MANCHESTER — In 2008, Army Pfc. Steve Frye was in the lead vehicle in Iraq when a roadside bomb blew up.

He suffered a traumatic brain injury, bruising the section of his brain that controls his walking balance and short-term memory.

Last October, Frye and his service dog, Charlie Zino, went to a camp in Pittsburg set up to help wounded vets.

“I was able to sleep comfortably and not have to worry about someone attacking me,” Frye said during an interview at the American Legion convention Saturday at the Center of New Hampshire.

Today, Frye wraps up his second stay at the privately funded camp — where he can swim and fish, kayak and hunt — and talk with fellow military veterans.

“You’re with other veterans, so you have that security and peace,” said Frye, 27, who lives in Newport, R.I.

“It’s nice having that kind of unity.”

Change of plans

The camp’s founder, Jon Worrall of Brentwood, turned his planned retirement home into a camp for wounded veterans needing solitude and camaraderie.

“We need to get the word out to help these kids,” said Worrall, who suffered a traumatic brain injury while serving in Iraq.

Worrall, 57, a retired sergeant first class in the Army, said nine men last year attended the camp — Wounded Warriors at 45 North, a nod to its latitudinal proximity — and hopes to host about 30 this year.

Spread the word

He hoped the convention would let people know about the camp and get financial assistance from various Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts — and some names for possible camp visitors.

“We’re not picky about what war,” he said.

About 20 people at the convention mentioned they knew of people who might like to enjoy the camp, he said. A few people donated cash.

Assisting Worrall is Jerry Goeden, a retired master chief who lost both hips and part of his back in Vietnam.

Out of pocket

The pair use their own money to feed their visitors and keep up the camp.

“We’d like to turn this into a year-long operation where we could do some snowmobiling and deer hunting,” said Goeden, who lives in Pittsburg.

He thinks the camp’s small size helps with the healing. “Cook a meal and sit around a campfire and share some stories,” he said.

Worrall said he built the camp not long before he shipped out to Iraq. When he came back, Goeden couldn’t hold a hammer.

“Everything in this world happens for a reason,” he said.