Veterans Getting Weekend Of R & R In Chicago, Courtesy Of Wounded Warrior Project

(CBS) -- The Wounded Warrior Project is hosting 33 veterans and their families -- a total of 77 people -- and providing them an all-expenses-paid weekend of recreation here in Chicago.

The veterans, all from the Midwest and Great Lakes area, spent Thursday at the South Shore Cultural Center for a day of outdoor yoga and paddle-boarding.

One of the veterans is 29-year-old Joe Baker, a Marine from Detroit.  He was injured by rocket fire in 2007 in Afghanistan, and one leg is paralyzed from the knee down.

"Here, everybody has been injured in some way, shape or form. So it's a lot easier to open up about your injuries. You don't usually lead off with that -- you don't want to -- but you end up talking about it because you want to know what that person did in their service so you can relate to them," Baker tells WBBM's Steve Miller.

Baker adds: "And then down the line, you start talking about, 'Well, how'd you get here?  How'd you get into the Wounded Warrior program?' And everybody starts to open up about that.  It's kind of cool. It makes you feel like you're not alone."

Friday, the Wounded Warriors will go to Burnham Harbor for sailing.

On Saturday, they'll be at the Chicago Air & Water Show.