, “so I started Island Warriors to help us all, in the best way that I can.”
To enhance the mental health of Combat Veterans, through travel, recreation, and exercise. We will lead our Veterans to a positive social change and deliver value to those affected by depression and PTSD.
"Once you get to Utila, you’ll never want to leave!"
Our Founder:
Hailing from the Utila Bay islands of Honduras, Arthur Bush is the middle child of his siblings, growing up with his father and mother and quite a large family surrounding them all, on the Caribbean island of Utila.
Bush later departed the island, and went to high school in Pensacola, FL where he grew interest in the military. He began his military attention seeking out his original interests in joining the Air Force. A reciprocal interest was unavailable however, at the time. Bush then shifted his discussions to Marine recruiters, and a year later, joined the USMC. Bush served in the Marine Corp. from 2004 to 2008.
In his tenure, Bush served our country in three combat tours, with two tours in Iraq, and one on a 22nd MEU. Through his experiences in the Corp. he experienced many of the same rewards as well as challenges that so many of our soldiers face.
“I faced a lot of things, both combat related, and, non-combat related,” says Bush. “I visited a lot of countries and experienced a lot of cultures. I experienced the gamut from good, bad to ugly. And since leaving the military, I've been refocused, and mainly working towards, and trying to do as much as I can for others.”
With his new endeavors intact, Bush has founded his own nonprofit organization, Island Warriors.
I now invite military vets to visit my home Caribbean island,” he says, “and enjoy the same type of life that I did as a kid; to get away from the everyday stress we all endure, to enjoy life in this paradise, to experience adventures that you find exhilarating and inspiring, and overall, just provide an opportunity for our fellow veterans to do things they have may not have ever done before.”
As Island Warriors continues to thrive, Bush continues serving others as he chose to do in the military, and in this case, provide life-long memories and experiences for those that may need the get away, just as much as they want the get away!
As Arthur says it best, “"Once you get to Utila, you’ll never want to leave!"
