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Beale reservists form nonprofit to help injured veterans

  • Published
  • By Capt. Joe Simms
  • 940th Wing Public Affairs
Lincoln Calif. --  Patriots Honor, a nonprofit organization created by members of the 13th Reconnaissance Squadron, held its inaugural golf tournament at Lincoln Hills Golf Course, Oct 18.

940th Wing leadership, along with former National Football League players, Medal of Honor recipient James Taylor, veterans and civic leaders participated in the tournament to benefit injured service members and amputees.

Patriots Honor founders Chief Master Sergeants Stuart Bisland, John Erwin, and Brent Hammond have always had a passion for golf, but the thought of starting their own charity had not occurred to them until last summer.

While playing golf with a group of disabled veterans the three founders listened to stories of how these injured service members overcame the struggles of adapting to life as an amputee.

"These veterans had overcome tremendous obstacles, but they still faced some serious challenges in their recovery," said Hammond. "Yet there on that course, they were just regular guys enjoying a round of golf with friends."

"That's when we decided our mission would be to empower injured veterans to pursue their passions in life," said Chief Erwin

The chiefs learned that while the VA supports numerous programs for injured veterans, they do not provide specialized prosthetics necessary for an active lifestyle.

"When these service members are injured, they are given a prosthetic that allows them to get back to work," said Bisland. "But it doesn't get them back to normalcy which for a lot of military members means playing recreational sports."

The United States has had more than 100,000 amputees return home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With this in mind Patriots Honor has partnered with Hangar Clinics, the country's largest provider of specialized prosthetics.

Patriots Honor will be able to provide servicemen and women with robotic hands and limbs that can be switched out to attach a tennis racket or high impact fingers for rock climbing.

"Through programs like Prothetics4Patriots and Golf4Patriots, Patriots Honor is reaching out to help service members regain their mobility and restore their self-esteem and passion for life," said Hammond.

Patriots Honor has already garnered the support of the National Football League and Major League Baseball alumni associations. Nine-year NFL veteran Gerald Willhite and pro golfer and commentator Gary McCord are also on the organization's board of directors.

Future events are being discussed with the Professional Golfers Association to host 20 Pro-Amateur events across the country and two celebrity golf tournaments at Disney theme parks in Florida and California.

In addition to raising money through golf tournaments, the charity organization is finalizing a book titled Meals of Honor.

Meals of Honor, in collaboration with Wimmer Cookbooks, will be dedicated to Medal of Honor recipients and contain family recipes and personal stories of the acts of valor of our honored service men and women.

"We are hoping to publish the cookbook in the spring of 2014 and we're already working with retailers such as Wal-Mart and AFEES to offer the book in their stores," said Erwin.

To learn more about Patriots Honor visit www.patriotshonor.org or visit them on Facebook.