COVINGTON, LA — Vietnam veteran Ed Lewis rattles a loop of keys to find the right one for his Camp NORA in the Covington area. With nine bedrooms, multiple storage closets and entrances on more than one side, there are a lot of doors — and keys.
Each key opens a door to opportunity. Camp NORA stands for “No One Rides Alone.” Lewis uses the bedrooms to put a roof over homeless veterans’ heads. The building also has rooms stocked with clothing, toiletries and computers.
“Help them get over that hump, get their confidence back, their self reliance, their belief in themselves,” Lewis says of the help he provides for vets. “I’ve had them as young as 26 and as old as 62.”
Camp NORA isn’t Lewis’ only effort to help veterans. He also founded the group Ride of the Brotherhood which makes trips to Vietnam to search for the remains of missing Americans.
So what motivated Lewis to begin his work for veterans? The story begins with a motorcycle crash that nearly killed him. For more on that, click on the video at the top of this page!
