Christopher Schemet hadn’t been on his surfboard since before he went to Vietnam almost 60 years ago.

The 75-year-old Navy veteran, who now lives in Jaffrey, woke up last Friday morning and decided it was time to reconnect with his board.

“I didn’t sleep well last night because I’ve got a lot of physical and emotional pain, and so I got up, and said ‘I’m going. Go surf,”’ he said.

Schemet was one of more than 50 veterans and volunteers who took part in the 17th annual Hit the Beach event, sponsored by American Legion Post 35 in Hampton and benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project.

He held up his yellow and blue surfboard as he looked out at the ocean.

“This was my surfboard. I haven’t been on it since 1968. When I was surfing, I was 140 pounds and now I’m 240, but it was good,” he said

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