Stop Denying That Military Suicides Are Casualties of War
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- November 12, 2008
CONTACT: Sean Donahue, Communications Director -- 617-983-0710 (w), 978-809-8054 (c), press@mfso.org
MILITARY FAMILIES TO VA:
STOP DENYING THAT MILITARY SUICIDES
ARE CASUALTIES OF WAR!
Nationwide -- Members of Military Families Speak Out are condemning comments by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs suggesting that the dramatic increase in the suicide rate among young veterans is not connected to the war in Iraq. The suicide rate among male veterans under the age of 29 is now twice that of the general population.
In an interview aired Monday November 10th on PBS's NewsHour, Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake said that Veterans' suicides are the result of:
"the same kinds of issues that have to do with suicide in the general population. It is issues of failed relationships, senses of hopelessness, transitions in life, that are at the root cause . . . we're not making a direct correlation with combat."
Specialist Scott Eiswert committed suicide in May after being told by a friend that his unit of the Tennessee National Guard would be returning to Iraq. His widow, Tracy Eiswert, a member of Military Families Speak Out, expressed outrage at Secretary Peake's comments:
"I am not a statistic. We are a military family. We are real people with real experiences as a result of my husband's PTSD and his suicide. He wasn't that way before he went to Iraq, he came back changed."
After returning from a tour of duty in Iraq, Spc. Eiswert had been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by civilian doctors, but the Veterans Administration denied that his condition was the result of his experiences in Iraq. The Veterans Administration reversed that ruling in August. Tracy Eiswert said:
"It took him having to put a gun in his mouth for the military to admit that the changes in my husband were a result of the war. If they had admitted that earlier he might still be alive."
Kevin and Joyce Lucey are members of Military Families Speak Out and the parents of Corporal Jeffrey Lucey, a Marine Corps Reservist who suffered severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of his service in Iraq in 2003. Shortly after being turned away from a Veterans Administration hospital, Corporal Lucey killed himself on June 22, 2004. Kevin Lucey said:
"Secretary Peake's words are the kind of self serving comments that this nation does not need to hear from the Veterans Administration and its leadership. This is why many regard this VA administration to be steeped in disgrace and dishonor when it comes to our loved ones. They feel that they need to explain away, rationalize, justify or minimize - instead of committing their resources, time and efforts to create the best healthcare system on God's earth."
Joyce Lucey also had strong words for Secretary Peake:
"This is dishonorable, disgraceful and shameful behavior from someone who is charged with giving the best of care to our warriors. With this type of message and thinking, Is it any wonder that many of our troops and veterans don't seek help from those who are so callous and uncaring?"
Specialist Joe Hafley, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War and Military Families Speak Out who has had to fight to get treatment for his own Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, agreed. Hafley served in Iraq with the U.S. Army Reserves from 2004-2005, and his brother, a Major with the U.S. Army Reserves is scheduled to deploy to Iraq early next year.
When Hafley returned from Iraq, the Veterans Administration diagnosed him with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and severe depression -- but ruled that none of those conditions were the result of his service in Iraq. He said:
"My treatment at the VA was belittling and frustrating. To have them diagnose me with PTSD and not attribute it to my service in Iraq is a slap in the face. To have them tell me the problems could be the result of failed relationships rather than the result of my experiences in combat makes me feel that as a veteran I have no place at the VA.
"The thing that is most baffling to me is this 800 pound gorilla in the room not being addressed. Why are we feeling hopeless? Why do we have failed relationships? The common denominator is we all served in Iraq. Maybe my feeling of hopelessness is that I served my country with honor and I am still trying to figure out for what reason? For what just cause?
"Secretary Peake, it doesn't matter how many additional mental health workers you hire if you as the person at the top still feel we are just losers that failed to adjust or that we entered our military service unfit. No amount of false support will help us
Stop Denying That Military Suicides Are Casualties of War
Friday, November 14, 2008
Stop Denying That Military Suicides Are Casualties of War
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Cluster Bomb 'Soon To Be Thing of The Past'
Cluster Bomb 'Soon To Be Thing of The Past'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7724738.stm
{There are two video's about cluster bombs at the site page, visit and view!!}
Angus Crawford shows how the cluster munitions are disposed of
On 3 December, more than 100 countries, including the UK, will sign a treaty banning cluster bombs.
As a result Britain, by law, will have to destroy more than 30 million explosives.
The UK does not have the facilities, so they are being exported to Germany for disposal.
"I feel good to work for a good thing in the world and for peace," says Jorg Fiegert, production manager for Nammo Demil.
It runs a site in Pinnow in Germany which destroys munitions.
Over the next five years its work will include taking apart bomblets from British cluster munitions.
"It can punch through armour," Jorg explains as he holds up a British bomblet.
It is only the size of an egg cup, and came from the MLRS, the Multiple Launch Rocket System.
Each one has six rockets, and within each rocket are 644 bomblets. They are designed to split open in the air and spread small bomblets over a wide area.
How cluster bomb warheads can be recycled
Cluster bombs have been used in countries including Cambodia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Lebanon, and were used in the conflict in Lebanon in 2006.
Those who ratify the convention in December will then have eight years to get rid of their stockpiles of the weapons.
The UK government had already begun getting rid of its stocks by shipping them to Germany and elsewhere.
Nammo has a contract with the UK Ministry of Defence to destroy 28 million of these bomblets, and there are another 3.5 million in other systems to be disposed of.
"In principle everything except the explosive can be recycled," explains Ola Pikner, Nammo's vice president of marketing.
Whole weapons enter the factory, but raw materials for civilian use leave it.
He shows me how the MLRS rocket is split open.
The bomblets are extracted, the fuses are cut off and the copper inners are removed.
The explosive is then burnt off using red hot plasma.
The bombs have been used in Cambodia, Lebanon and Kosovo
The copper, aluminium and other metals are sold for scrap. The packaging for the bomblets is burnt for heating.
This will take up to 40% of their work for the next five years.
"There is huge potential", says Ola Pikner, "but the number of cluster munitions from each country is not known."
Campaigners believe there may be as many as a billion of them across Europe.
But the world's biggest users - Israel and the USA - will not sign this treaty.
Nor, it's thought, will China, Russia, India and Pakistan.
But Thomas Nash from the Cluster Munition Coalition remains undaunted by this.
"What you are going to see is a comprehensive stigmatisation of the weapon," he says.
"Countries that don't sign up won't be able to use this weapon on operations with those that do.
"You're going to see this weapon becoming a thing of the past."
=BBC Cluster bombs a thing of the past
Obama supports advance funding for VA
Obama supports advance funding for VA
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Nov 12, 2008 16:48:01 EST
President-elect Barack Obama promised days before the Nov. 4 election that his administration would support the idea of approving veterans’ funding one year in advance in an effort to avoid disruptions in critical programs.
His pledge, made in an Oct. 28 letter to the American Federation of Government Employees, puts him on record as supporting what a coalition of veterans organizations sees as the answer to a perennial problem: funding for veterans programs that comes in fits and starts — and, in the process, diminishing the quality of health care.
“First and foremost, the way our nation provides funding for VA health care must be reformed,” Obama says in the letter. “My administration will recommend passage of advance appropriation legislation for the [fiscal] 2010 appropriations cycle, instead of yearly continuing resolutions that lead to delays in hiring and facility construction. I will also work to fully fund veterans care.”
Nine veterans’ groups, united in what they call the Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform, have been calling for reform because only twice in the last 14 years — and only three times in the last 20 — has the Veterans Affairs Department budget been approved by the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1. This has been one of the years when the budget passed on time.
The nine groups proposed that Congress pass a budget for veterans programs a full year ahead of time, which would mean that in 2009 lawmakers would need to pass both a fiscal 2010 budget and a fiscal 2011 budget. Obama’s letter indicates support for that idea.
Delayed budgets hurt veterans because they make it harder for VA to plan capital improvements and buy major medical equipment, and also delays hiring, said Joseph Violante, national legislative director of Disabled American Veterans.
Another benefit to advanced funding is that veterans programs would get a first slice of the federal budget, without having to directly compete with other federal programs, Violante said.
The day after his election, Obama pledged as president to fully fund VA and establish a “world-class VA planning division” so that future budgets were more accurate, according to a transition agenda that was briefly placed on the president-elect’s transition Web site. The transition agenda has since been removed.
Staff writer Rebecca K. Neal contributed to this report.
Letter to President Obama and New VA Secretary
We do not yet know who President Obama will nominate for this very important Cabinet position. Many in the veteran community are hoping it will be Tammy Duckworth, currently Illinois Veterans Affairs Director we feel she is attuned to the problems that all veterans are currently dealing with in trying to obtain their promised benefits.
She is a disabled Iraq War veteran who does not just advocate for the "new veterans" she advocates for all veterans, Desert Storm or Gulf War One whichever name you prefer, Vietnam era veterans, Korean War veterans and WW2 veterans and peacetime veterans, she represents them all equally.
I will be asking her or whomever it is that President Obama selects as the new VA Secretary to correct an injustice that has been allowed to continue for more than fifty years, the ignored and abused veterans of the Cold War human experiments, my blog named Military experiment veterans 1941-now deals with the various programs known as MKULTRA, Operation WhiteCoat, Operation SHAD, Project 112, Dugway Proving Grounds (sheep kill 1966) Edgewood Arsenal - chemical weapons and drug experiments using 254 different substances, Fort Greely Alaska, and other experiments spread across military bases in the US and around the world.
Many of these experiments were done without the full "informed consent" of the men involved in them, in some cases consent was obtained but the "volunteers" were not told the full circumstances nor the long term health consequences as they were not known. In other cases many of the men used were not even told they were being used in experiments as in Operation Shad.
These veterans are in many cases disabled from the long term affects of the exposures, yet due to classified data, they can NOT prove the links needed to obtain medical and financial compensation. The Department of Defense has been notorious in writing the parameters for the health studies done by the National Academies of Science (NAS) thru the Institute of Medicine (IOM) by ignoring previous health studies showing the known long term health problems caused by low level exposures.
These two studies show many medical problems caused by low level exposures, yet DR William Page of the IOM ignored these for the medical studies paid for by DOD, the first is a January 1, 1994 National Institute of Health (NIH) study on chemical weapons Toxicity of the Organophosphate Chemical Warfare Agents GA, GB, and VX: Implications for Public Protection the second study is based on German soldiers from WW2 that were cared for and treated by DR Karl Heinz Lohs the suthor of this study Delayed Toxic Effects of Chemical Warfare Agents from page 40 the known medical problems:
To conclude this section, the closing observations from Spiegelberg’s monograph
will be cited (these remarks do not refer exclusively to organophosphorus
CW agents) [2]:
A psychiatric delayed-effect syndrome was found as a result of systematic investigations
on former members of CW production and testing stations for the Wehrmacht. In
terms of frequency, two groups of symptoms can be distinguished–each consisting of
four separate symptoms or signs.
(1) The great majority of persons examined showed:
(a) persistently lowered vitality accompanied by marked diminution in drive;
(b) defective autonomic regulation leading to cephalalgia, gastrointestinal and
cardiovascular symptoms, and premature decline in libido and potency;
(c) intolerance symptoms (alcohol, nicotine, medicines);
(d) impression of premature aging.
(2) Further, one or more symptoms of the second group were found:
(a) depressive or subdepressive disorders of vital functions;
(b) cerebral vegetative (syncopal) attacks;
(c) slight or moderate amnestic and demential defects;
(d) slight organoneurological defects (predominantly microsymptoms and singular
signs of extrapyramidal character).
Our results are a contribution to the general question of psychopathological delayed
and permanent lesions caused by industrial poisoning. On the basis of our studies of
the etiologically different manifestations of toxication, the possibility of a relatively
uniform–though equally unspecific–cerebro-organic delayed effect syndrome is conceivable
We veterans of the test programs are not asking for the government to expose classified material to support our compensation claims, we are just asking that after more than 30 years of being lied to, lied about, being denied that the tests even took place, that we be given the "benefit of the doubt" and if we have any of these medical problems that we be awarded our compensation claims and be financially compensated and be given the medical care that we are entitled to regardless of our income levels, we are not charity cases asking for help, we are veterans that were harmed by exposures in human experiments that would be today under any circumstances illegal, they violated the Nuremberg Codes of 1947, and today they violate laws passed by President Gerald Ford and President Jimmy Carter after the human experiments of Edgewood Arsenal became public knowledge in 1975, after the Army publicly released the Department of the Army Inspector General Report of 1975 on Human Experimentation.
These men are caught in a Catch 22 they have been told they would receive the Soldiers Medal for volunteering for these experiments due to the nature of dealing with chemical wepaons and some of the drugs they were exposed to, the Army broke the promise and did not award the medals, when asked for now, they are told what they did was not "heroic" and was not "above and beyond the call of duty" yet many of the Army's top doctors have plainly stated that without these men many of the equipment used on todays battlefield to protect the soldiers from chemical weapons would not be possible.
LTC Bernard G. Elfert, retired of Florida was assigned duty at the facility. He recalls, "Clinical and other testing was conducted to determine the effects of various agents on humans. The testing programs were highly classified. I am unaware as to the current security classifications of the toxic chemicals and phychochemicals employed there, so I cannot specify their designations, the agents involved or regimens. However, I have heard that since then most agents tested have been outlawed for military use."
Elfert says, "In the absence of volunteer participation the various chemical agents could not have been tested. The nature of the testing involved agents that posed unknown risk factors and such hazards could not be forced on military personnel as a duty." He believes the exposure to these various tests placed volunteers in danger and at great personal risk going far beyond the call of duty. In his opinion, those who underwent the tests were heroic.
This quote comes from an article written by
Tom Segel titled For Veterans ... Justice Delayed ... Is Justice Denied dated 22 July 2005.
These men and their widows just deserve the "benefit of doubt" and their medical care and if they are disabled they should be compensated. We are not asking the government to give up any classified data, but rather to keep the promises made when we volunteered. If we were harmed by the experiments that the Army and the VA would take care of us and or our families, the same PROMISE made to all military personnel.Sphere: Related Content
Military to follow up with wounded vets
Military to follow up with wounded vets
By Gregg Zoroya - USA TODAY
Posted : Thursday Nov 13, 2008 6:20:28 EST
WASHINGTON — The military has launched a detective effort to find at least 2,300 veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan to see how they are faring, and whether they are missing out on health and other benefits.
Army and Marine commanders says the outreach effort is due to several factors, including greater concern in these wars for long-term consequences of combat and more funding to get it done.
About 33,000 troops have been wounded in the two wars, but not all have been located or reached.
“We are trying to catch up to six years worth of war,” says Col. Gregory Boyle, commander of the Marine Corps Wounded Warrior Regiment.
Callers who reach these new veterans help eliminate red tape to resolve compensation and health care needs, educate veterans about new benefits and link them to resources or potential employers.
Congress last year authorized expanded efforts to manage cases and advocate for wounded service members leaving the military, at a cost of about $65 million, records show.
The outreach is so unexpected that some veterans ask if the service is trying to call them back to duty, says John Chavis, who directs a call center for the Wounded Warrior Regiment. ”We reassure them that’s not our intent,” he says.
The military is concerned that “some of its people may fall between a crack somewhere,” just as some Vietnam veterans ended up homeless, said historian Dale Smith of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Marines have contacted more than 6,000 current and former members, Boyle says. They are still looking for 1,871, Chavis says. The Army Wounded Warrior Program is searching for about 400 ex-GI’s they want to assist, but who have left the service, says Army Col. Jim Rice, the program director.
If callers determine that veterans have more complex problems, they ask advocates to visit them in person, Boyle says.
Maj. Jennifer Potter, a Marine reservist on active duty, has three dozen local Marine veterans she helps from her home in Columbus, Ohio. She can connect them with the Department of Veterans Affairs, local veteran service groups, employers, elected officials and key former Marines in the area.
”It makes us feel like somebody has our back and we’re not forgotten,” says one veteran on her list, former lance corporal Carl Schneider, of Cincinnati. He suffered severe burns to his hands and face in a roadside blast in 2005.
New disability process set to expand soon
New disability process set to expand soon
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Nov 7, 2008 10:56:58 EST
A limited test of a streamlined system to more speedily and equitably evaluate wounded and injured troops will be expanded over the next seven months from the Washington, D.C., area to 16 additional bases in the continental U.S., Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs officials say.
The pilot program, which officials emphasize is a work in progress, aims to replace the cumbersome evaluation system exposed by the 2007 Walter Reed scandal with a single exam and disability rating that officials say is cutting in half the time spent in the system from the initial recommendation for medical evaluation to the point of either medical separation or return to duty.
Launched 11 months ago at three Washington-area military hospitals and expanded to three more since Oct. 1, the program has shown enough promise to warrant an expansion in areas outside Washington, said Tom Pamperin, deputy director of VA’s compensation and pension service, and Sam Retherford, the Pentagon’s director of officer and enlisted personnel management.
“It was an improvement, and we met all the major objectives” of the pilot program, Retherford said.
But, he added, “We’d hadn’t really stressed the pilot, because inside the National Capitol region, you get all kinds of support from senior leadership to make things happen. We also needed a diverse set of data on the Guard and reserve ... and we wanted to see if the pilot procedures could work — because it’s very resource-demanding — in areas across the DoD.”
That data, he said, will better inform decisions on the program’s future and on recommendations for any needed legislative changes to Congress. A final report to Congress is due in March; a decision to expand the program to all bases could follow, he said.
The sheer numbers alone will provide plenty of stress; Retherford said he expects the expansion to add more than 500 cases per month to the system, which in the Washington area is now handling a total of around 600, according to VA. The moves will also serve to broaden the base of pilot program-trained case managers and other personnel critical to improving service, he said.
Over the next seven months, according to Pamperin, the pilot program is projected for expansion to:
•Fort Stewart, Ga., Nov. 30.
•Camp Pendleton, Calif., Jan. 31.
•Bremerton Naval Hospital, Wash.; Vance Air Force Base, Okla.; and Fort Polk, La., Feb. 28.
•Jacksonville Naval Hospital and MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.; Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.; Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Fort Richardson and Fort Wainwright, Alaska, March 31.
•Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska; Fort Drum, N.Y., Apr. 30.
•Travis Air Force Base, Calif.; Fort Carson, Colo.; and Brooke Army Medical Center, Texas, May 31.
The program was begun in November 2007 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.; National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.; and Malcolm Grove Medical Center at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. It was expanded Oct. 1 to hospitals at Fort Belvoir, Va., and Nov. 1 to Fort Meade, Md., and Balboa Naval Medical Center, San Diego, Pamperin said.
One problem identified during the controversy at Walter Reed was the long delay service members experienced in the processing and receipt of VA benefits. Under the pilot program, the delays appear to have been significantly reduced.
As of Oct. 26, a total of 779 service members had entered the D.C.-area pilot program, Pamperin said. All received one physical exam from a VA-qualified provider using VA’s evaluation standards — normally a two-part ordeal with differing standards. Under the pilot program, the exam is administered as part of the standard Medical Evaluation Board, which determines a member’s fitness for duty.
Of the 779 troops, 73 were found fit for and returned to duty, while 611 remain in the program, with some yet to be evaluated and others having received ratings and awaiting discharge.
A total of 46 were retired — nearly all of them medically retired — and 15 were awarded severance pay and separated from the service. Of this group, Pamperin said, all but three were awarded VA benefits on the day they separated.
One of the three took an additional week because of a severance pay issue, he said; the physical or mental condition of the other two required fiduciary assistance and more time to complete, he said.
Service members rated at 30 percent disabled or higher are medically retired; those rated at 10 or 20 percent are separated with severance pay.
Two of the troops were separated without being awarded severance pay. Pamperin said such cases involve unfitting conditions considered zero percent disabling or conditions judged to be pre-existing.
The remaining 32 members left the program for a variety of reasons. Two died, some were administratively separated and some moved out of the Washington area, Pamperin said.
All service members who have been evaluated in the pilot program received VA’s decision on their disability percentage the same day they had the finding of the Physical Evaluation Board. After the MEB renders its decision, the PEB decides whether to retain or separate the service member, Pamperin said.
When the pilot program was launched, officials also said they hoped to cut in half the amount of time spent in the system. “It’s actually a little bit better than that,” Pamperin said of the pilot program results.
Time spent in the Washington-area pilot, in which a member’s VA claim is processed concurrently with the Defense Department evaluation, runs from 180 to 220 days, according to Retherford. In the current system, which requires an additional physical and rating on top of that already conducted by the service, processing through the VA system alone takes about 180 days, he said.
“What used to be sequential and long is now in parallel,” he said.
The pilot program also gives service members enhanced rights of appeal. Previously, a service member could appeal to the PEB the conditions considered unfitting, and the fitness determination.
Under the pilot program, when a service member rebuts that determination, the PEB notifies VA, which initiates a Decision Review Officer Process that considers a service member’s medical evidence or legal argument about the application of the ratings schedule. VA’s decision is then binding on the PEB, Pamperin said.
If the early numbers are any indication, service members in the pilot program are more satisfied with the new system. As of Oct. 28, only 33 out of more than 200 service members rated have asked for a formal Physical Evaluation Board, Pamperin said.
In customer satisfaction surveys taken in the Washington-area pilot, Retherford said, “We got great marks for professionalism, transparency [and] case management. We still got remarks [to the effect of], `I’m not satisfied with the outcome.’ There’s a lot more to be done there.”
A somewhat parallel legislative effort fell short last year. The pilot program, officials say, is the best the Pentagon and VA can do without new laws.
“We are continuing to expand the pilot program within the current existing legal authorities,” Pamperin said.
VA is preparing an interim report on the pilot program for Congress, he said.
Patriot Golf Day raises over $1.7 million thus far in 2008
Patriot Golf Day raises over $1.7 million thus far in 2008
By The PGA of America- PGA.com
Nov. 4, 2008 -- PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. -- The second annual Patriot Golf Day, a nationwide campaign to support the families of those military veterans who have been disabled or lost their lives in the line of duty, has produced donations to date of more than $1.7 million.
The campaign, which benefits the Folds of Honor Foundation, is jointly supported by The PGA of America and the United States Golf Association. Patriot Golf Day was conducted over the Labor Day weekend, Aug. 29 through Sept. 1, and received support from 3,800 golf facilities. Patriot Golf Day was originated by Major Dan Rooney, an F-16 pilot, PGA Professional and USGA member from Broken Arrow, Okla., who this month returned from his third tour of duty in Iraq. The 2007 inaugural fundraising campaign produced funds of more than $1.1 million.
Rooney, who will receive the first PGA Patriot Award on Nov. 8 at The PGA of America's 92nd Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Ariz., served as an F-16 pilot in the 125th Fighter Squadron of the Oklahoma Air National Guard.
"Once again, America has come together for Patriot Golf Day, a campaign that is a perfect match for those who love both our country and the game of golf," said PGA of America President Brian Whitcomb. "Both PGA Professionals and amateur golfers responded with both innovative and inspiring fundraising efforts. The PGA of America is proud to be associated with this great cause and we anticipate that more Americans will step forward in the years to come."
PGA Professionals throughout the country engaged their communities and respective club members to participate in innovative programs during Patriot Golf Day. Leading the fundraising for facilities was The Old North State Club of New London, N.C., which received $42,000 through donations, and a club tournament conducted Oct. 10, which featured the raffle of a donated four-bedroom condominium.
Old North State Club PGA director of golf Tom Ducey said the enthusiastic response was due to the efforts of amateur golf and eight-year club member, Johnny Hall, a co-owner/president of two local lumber companies.
"I am not looking for any praise," said Hall. "This is a tremendous fundraiser that all of us should embrace. People came together to make this a success and we look forward to next year's Patriot Golf Day."
In late 2007, Rooney developed the Folds of Honor Foundation to serve as a legacy foundation designed to provide scholarships for dependents and spouses of service members that have been killed or disabled as a result of their military service. While other fundraising is carried out by the Folds of Honor Foundation, Patriot Golf Day remains its primary fundraiser.
Donations to this year's Patriot Golf Day included $130,000 from Captain Paul Azinger and the 12 members of the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup Team.
Patriot Golf Day is jointly supported by The PGA of America and the United States Golf Association. During Patriot Golf Day, golfers added an extra dollar to their greens fee, and private facilities asked for donations.
This past spring, the Folds of Honor Foundation awarded nearly 200 scholarships to aid students, most of them beginning classes in the fall semester. Participating facilities for Patriot Golf Day are listed on www.PlayGolfAmerica.com. Individuals interested in contributing to the Folds of Honor Foundation, and those applying for scholarships should visit foldsofhonor.org
About Patriot Golf Day
Patriot Golf Day, the primary fund-raiser for the Folds of Honor Foundation, was created by Major Dan Rooney, a PGA Professional and USGA member from Broken Arrow, Okla. From Aug. 29 through Sept. 1, 2008, golfers across the nation added $1 to their greens fees or more in making a donation at their golf club in support of the event. Patriot Golf Day is jointly supported by The PGA of America and the United States Golf Association and also receives support from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), Club Managers Association of America (CMAA), the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA) and from many of the country's leading golf manufacturers and media outlets.
About Folds of Honor Foundation
The Folds of Honor Foundation is a 501(c)(3) legacy foundation designed to provide educational scholarships for dependents and spouses of service members who are either killed or disabled while serving and defending our great nation. (foldsofhonor.org)
About the USGA
The USGA is the national governing body of golf in this country and Mexico, a combined territory that includes more than half the world's golfers and golf courses.
The Association's most visible role is played out each season in conducting 13 national championships, including the U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open and U.S. Senior Open. Ten additional USGA national championships are exclusively for amateurs, and include the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Women's Amateur.
The USGA also writes the Rules of Golf, conducts equipment testing, provides expert course maintenance consultations, funds research for better turf and a better environment, maintains a Handicap System and administers an ongoing "For the Good of the Game" grants program, which has allocated more than $62 million over 11 years to successful programs that bring the game's values to youths from disadvantaged backgrounds and people with disabilities. For more information about the USGA, visit www.usga.org.
About The PGA of America
Since 1916, The PGA of America's mission has been twofold; to establish and elevate the standards of the profession and to grow interest and participation in the game of golf.
By establishing and elevating the standards of the golf profession through world-class education, career services, marketing and research programs, the Association enables PGA Professionals to maximize their performance in their respective career paths and showcases them as experts in the game and in the $76 billion golf industry. By creating and delivering dramatic world-class championships and exciting and enjoyable golf promotions that are viewed as the best of their class in the golf industry, The PGA of America elevates the public's interest in the game, the desire to play more golf, and ensures accessibility to the game for everyone, everywhere. The PGA of America brand represents the very best in golf.
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I spend Thursday thru Sunday either watching the tournaments on my computer at pgatour.com or whatever channel it is on TV or both at the same time, I spent 15 years delivering mail in Augusta Ga and met many of the pro golfers and learned where they live during Masters week and watched Charles Howell III since he was 10 years old, his college career and his pro career, I always had a vision of becoming his caddy one day after retiring from the Post Office, life didn't work out that way, now I live vicariously thru him and his golf game.
