Windmill 12, a free recovery center for veterans and their families, opened on Veterans Day inside a renovated red barn in rural Odessa, Florida. The man behind it is Clark Ricke, a 78-year-old Vietnam veteran and former Army Ranger who spent decades losing a private war with alcohol before he finally won it. He and his wife, Tricia, cut the ribbon on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026.
The story has traveled fast since FOX 13 Tampa Bay reported it, and it deserves the attention. It also deserves a closer look. The headline version skips the most useful part: what Windmill 12 actually does, who it is built for, and where it fits beside the clinical care the VA provides. Stucci Media went through the nonprofit’s own materials, state records and federal data to fill that in.
Windmill 12 at a Glance
| Detail | What we confirmed |
|---|---|
| Legal name | The Windmill 12, Inc., a Florida not-for-profit and 501(c)(3) |
| Founders | Clark Ricke and Tricia Ricke |
| Grand opening | Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2026 |
| Location | 11108 Tarpon Springs Road, Odessa, FL 33556 |
| Campus | 3.5 donated acres, two buildings, 9,500 square feet |
| Cost | Free to veterans and families |
| Model | Peer-to-peer, 12-step recovery groups and family workshops |
| Contact | thewindmill12.org, info@thewindmill12.org |
One note for readers searching from out of state: this is Odessa, Florida, a horse-country community on the Hillsborough and Pasco county line. It is not Odessa, Texas, which held its own Veterans Day events the same week.
Who Is Clark Ricke, the Ranger Behind Windmill 12?
Ricke served in Vietnam with the 75th Ranger Regiment lineage, working on six-man long-range reconnaissance teams, according to FOX 13. The job was to slip into the jungle for five or six days at a stretch, watch and report, then come back to base for two days before going out again. The teams carried a topographical map, a compass and a radio.
That kind of work has a specific place in Army history. In early 1969, the Army folded its long-range patrol companies in Vietnam into the 75th Infantry (Ranger), the lineage today’s 75th Ranger Regiment carries. Small teams operated far from friendly lines, usually outnumbered, with a mission built on staying unseen. Ricke told the station that getting dropped in and getting pulled out were the most dangerous moments of any patrol.
He also carries a Recondo tattoo. Recondo was the name of the reconnaissance school that Military Assistance Command, Vietnam ran at Nha Trang from 1966 to 1970, staffed by Army Special Forces. FOX 13 reported that Ricke has had 15 surgeries tied to his service and is a disabled veteran.
Then there is the trip home. Ricke was 21. He left the war zone on a Thursday and was in Pittsburgh by Saturday night. No unit homecoming, no weeks at sea to decompress, no one asking how he was doing. That was the standard exit for the Vietnam generation, and it explains a lot about what came next for many of them.
A note on spelling: some coverage renders his first name as Clarke. Florida corporate records for the nonprofit list him as Clark Ricke, and that is the spelling used here.
From Rock Bottom to 41 Years Sober
Ricke has been open about what he did with the war once he got home. He drank. For decades, alcohol was how he kept the memories quiet, and by his own account it worked until it stopped working. It cost him a marriage and took him to the bottom before he walked into a 12-step program.
He says he has not had a drink in 41 years. That puts his sobriety date around 1985, more than 15 years after he came home. Fifteen years is a long time to carry something alone, and it is the gap Windmill 12 is meant to shorten for the next veteran.
The push to build something came into focus on a trip to Washington. Ricke joined roughly 70 other veterans on a flight with Honor Flight of West Central Florida, the all-volunteer nonprofit that has been flying Tampa Bay veterans to their memorials since 2010 and recently carried its 4,000th veteran. He came back convinced he owed something.
“I have to give it back,” Ricke told FOX 13.
Tricia Ricke, who co-founded the center, told the station she expects it to change a lot of lives. Her reasoning is simple and worth repeating: the more openly her husband talks about what he went through, the easier it gets for the veteran sitting across from him to do the same.
What Windmill 12 Offers, and What It Does Not
This is the part most coverage skipped. Windmill 12 has been described as a PTSD treatment facility, and in everyday language that is fair. In clinical language it is something different, and veterans and families should know the difference before they drive out.
According to the center’s own website, Windmill 12 is a peer-to-peer program. It hosts veteran groups and self-help recovery groups, mostly 12-step fellowships, along with family workshops. It has no certified therapists or doctors on staff. It does not offer overnight stays. Everything is free, though groups using the space can make a small donation if they choose.
That is not a knock. It is the point. A veteran who will never make an appointment at a clinic will often sit in a folding chair next to another veteran. Peer support is where a lot of recovery starts, and for alcohol and substance problems the 12-step room has a track record that spans generations.
It does mean Windmill 12 is a front door, not the whole house. A veteran who needs a diagnosis, medication or trauma-focused therapy still needs a licensed provider. The two work together. Nothing about a Wednesday night meeting in a barn conflicts with a Thursday morning appointment at the VA.
The weekly schedule at Windmill 12
The calendar posted on the center’s site already shows meetings seven days a week.
| Day | Time | Meeting |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 7 p.m. | AA, “How Bill Sees It,” and Al-Anon, “Serenity at Sunset” |
| Wednesday | 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. | AA, “Step Into Action,” and AA, “Fireside Meeting” |
| Thursday | 7 p.m. | AA, “Wellspring @ Windmill 12” |
| Friday | 7 p.m. | AA, “Cardinal Group” |
| Saturday | 10:30 a.m. | AA, “Beginners Meeting” |
| Sunday | 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. | AA, “Sunday Morning 12 & 12,” and AA, “Odessa Group” |
Schedules change, so check the site before making the trip. The campus has three named gathering spaces, the Harvest Room, the Mill Room and an outdoor Horizon firepit area, and outside organizations can apply to use them if their work lines up with the mission.
Why Windmill 12 Puts Families at the Center
The second thing that sets Windmill 12 apart is who it counts as a client. The center says recovery works best as a family unit, so spouses, children and loved ones are written into the program from the start. An Al-Anon meeting runs at the same hour as an AA meeting on Mondays. Family workshops come with childcare, which removes the most common reason a parent stays home.
The website argues that the VA has no program dedicated to the family unit in PTSD recovery. That claim needs context. The VA does list family therapy among its PTSD services, and its community Vet Centers offer couples and family counseling. What is true is that plenty of military families feel like an afterthought in the system. A place designed around them from day one is unusual.
Anyone who has lived with a veteran in a bad stretch understands why this matters. PTSD and addiction do not stay inside one person. The spouse who stops sleeping and the kid who learns to read a mood from the driveway are carrying it too.
The Numbers Behind the Need
The federal data explains why a 78-year-old would spend his retirement renovating a barn.
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Veterans who will have PTSD at some point in life | 7 in 100 | VA National Center for PTSD |
| Male veterans in VA care diagnosed with PTSD, fiscal 2024 | 14 in 100 | VA National Center for PTSD |
| Female veterans in VA care diagnosed with PTSD, fiscal 2024 | 24 in 100 | VA National Center for PTSD |
| Veteran suicides in 2024 | 6,488 | VA annual suicide prevention report |
| Average veteran suicides per day in 2024 | 17.7 | VA annual suicide prevention report |
| Share of those veterans not in VA health care | 62 percent | VA annual suicide prevention report |
The VA’s National Center for PTSD notes that older research points to higher rates among Vietnam veterans than among veterans overall. The landmark readjustment study of that generation estimated that about 30 of every 100 had PTSD at some point in their lives.
The last row of that table is the one to sit with. According to the VA’s most recent annual report, 62 percent of the veterans who died by suicide in 2024 were not receiving VA health care. The VA can be excellent and still never see them. Somebody has to meet those veterans where they already are.
Windmill 12 also cites a VA figure that roughly one in five veterans with PTSD struggles with a substance use disorder as well. Ricke’s own story is that statistic with a name on it.
How Windmill 12 Is Funded
State records show The Windmill 12, Inc. was incorporated as a Florida not-for-profit on Nov. 28, 2023, with Clark and Tricia Ricke listed as officers. The center’s site says renovation began in 2024, federal and state nonprofit certification followed in 2025, and the grand opening capped a three-year build.
The property itself was donated, according to the organization. Operations run on contributions, and the site spells out what each gift covers.
| Gift | What Windmill 12 says it funds |
|---|---|
| $25 | Materials for one veteran’s weekly sessions for a month |
| $50 | One family workshop session, including childcare and materials |
| $100 | One veteran’s full program enrollment for a month |
| $250 | A full week of operating costs for community programming |
The organization says 100 percent of donated funds go to programs, people and the center’s future. Donations by mail go to The Windmill 12, PO Box 943, Odessa, FL 33556. As with any new charity, donors can check the group’s federal tax-exempt status with the IRS before giving.
What We Still Don’t Know
Windmill 12 is days old, and several questions are open. As of Nov. 14, 2026, Stucci Media could not find public answers to the following:
- Who donated the 3.5-acre property.
- The center’s annual budget, since a nonprofit this new has little financial history on file.
- How many veterans and families it expects to serve in its first year.
- Whether it plans to bring in licensed clinicians or formal referral partners down the road.
We will update this story as the organization shares more.
Why Windmill 12 Matters Beyond Odessa
The easy read on this story is that it is a nice Veterans Day feature. It is that. It is also a working model that other communities can copy without a federal grant or a medical license.
Strip it down and Windmill 12 is three things: a donated building, a proven peer format, and a founder with the credibility to get a skeptical veteran through the door. Ricke is not asking anyone to trust a brochure. He is a Ranger with 15 surgeries and 41 years of sobriety telling other veterans the truth about what the drinking was for.
There is a generational piece as well. Vietnam veterans came home to a country that did not want to hear it. Our look at why Veterans Day falls on Nov. 11 covers how that recognition evolved.
Men like Ricke are now in their late 70s. They are using the time they have to make sure younger veterans do not wait 15 years.
Washington has its role. Congress is still working through benefits questions like the veterans COLA bill, and oversight gaps like unfilled VA advisory committee seats have real consequences. But the last mile of veteran care has always been local. It looks like a barn, a pot of coffee and somebody who has been there.
How to Get Help or Get Involved
If you are a veteran in crisis, or worried about one: call 988 and press 1 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line, or text 838255. It is free, confidential and staffed around the clock.
For Windmill 12: the center is at 11108 Tarpon Springs Road, Odessa, FL 33556. The meeting calendar, a facility request form and donation details are at thewindmill12.org, and the listed email is info@thewindmill12.org.
For clinical care: the VA says it runs nearly 200 PTSD treatment programs nationwide, and combat veterans can get free, private counseling at about 300 community Vet Centers. It is never too late to start, whether you have been home for a month or 40 years.
Veterans sorting out benefits can also read our guide to the VGLI premium holiday, and you can find more Veterans coverage from Stucci Media on our Veterans page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Windmill 12?
Windmill 12 is a free, nonprofit recovery center for veterans and their families in Odessa, Florida. It hosts peer-led 12-step meetings, veteran groups and family workshops in a renovated barn on a 3.5-acre campus. It opened on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2026.
Is Windmill 12 a licensed PTSD treatment facility?
Not in the clinical sense. The center describes itself as peer-to-peer, with no certified therapists or doctors on staff and no overnight stays. Veterans who need a diagnosis, medication or trauma-focused therapy should also connect with the VA or a licensed provider.
How much does Windmill 12 cost?
Nothing. All programs and services are free to veterans and family members. Groups that use the space may make a small donation, but the center says none is required.
Who founded Windmill 12?
Clark Ricke, a 78-year-old Vietnam veteran who served on Army Ranger long-range reconnaissance teams, founded it with his wife, Tricia. Ricke says a 12-step program helped him stop drinking 41 years ago, and the center is built on that model.
Where is Windmill 12 located?
The center is at 11108 Tarpon Springs Road, Odessa, FL 33556, northwest of Tampa. This is Odessa, Florida, not Odessa, Texas.
Can family members attend Windmill 12 programs?
Yes. Spouses, children and loved ones are part of the model. The schedule includes Al-Anon meetings, and family workshop sessions come with childcare.
Sources
- FOX 13 Tampa Bay, “Vietnam Army Ranger opens free PTSD treatment facility for veterans in Odessa,” Nov. 11, 2026
- The Windmill 12, Inc., thewindmill12.org, accessed Nov. 14, 2026
- Florida Division of Corporations, entity record for The Windmill 12, Inc.
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for PTSD, “How Common Is PTSD in Veterans?”
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2026 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, as summarized by The American Legion, Oct. 5, 2026
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “PTSD treatment,” va.gov
- Honor Flight of West Central Florida, honorflightwcf.org
Rocci J. Stucci is the founder and CEO of Stucci Media and host of The Rocci Stucci Show. We build legacies, not campaigns.
