BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – In 1991, on the last day of the Gulf War, John “Pic” LoPiccolo went blind.

“I woke up that morning and couldn’t see,” he said.

As a young U.S. Navy sailor, he’d spent the last seven months in the Persian Gulf, wondering if he’d ever get used to seeing Tomahawk missiles flying toward targets in Iraq. But only 100 hours after the ground war began, Operation Desert Storm came to an end. U.S. soldiers and sailors in the region celebrated the victory, but LoPiccolo saw only darkness.

“I lost my vision for nine days,” LoPiccolo, now a fire lieutenant with Brentwood Fire and Rescue, said. “That’s how I found out I was diabetic. They started an insulin drip and flew me out from the USS Ranger aircraft carrier on an S-3 Viking (anti-submarine aircraft).”

More than 30 years later, LoPiccolo still remembers the stress and anxiety he experienced while the rest of the military cheered. Those memories are what motivated him to start his own fishing apparel company, Kane Fishing Gear, with the goal of helping ease some of the trauma experienced by a new generation of wounded veterans.

“I take 20 percent of sales and give it to Operation Tacklebox,” he said. “We provide wounded veterans all the fishing gear they need, and Operation Tacklebox will take them out for four to six hours on a fishing excursion and get them help with their PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). We have to do something because 22 veterans kill themselves a day. We have to bring that number down.”

‘I’ve always found peace on the water’

LoPiccolo grew up near Lake Saint Clair in Michigan, and he spent much of his childhood along the shore with a fishing pole in his hands.

“I’ve always found peace on the water,” he said.

When he turned 18, LoPiccolo joined the U.S. Navy, but that decision wasn’t the result of his youthful fishing adventures. The recent high school graduate came from a long line of seafaring warriors. His grandfather, a Palermo native, served in the Scillian Navy, and his father fought in 26 bouts (winning 25) as a celebrated Navy boxer.

LoPiccolo continued the family tradition, but after almost four years in the Navy, his diabetes-induced blindness suddenly transformed him into a veteran, wondering what to do with a life on dry land. A year after the Gulf War ended, he took a job with the City of Brentwood, and he’s spent 31 years with the city. He loves his job, loves helping people, but the desire to give back to his fellow veterans has always nagged at him.

“I wanted to do something I enjoyed doing, fishing, and something helping other wounded vets that are worse off than I am,” he said.

During the 2020 pandemic, he came up with the idea for Kane – with the “A” in that word being the Greek letter for “Delta.” In mathematics, Delta represents “change,” so the acronym Kane stands for “Keep Changing, No Excuses.” LoPiccolo worked with fellow Brentwood firefighter Caleb Lovett and his wife, Kelli, on designing the brand’s logo, and now Kane Fishing Gear equipment is available to purchase online, at www.kanefishing.com, and at a few Nashville-area marinas.

On Saturday, Nov. 11, the nation will honor all those who served in the military during the country’s observance of Veterans Day, and as the federal holiday approaches, LoPiccolo often thinks back to that morning in the Persian Gulf when he woke up unable to see.

“That’s why I started Kane,” he said. “To help bring some peace to wounded veterans.”