by: Jocelyn Fiset
Posted: Apr 17, 2026 / 01:57 PM PDT
Updated: Apr 17, 2026 / 01:57 PM PDT
A group of veterans learned how to “hang ten” at Manhattan Beach on Friday morning. These wounded warriors got a surfing lesson, riding the waves thanks to a program from the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation.
It took a few tries, but the surfcats in training didn’t give up and, eventually, started to get the hang of it.
“Our ocean therapy program essentially brings together these veterans to experience something together and build camaraderie and a sense of community,” said Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation’s Andy Dellenbach.
“It’s taught me to get back up, no matter what life throws at you,” said U.S. Army veteran Julio Villanueva. “You just want to keep getting back up on that board.”
The Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation developed ocean therapy sessions like this one for the Wounded Warriors Project to help members of the military combat depression and feelings of isolation.
All therapy sessions are led by a licensed or associate therapists or clinicians who guide pre and post surfing talk circles around a theme for the day, according to the JMMF website.
Their certified surf instructors are CPR trained and safety coordinators are lifeguards with a long history of “watching the water.”
JMMF said the foundation aims to “meet them where they are at and provide the safe space to allow our participants to process and heal at their own pace.”
JMMF’s Ocean Therapy Program makes up about half of all the sessions the foundation conducts each year. Sessions are offered from San Diego to Los Angeles, Ventura and all the way to Oregon, with recently-established satellite operations in Hawaii.
The Jimmy Miller Foundation honors the life of a man who was drawn to the ocean after moving to Manhattan Beach in 1976. An avid surfer, Miller served as a Los Angeles County Lifeguard for 15 years and worked with children in the Junior Lifeguard Program. He taught the young and old alike to surf through Camp Surf.
A 2004 shoulder injury kept Miller out of the water which, along with an impending divorce and undiagnosed mental illness, tragically led him to take his own life in August 2004. His passing led the Miller family to create the foundation in his honor, and it has developed into one of the leading Ocean/Surf Therapy organization in the world today.
You can learn more about ocean therapy on the Jimmy Miler Foundation’s website here.
